2024/25 entry

BA (Hons) English Literature and Creative Writing

Start date:
September
Study mode:
Full-time
Course duration:
3 years
Campus:
Mt Pleasant
UCAS Code:
WQ83

Tuition fees

Home full-time per year
£9,250
International full-time per year
£17,750
All figures are subject to yearly increases. Tuition fees are subject to parliamentary approval.
General enquiries:
0151 231 5090
courses@ljmu.ac.uk
International admissions
international@ljmu.ac.uk

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 Clearing

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Minimum UCAS points required: TBC

Why study English Literature and Creative Writing at Liverpool John Moores University?

  • Professional guidance and peer review to help you develop your work to publishable standard
  • Regular literary events, readings, screenings and open mic nights to showcase your work
  • Three-day residential writers' retreat at a country house in rural Wales
  • Our acclaimed Writer at Work module provides an opportunity for you to pursue a work-based project
  • LJMU ranked 5th best university in the UK for Creative Writing (The Times UK University Rankings 2024)

About your course

The BA (Hons) English Literature and Creative Writing at Liverpool John Moores University is designed to develop your writing skills with professional guidance and peer support from practicing writers, publishers and agents.

Towards the end of your course, you will specialise in a chosen genre and get a feel for the life of a professional writer by writing independently but with guidance from tutors and the support of peers to help you review and refine your work.

A residential writers' retreat in rural Wales also gives you a chance to perfect your skills and we host a number of literary events, readings, screenings and open mic nights to showcase your work at Liverpool arts venues such as FACT, The Everyman and Tate Liverpool.

Broadly speaking, you will spend a third of your time in formal study, a third reading, and a third writing or completing assessments and private study. The programme is constantly updated, which is why we have supplied only a sample of modules you may study.

Hear Callum's story

 

"Creative Writing is simply the best way to get your writing fired up. You'll meet loads of other people with the same aspirations and once you've been taught the basics you're left to develop your ideas in workshops and edit your work as if you were a professional writer."
Recent graduate

Fees and funding

There are many ways to fund study for home and international students

Fees

The fees quoted above cover registration, tuition, supervision, assessment and examinations as well as:

  • Library membership with access to printed, multimedia and digital resources
  • Access to programme-appropriate software
  • Library and student IT support
  • Free on-campus wifi via eduroam

Additional costs

Although not all of the following are compulsory/relevant, you should keep in mind the costs of:

  • accommodation and living expenditure
  • books (should you wish to have your own copies)
  • printing, photocopying and stationery
  • PC/laptop (should you prefer to purchase your own for independent study and online learning activities)
  • mobile phone/tablet (to access online services)
  • field trips (travel and activity costs)
  • placements (travel expenses and living costs)
  • student visas (international students only)
  • study abroad opportunities (travel costs, accommodation, visas and immunisations)
  • academic conferences (travel costs)
  • professional-body membership
  • graduation (gown hire etc)

Funding

There are many ways to fund study for home and international students. From loans to International Scholarships and subject-specific funding, you'll find all of the information you need on our specialist funding pages.

Employability

This BA (Hons) programme in English Literature and Creative Writing has a natural vocational slant and our graduates gain excellent analytical, communication and creative skills, ensuring them positions in a wide variety of careers, including advertising, marketing, museums, arts administration and publishing.

Other graduates have secured positions in sectors such as industrial, retail, leisure and charitable organisation management, educational administration, accountancy, the social and Civil Services and teaching.

Many graduates have gone on to have work published but you should be aware that professional authorship is often a second career.

In the last three years, 75% of our students have graduated with a 2:1 or first class degree.

Student Futures - Careers, Employability and Enterprise Service

A wide range of opportunities and support is available to you, within and beyond your course, to ensure our students experience a transformation in their career trajectory. Every undergraduate curriculum includes Future Focus during Level 4, an e-learning resource and workshop designed to help you to develop your talents, passion and purpose.

Every student has access to Careers Zone 24/7, LJMU's suite of online Apps, resources and jobs board via the LJMU Student Futures website. There are opportunities for flexible, paid and part-time work through Unitemps, LJMU's in-house recruitment service, and we also offer fully funded Discovery Internships.

