Creative Writing Summer School 2020

Seminar options

Advanced courses

Timetable

Please check the seminar timetables carefully to ensure that your first and second choice courses do not run at the same time.

Advanced courses

Creative Non-Fiction

We tell stories about ourselves and others every day, but some seem more authentic than others. In our reading of others’ lives we learn how to write about our own or those of people important to us. Taking a close look at autobiography, memoir and biography, we learn that how life stories are told influences the lives they tell. This course will explore these aspects of writing lives and the relationship between non-fiction and fiction. It will discuss the relationship between narrator and subject, facts and invention, as well as content and form, in creative non-fiction life-writing. There will be opportunities for students to develop their own writing throughout the course.

Tutor: Dr Jane McVeigh is Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Roehampton. She writes on different aspects of life-writing and is currently writing a biography of twentieth century British author Richmal Crompton, author of Just William stories. In Collaboration with British Literary Biography: Haunting Conversations (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), explores the nature of contemporary biography and the haunting relationship between a biographer and his or her subjects.

Reading and Writing Crime Fiction

Does crime pay? Crime fiction is a captivating genre which fascinates readers by exploring this and other questions. On this course we will study examples of classic crime fiction and critical perspectives, as well as writing our own crime texts. In the company of well-known fictional detectives, we will investigate crime texts and cases and follow the clues laid out by the author to help us solve the crime. Delivered through group seminars and tutorials by a highly experienced academic and crime fiction expert, this course offers an exciting opportunity to learn more about reading and writing crime fiction.

Tutor: Dr Charlotte Beyer is Senior Lecturer at the University of Gloucestershire. She is a highly experienced lecturer and crime fiction specialist. Her recent books include Teaching Crime Fiction (Ed., Palgrave, 2018), and her books The Crime Short Story (McFarland) and Contemporary Crime Fiction: Crossing Boundaries, Merging Genres (CSP) are forthcoming in 2021.

Fiction: Turning Ideas Into Narratives

This course is aimed at those who are starting to write prose but do not yet feel fully confident. Using a variety of exercises and some examples from literature, we shall investigate the formation of character, and develop character arcs. Then we shall develop story and plot outlines together, planning scenes. Finally, we shall attempt to identify and discuss your unique strengths and preferences with a view to finding your USP - unique selling point.

Tutor: Dr Rachel Bentham has been Royal Literary Fellow at Bath University, and teaches for both Bristol and Bath Spa Universities. Her plays and short stories have been regularly broadcast on BBC Radio 4, and her poetry is internationally published. She has recently completed a novel set in nineteenth-century Tahiti. A recent collection of haiku was called Let All Tongues Flower (Firewater Press, 2013); and her most recent collection, also of haiku, is titled Other Roads North (2019) and reached number one on Amazon.

Fiction: Fine-Tuning Your Writing

This course is designed to help you hone your craft as a writer and see your project through to its completion. We shall start by examining your aims and motivation, troubleshooting any problems you are having in maintaining commitment and progress. We shall explore how to give your writing maximum resonance and power, analysing how you can use voice and point of view, give your characters extra depth and weave together story strands, themes and images. Finally, we shall look at sending your work out into the world, with workshopping and advice on editing and pitching.

Tutor: Lorna Fergusson is a literary consultant, novelist and prize-winning short story writer, who has taught on various OUDCE programmes since 2002. In 2013 she republished her novel, The Chase, originally published by Bloomsbury. Her chapter on ‘Pre-writing’ appears in Studying Creative Writing (Creative Writing Studies, 2013) and her award-winning story ‘Salt’ appears in An Oxford Vengeance. Her new book for creative writers, The Unputdownable Writer’s Mindset, will be published in 2020.

Poetry

'I have never started a poem yet whose end I knew. Writing a poem is discovering’ (Robert Frost). In this course we shall embark on unpredictable journeys of discovery, in particular exploring the realm of ambiguity and multiple levels of - sometimes conflicting - meaning. In collaborative exercises and individual work, as well as analysis of poems by established poets, we shall try to see what makes a vivid or striking poem, and how best to channel and shape the ‘spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings' (Wordsworth). The course will consist of taught seminars followed by workshopping of students' work.

Tutor: Matthew Barton has published three collections of poetry, Learning to Row (Peterloo Poets, 1999) Vessel (The Brodie Press, 2009), and Family Tree (Shoestring Press, 2016). His translation of Rilke’s Duino Elegies also appeared this year from Shoestring. He has won many awards for his work including BBC Wildlife Poet of the Year (twice winner), second prize in the National Poetry Competition, joint second prize in the Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine and first prize in the Strokestown competition (Ireland). He is a tutor of poetry for the Undergraduate Diploma in Creative Writing at OUDCE and the editor of Raceme Magazine.

Scriptwriting

This course is based on the study and creation of scripts for stage, screen and radio and on helping aspiring dramatists to develop a practice to engage with a golden age of script writing.  Convincing characters in coherent plots, with a keen awareness of genre, is the basis of all good fiction. We shall explore such core elements, culminating in the submission of a short script. In the third week, students can workshop a script begun outside the course. Dramaturgy will be strictly focused to help writers to develop individual writing for performance projects, using processes that are ‘industry standard’.

Tutor: Shaun McCarthy is a professional stage and radio dramatist. He teaches for Oxford and other universities in the UK and Europe. He is currently writing a resetting of Strindberg’s Miss Julie, to May Eve in Oxford 1963, and co-producing a play based on seven after-show discussions about a play we never actually see.

The Art of the Short Story

This course is a wide-ranging and lively introduction to the art of writing a short story. Week by week we will read and discuss a varied selection of short stories, building an understanding of the technicalities of the form, and getting to grips with the key aspects that make a good short story. We will focus on a different aspect of writing each week, including: beginnings and endings, themes, settings, character and voice, structure, and pacing. We will work on a range of writing techniques both for drafting a short story and for revising and polishing one.

Tutor: Lucy Atkins is an award-winning author and journalist. She has written four novels, and several non-fiction books. Her new novel, Magpie Lane (Quercus, 2020), is a literary thriller set in an Oxford college. She is a literary critic for The Sunday Times and teaches creative writing to postgraduate students at Oxford University.

Teen/Young Adult Fiction

The teen/young adult/crossover fiction market is one of the fastest growing areas of publishing. This course, run by an established novelist, will look at the way successful writers have used dialogue, tackled taboos, and developed plots to appeal to younger readers. It will also explore such key topics as planning a novel, researching, and finding inspiration. Students will be guided in the development of a story of their own, and there will be opportunities for workshopping of students’ work from outside the course.

Tutor: Julie Hearn is the Carnegie-nominated author of a number of novels for young adults: Follow Me Down (2009), The Merrybegot (2005), Ivy (2006), Hazel (2007), Rowan the Strange (2010), Wreckers (2011) and Dance of the Dark Heart (2014) were all published by Oxford University Press. Her eighth novel, I am NOT adorable, was published by Jolly Heron in 2018.

Each seminar has its own requirements for preparatory reading.

Students will have access to the Continuing Education library (around 10 minutes' walk from Exeter College), but no other Oxford University libraries.

All students who complete the programme will receive an attendance certificate.

Those seeking credit at their home institution may request a detailed certificate which lists contact hours (for talks, readings and seminars), an assessment of their contribution to seminar discussions, grades achieved for written work, and the number of private study hours required. Certificates will usually be sent to students' home institutions within a month of the end of the summer school.

As Oxford University does not offer credit for this summer school, those wishing to obtain credit from their home institution for attending this programme must make appropriate arrangements with that institution in advance.

Residential: Standard (shared bathroom) - £3,280; Residential: En suite (private bathroom acilities) - £3,575; Non-residential (no accommodation or meals) - £1,460

Programme fees

• Residential: Standard (shared bathroom facilities) - £3,280
  Fees include tuition (2 seminars and the daily programme of talks and readings); access to IT facilities and the Continuing Education library; accommodation in a standard single room with shared bathroom facilities for the nights of Sunday 26 July to Friday 14 August 2020 inclusive; meals in hall from dinner on Sunday 26 July to breakfast on Saturday 15 August 2020 (except lunch on Saturdays and Sundays).

• Residential: En suite (private bathroom facilities) - £3,575
  Fees include tuition (2 seminars and the daily programme of talks and readings); access to IT facilities and the Continuing Education library; accommodation in a single en suite room with private shower and toilet for the nights of Sunday 26 July to Friday 14 August 2020 inclusive; meals in hall from dinner on Sunday 26 July to breakfast on Saturday 15 August 2020 (except lunch on Saturdays and Sundays).