One-to-one careers and employability advice is available via our campus-based Careers Zones and we offer a year-round programme of events, including themed careers and employability workshops, employer events and recruitment fairs. Our Start-Up Hub can help you to grow your enterprise skills and to research, plan and start your own business or become a freelancer.

A suite of learning experiences, services and opportunities is available to final year students to help ensure you leave with a great onward plan. You can access LJMU's Careers, Employability and Start-up Services after you graduate and return for one-to-one support for life.

Go abroad

LJMU aims to make international opportunities available to every student. You may be able to study abroad as part of your degree at one of our 100+ partner universities across the world. You could also complete a work placement or apply for one of our prestigious worldwide internship programmes. If you wanted to go abroad for a shorter amount of time, you could attend one of our 1-4 week long summer schools.

Our Go Citizen Scheme can help with costs towards volunteering, individual projects or unpaid placements anywhere in the world. With all of these opportunities at your feet, why wouldn’t you take up the chance to go abroad?

Find out more about the opportunities we have available via our Instagram @ljmuglobalopps or email us at: goabroad@ljmu.ac.uk.

A life-changing experience 

There's so much more to university than just studying for a degree.

What you will study on this degree

Please see guidance below on core and option modules for further information on what you will study.

Further guidance on modules

Modules are designated core or optional in accordance with professional body requirements, as applicable, and LJMU’s Academic Framework Regulations. Whilst you are required to study core modules, optional modules provide you with an element of choice. Their availability may vary and will be subject to meeting minimum student numbers.

Where changes to modules are necessary these will be communicated as appropriate.

Level 4

Core modules

Observation and Discovery
20 credits

The module encompasses intercultural and boundary spanning skills, professionalwritten and spoken communication and collaboration between students as they areintroduced to workshopping techniques.

Character & Story
20 credits

The module explores the building blocks of character development and character driven story lines through various forms of writing and requires the student to evidence a variety of research skills and evidence professional written and communication skills, and collaboration between students as they are introduced to workshopping techniques.

Language and Craft
20 credits

As with other Level 4 modules, this module is is designed to encourage consistentengagement, with smaller assessment items that build on each other in terms ofattention to language and form, providing both summative and formative feedback.This module aims to develop student skills in textual analysis and academic writingskills.

Literary and Cultural Theory
20 credits

The aim of this module is to provide you with an understanding of the basic strands of literary and cultural theories, such as feminism, Marxism, postcolonial theory, and psychoanalysis. It will allow you to explore and evaluate these theoretical perspectives through practical application to literary texts as well as to other primary sources.

Level 5

Optional Modules

Study Semester Abroad - English and Creative Writing
60 credits

This module provides you with an additional year of study at an approved overseas partner. It will complement your programme of study at LJMU. You will demonstrate the acquisition of programme-related learning having followed your approved course of study abroad.

Study Year Abroad - English and Creative Writing
120 credits

This module provides you with an additional year of study at an approved overseas partner. It will complement your programme of study at LJMU. You will demonstrate the acquisition of programme-related learning having followed your approved course of study abroad.

Script Development
20 credits

Students will workshop their writing in tutor-led and peer-led sessions, offering andreceiving constructive criticism, reading and performing key scenes from their scriptsand re-drafting and developing their work. They will also share insights into theirongoing research process with peers. Industry guest speakers will also share theirknowledge and experience in seminars and masterclasses.

Short Fiction
20 credits

This module expands students' understanding of short fiction and fosters independent reading. It supports their short story writing skills, enhancing their creative confidence and critical insights. Students learn to think creatively about the possibilities of short story writing and develop their ability to evaluate both published authors and peers constructively. Through workshops and essays, students gain a strong foundation in narrative craft, preparing them for more advanced prose modules at Level 6.

Poetry
20 credits

This module has creativity embedded throughout, with a heightened awareness of written and spoken communication and the power of language. Poems are designed to be heard as well as read. Students will be reading their own draft poetry aloud in class, thus developing self-confidence in their own voices and work.

Creative Non-fiction
20 credits

The module will include a diverse range of texts that promote interculturalunderstanding. Boundary spanning skills will be developed across the many forms ofcreative non-fiction and an exploration of the writerly techniques they value.

Screenwriting
20 credits

Students will workshop their writing in tutor-led and peer-led sessions, offering andreceiving constructive criticism, reading and performing key scenes from their scriptsand re-drafting and developing their work. Industry guest speakers will also share their knowledge and experience in seminars and masterclasses.

Writing for Stage & Radio
20 credits

In this module, students will learn scriptwriting for radio and stage, focusing on modern techniques. They'll explore these forms through reading and listening, and develop their work collaboratively in a writers' room. Students will also improve their communication skills, refining their scripts through workshops and industry expert input in seminars and masterclasses.

Writing in Production
20 credits

The module embeds key employability skills: leadership and motivational skills, analysis and problem solving, creativity and enterprise, professional written and spoken communication, financial literacy, planning and organization, digital capability and teamworking and collaboration.

The Fantastic
20 credits

The module will engage students in the study of fantasy, horror and science fiction literature and related arts. This has proven the most popular genre amongst undergraduate students and the module provides an opportunity for experimentation with a range of writing styles leading to specialisation in one genre area. Students will produce original, creative work informed by their studies, and present it to their classmates and tutors for formative feedback and further development.

Approaching Your Novel
20 credits

In this module, students will learn how to propose novels effectively, understand their target market, and master the art of crafting compelling opening chapters. They'll also explore various novel genres and develop essential narrative skills. Through peer workshops and hands-on practice, students will prepare work suitable for the publishing industry, all while gaining valuable insights into genre, market, and narrative craft.

Short Cuts: Writing in Brief
20 credits

The aim of this module is to analyse a wide variety of short writing from the post-Second World War era to develop skills of close reading and textual analysis. You will also explore the relationship between short writing and modernity/contemporary culture.

Level 6

Core modules

Advanced Script Workshop 1
20 credits

In this module, students are encouraged to advance the work-shopping skills that they have developed over the previous four semesters to give and receive constructive criticism in peer-led sessions as well as tutor-led work groups. Key employability skills are embedded throughout. These include: Analysis, problem solving & decision making, communication, ICT, numeracy & financial literacy, planning & organisation and team work and collaboration, as well as creativity and enterprise. 

Advanced Script Workshop 2
20 credits

The module is the last step before students either enter the industry or move on to Masters level. In this module, they are encouraged to use the work-shopping skills that they have developed over the previous five semesters to give and receive constructive criticism in peer-led sessions as well as tutor-led work groups. Key employability skills are embedded throughout. These include: Analysis, problem solving & decision making, communication, ICT, numeracy & financial literacy, planning & organisation and team work and collaboration, as well as creativity and enterprise.

Advanced Poetry Workshop 1
20 credits

The focus on published collections encourages students to focus on how a poet's'voice' is developed and how individual poems are collated to inform the collection asa whole.

Advanced Poetry Workshop 2
20 credits

Students will be working at an advanced level, demonstrating the skills both critical and creative necessary to succeed in the world of contemporary poetry. Work-based learning will be included in student interaction with guest speakers – poets who are published and viewed as leading writers in their field.

Advanced Prose Workshop 1
20 credits

This module is designed to encourage the student to use the technical, cognitive and narrative skills they have acquired to produce a writing portfolio and reflection, using their own strengths and those of the community of writers of which they are a part.
As the workshops are based each week on prepared readings of peer students' draft work, suggestions for wider reading and giving thoughtful and detailed critiques, a student's individual contribution is of great importance. The portfolio may consist of fiction or creative non-fiction. The research portfolio further develops good habits in terms of writing for publication and understanding the market.

Advanced Prose Workshop 2
20 credits

This module is designed to encourage the student to use the technical, cognitive andnarrative skills they have acquired to produce a writing portfolio and reflection, usingtheir own strengths and those of the community of writers of which they are a part.As the workshops are based each week on self-chosen areas of writerly concern andprepared readings of peer students' draft work, suggestions for wider reading andgiving thoughtful and detailed critiques, a student's individual contribution is of greatimportance. The students will have the opportunity to work in a team and to take aleadership role. The portfolio may consist of fiction or creative non-fiction. Thereflective essay further develops understanding of writing as a craft, examining boththeory and technique, with application to the student's own creative practice.