• Non-residential - £1,460
  Fees include tuition (2 seminars and the daily programme of talks and readings); access to IT facilities and the Continuing Education library; no accommodation; no meals, except the programme`s formal opening and closing dinners on Sunday 26 July and Friday 14 August 2020, respectively.

There are no sources of funding (scholarships, bursaries, etc) available for applicants.

Invoicing and payment

Successful applicants who accept their offer of a place on the summer school will be invoiced for the appropriate programme fee once they have been formally enrolled on the programme.

Invoices will be emailed to students together with full instructions for payment. Fees may be paid online with a credit or debit card, or by bank transfer.

Students are required to pay the full fee within 30 days of the date on which their invoice was issued. Late applicants (see "Apply for this course", below) are required to pay the full fee within 7 days of their invoice date.

Please note that:

• students are expected to take out vacation cancellation insurance to cover the programme fee and travel costs (see "Cancellations", below);
• a student's place on the summer school is not confirmed until their fees have been paid in full;
• places will not be held for students whose fees are not paid in full by the due date; and
• in no circumstances will students be admitted to the summer school unless all fees have been paid in full.

When you have paid your fees

Your place on the summer school is confirmed as soon as your payment is received by OUDCE.

You will receive a receipt for your payment: by email if paid online, or by post if paid by bank transfer.

If you are a non-EEA student you will receive a letter by post confirming your enrolment and course details which may be used to support your application for a short-term study visa: this letter will be sent by post (see "Level and demands", above).

Cancellations

All enrolments are subject to OUDCE's Short Selective Course Terms and Conditions.

A contract between OUDCE and a student comes into being when a student accepts an offer of a place on the summer school.

You have the right to cancel this contract at any time within 14 days, beginning on the day you accepted the offer.

Please be aware that if you cancel your place at any time after the expiry of the 14-day period you will not be entitled to a refund of the price paid for the summer school.

If you wish to cancel your place on the summer school you must inform the Programme Administrator by email at writingsummer@conted.ox.ac.uk

You are expected to take out vacation cancellation insurance to cover the programme fee and travel costs, and you should consult your travel agent and/or insurer for information and advice. OUDCE does not provide any insurance cover.

OUDCE reserves the right to alter details of any course should illness or any other emergency prevent a tutor from teaching, and to cancel a course or seminar if exceptionally low enrolment would make it educationally unviable.

The status of this course will be reviewed on 1 June 2020. If it is likely that individual seminars or the course may be cancelled, all those affected will be notified by email within 7 days, and possible options clearly explained.

If you have not heard from OUDCE by 8 June 2020, you should assume that the course and your seminars will be running; there is no need to contact us to confirm. You may wish to delay finalising your travel arrangements until after this date.

Each seminar has its own course aim and objectives.

Students will attend a programme of talks and readings.

Elements of seminar teaching will normally include:

• mini lectures by tutors;
• tutor-led class discussions;
• writing exercises;
• small group activities; and
• individual student presentations.

Students will attend short one-to-ones with their tutors to receive feedback on their written work.

Each seminar has its own learning outcomes.

Tutors will monitor and assess students’ contribution to class discussions.

Students are expected to submit an assignment of 2,000-3,000 words in length for assessment for each seminar taken.

Before you submit your application

• ensure you meet the admissions requirements (see "Selection criteria", below);
• check the seminar timetables carefully to ensure that your first and second choice courses do not run at the same time (applicants for advanced seminars only);
• make sure you have all the required supporting documents listed below;
• ensure you are familiar with the terms and conditions of enrolment on the summer school, especially those relating to payment of fees and cancellations (see "Payment", above); and
• read the 'Important information regarding immigration and visa requirements' (see "Level and demands", below).

The application process

Download, print and complete the application form.

Please ensure all sections are completed fully, clearly, and in BLOCK CAPITALS.

The form must be accompanied by:

• A brief statement of purpose (350-400 words) detailing your academic reasons for wishing to attend the summer school. This should include what you feel the programme would offer you and your writing, and what you feel you could bring to the summer school. This may include details of creative writing courses you have previously taken, or the relevance of the summer school to your present course of study or professional development. Applicants for advabced courses only: it is essential that you clearly state your reasons for wishing to enrol on specific seminars.
   
• Samples of your writing which demonstrate your powers of creative expression.
  • If you are applying for the intermediate courses you should provide two 1,000-word samples: one being a piece of creative non-fiction: the other a piece of prose fiction.
  • If you are applying for advanced courses please provide samples of your work relevant to your first and second choice courses and ensure that the name of the seminar is printed at the top of each sample.
    As a guideline prose fiction, creative non-fiction and dramatic dialogue samples should be no more than 1,000 words in length (please provide an extract of a longer piece of work if appropriate); applicants for the poetry seminar should provide five short poems.

• All of your official university transcripts. These must be in English.

• In the case of non-native speakers of English, official evidence of English language competency.

• A letter of recommendation from a person - usually an academic who has taught you - who can give insight into your academic capabilities and writerly achievements. Where this is not possible, a letter from an appropriately qualified/experienced person who can comment on your motivation, commitment to writing and potential for development is acceptable; however, a reference from a family member or friend is not. Please note that the letter of recommendation must refer specifically to your application to the Oxford University Creative Writing Summer School.

• Four photographs (UK passport-sized - ie 4.5cm high x 3.5cm wide), with your full name printed on the back of each.

Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Applications should be posted to: Creative Writing Summer School, OUDCE, 1 Wellington Square, OXFORD, OX1 2JA, UK

You may wish to send your application by a courier service or registered post for speed and/or security of delivery.

We are currently unable to receive applications by email.

After you have submitted your application

You will receive an email from writingsummer@conted.ox.ac.uk confirming receipt of your application materials, and informing you when your application will be reviewed by the admissions panel.

Application deadlines

This summer school operates a gathered field closing date system by which applications are reviewed fairly and equally in batches at specific dates throughout the admissions period rather than on a first come, first served or rolling basis.

There is a limited number of places available on every graduate-level course within each gathered field, and in assigning successful applicants to seminar groups the admissions panel will pay particular attention to applicants' personal statements.

There are three deadlines for applications:

• Gathered field 1 - 15 February 2020
• Gathered field 2 - 1 April 2020
• Gathered field 3 - 15 May 2020

Subject to the availability of places, late applications may be considered on a first come, first served basis until 1 June 2020.

Notification of the admission panel's decision

Applicants will normally be notified of the panel's decision by email from writingsummer@conted.ox.ac.uk within 14 days of the relevant gathered field deadline.

Applicants who are offered a place on the summer school must respond in writing within 14 days to accept or decline the offer. In accepting an offer of a place applicants are committing to paying their programme fees in full by the due date.

Late applicants will be notified within 7 days of their materials having been received, and successful applicants will then have 7 days in which to accept or decline the offer of a place.

Enrolment

Students will be formally enrolled on the summer school once they have accepted their offer of a place.

The enrolment process includes the issuing of invoices, which will be emailed to students together with full instructions for payment (see "Payment", above).

Further course information

Students will receive the following information by email from writingsummer@conted.ox.ac.uk prior to the summer school:

• In April 2020 - academic and course information, including detailed course content and required preparatory reading
• In April 2020 - joining instructions, containing a wealth of practical information to assist students as they prepare to travel to to the summer school (eg how to get to Oxford, arrangements at Exeter College)
• In May 2020 - details of the programme of talks and readings
• In May 2020 - details of the social programme
• In June 2020 - confirmation of arrival day arrangements.

Any queries?

Please contact the Programme Administrator by email at writingsummer@conted.ox.ac.uk

Participants are expected to

• undertake preparatory reading in advance of the programme;
• attend all seminar sessions and talks and readings;
• be actively engaged with their seminar topics;
• submit an assignment of 2,000-3,000 words in length for each seminar taken; and
• undertake approximately 96 hours of private study during the programme (elements of private study will include: reading, writing and other preparation between seminar meetings, work in the library, writing papers, etc).

Important information regarding immigration and visa requirements

Please note: The information in this section is correct as at January 2020, but may change following the departure of the UK from the European Union (EU). We anticipate that, if changes are made, it is most likely that EEA and Swiss national students will need to follow the same immigration rules as non-EEA nationals. We do not expect any changes to the short-term study visa itself, but this is not guaranteed. We will update you as soon as we have further details. In the meantime, up to date information regarding arrangements following the exit of the UK from the EU, is available on the UK Council for International Student Affairs website.

If you are an European Economic Area (EEA) or Swiss national you do not need a visa to enter the UK to participate in the summer school. You are free to enter the UK as long as you show your EEA or Swiss passport on arrival.

If you are not an EEA or Swiss national, you may need to apply for a visa to enter the UK depending on which passport you hold.

If the system shows that you require a visa: you should apply for a short-term study visa, which allows students over the age of 18 to study either part-time or full-time for up to 6 months in the UK.

If the system shows that you do not require a visa: you will still need to bring certain documents to show at the border in order to be admitted as a short-term student.

If you are not an EEA or Swiss national we strongly recommend that you establish whether you will require a visa before submitting your application. Please check current visa processing times to find out how long getting a visa might take in the country you are applying from. You should ensure your summer school application is submitted as early as possible to allow yourself sufficient time to complete the visa application process.

The Programme Administrator will provide all non-EEA students with a standard format letter by post confirming enrolment and course details once their fees have been paid in full.

For legal reasons the Programme Administrator is not permitted to provide any visa advice to applicants: all such enquiries should be submitted to Oxford University’s student visa and immigration advisers via email at student.immigration@admin.ox.ac.uk

It is your responsibility to ensure that you have taken the necessary steps to enable you to be admitted to the UK. The university takes no responsibility for a visa being denied at any point before or during a course.

Please note that the standard cancellation policy applies in all cases. (See "Cancellations", above.)

Disabled students (including those with mobility difficulties)

The aim of Oxford University Department for Continuing Education (OUDCE) is to treat all students equally and welcomes applications from people with disabilities. Individuals' needs are taken into account as far as possible, providing reasonable adaptations and assistance within the resources available. We ask that people let us know of any disability or special need (confidentially if required) so that we can help them participate as fully as possible.

When applying for OUDCE's college-based summer schools, prospective students with mobility difficulties or visual or hearing impairments may want to make preliminary enquiries to the Programme Administrator, as the age and layout of these colleges often makes them user-unfriendly (although adaptations are often possible). Oxford, as an ancient city, tends to be difficult to navigate for people with disabilities. The number of very old buildings, designed in an age less sensitive to issues of disability, makes access to much of the city centre difficult. However, OUDCE will do as much as it is able to make study with the department possible.

Applicants should contact us if they will have problems gaining access to a bedroom or a teaching room that is located on upper or basement floors, or to the college dining hall (which is reached via a flight of stairs).

This is an intensive programme of study taught to an informed international audience. Applicants should be confident that they are academically and linguistically prepared for such a programme.

• All applicants should be keen readers and bring an open-minded, questioning approach to both reading and writing.
• All applicants should have written regularly and read widely over a sustained period.
• All applicants should have a proven record of commitment to their craft.

Academic requirements

Seminars are offered at two levels, to cater for students' writerly experience:

• Intermediate courses are suitable for applicants who have completed 1-2 years of a full-time single honours university degree programme in creative writing or English literature, or a combined honours university degree programme in creative writing and English literature.
• Advanced courses are suitable for applicants who have completed or nearly completed a full-time single honours university degree programme in creative writing or English literature, or a combined honours university degree programme in creative writing and English literature.
• Note for those whose degree is in a different, but related, subject: the admissions panel will look for evidence that applicants have taken a significant number of courses in creative writing or English literature, namely the equivalent of one year’s worth of credits in these subjects if applying for intermediate courses and two years’ worth of credits if applying for advanced courses.

The summer school is not appropriate for those who have already achieved commercial publication.

English language requirements

As students are expected to participate fully in seminar discussions and are required to produce written work it is important that applicants can demonstrate an appropriate level of proficiency in the four language skills - listening, reading, writing and speaking.

Applicants for whom English is not their first language must provide evidence of their competency in the form of an original certificate or a certified copy that is not more than two years old on the date the summer school starts. These applicants must satisfy one of the following requirements:

• IELTS Academic - minimum overall score of 6.5, with not less than 6.5 in each of the four components
• TOEFL iBT - minimum overall score of 100, with not less than 25 in each of the four components
• Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) - grade C or above.

For further information on English language qualifications:

• Click here for IELTS
• Click here for TOEFL
• Click here for CAE

However, non-native speakers of English who have successfully completed a full-time degree-level programme at a university where English is the language of instruction or who have significant business and professional experience in an English-speaking environment may not need to provide a certificate of English language qualification. Please contact the Programme Administrator for further details.