Digital Writing
20 credits

This module enables students to develop an understanding of writing for digitalplatforms and skillsets necessary to produce digital content. Over the semesterstudents will not only discover the creative possibilities of writing for online platformsbut also the career opportunities in this field of writing. The module will look atdiverse areas of text and writing online, from media characters portrayed in socialnetworking, bloggers, viral campaigns, podcasts, music production and participatoryprojects to location based storytelling. The module is open to new and emergingpossibilities and platforms.

Writer at Work: Portfolio
20 credits

The module will be a mix of class and group activities, sessions with guest speakers, and independent research and planning. It will draw on the expertise of the university's Student Futures team, alongside the subject-specific knowledge of the module teaching team, and a range of guest speakers from the creative industries, to deepen students' understanding of potential employment opportunities and to help them map and plan their own routes towards this. Through a series of guided activities, students will be enabled to reflect on their existing skills and experience, identify areas for development, and explore ways of presenting themselves as writers and creative-industry professionals. They will also develop their skills in research, analytical writing and clear written communication, through researching case studies in the creative industries and writing these up in a comparative analytical study.

Writer at Work: Project
20 credits

This module builds on key employability skills providing a work-based learningopportunity whilst also continuing to develop students' skill sin research andanalytical writing suitable for postgraduate study.

Independent Study
20 credits

This module allows students to pursue an individually devised creative project in Creative Writing at an advanced level. Students who wish to take this module will apply in writing and their application may be refused. Students on the module submit a proposal to the module leader who then offers their comments, refining the objectives of the study into an agreed form, at which stage the module leader assigns the student a supervising tutor. The module provides the student with an opportunity to pursue a project which is not accommodated elsewhere in the programme.

Creative Writing Work Based Learning
20 credits

This module provides Creative Writing students with the opportunity to widen their direct knowledge of working practices within a field where they can use the skills acquired on their programme, to widen their contacts and to assess their skills within an experiential context. Students negotiate a learning contract with an employer and a tutor and are assessed on their written account of the content and relevance of their work experience to the Creative Writing degree.

English Dissertation
20 credits

This is a year-long module, at the end of which you will have produced a dissertation of 7- 8,000 words. As such, it offers you the opportunity to investigate a topic of personal interest within the field of English Studies: you might wish to revisit something studied on a previous module, with a fresh approach or in greater detail, or choose an area as yet unexplored. You will be given guidance by a supervisor through the different stages of researching and writing, but above all you will be expected to work independently in the formulation of ideas, selection of key texts, and production of the final piece.

English Independent Study
20 credits

This module will give you an opportunity to pursue your own intellectual interests to undertake an independent academic study, working on your own initiative and building strong time management skills.

Our House: Representing Domestic Space
20 credits

The aim of this module is to analyse domestic space as an important aspect of contemporary culture, to familiarize you with a range of disciplinary and philosophical traditions which have focused upon domestic space.

C21: British Fiction Now
20 credits

This module will extend your knowledge of the diversity and range of British writing in the twenty-first century in order to explore key events that shape literary culture in Britain today.

Shakespeare
20 credits

This module will reinforce the ability to critically analyse texts in close detail to examine a range of Shakespeare's plays in the context of their original cultural production.

Vamps and Villains: Exploring Gothic Fiction
20 credits

This module will examine the genre of Gothic fiction as it has developed over two centuries to explore the cultural, historical and intellectual contexts that shape the moment of its production.

World Literature: Writing from the Periphery
20 credits

This module will introduce the concept of 'world literature' through a selection of texts from the twentieth to the twenty-first centuries in relation to the rise and expansion of a global modernity. You will examine on-going critical debates around key areas of research in the global humanities: a singular modernity, the politics of translation, the periphery and the world system.

Transitions: Identities in the Interwar Years
20 credits

This module examines shifting identities and the intersections of class, sexuality, gender and regionality in British literature of the interwar years. It moves across popular, middlebrow and experimental fiction and looks at poetry, non-fiction and magazine publishing as a means of examining the changing cultural formations of the period.

Green Victorians
20 credits

This module explores how Victorian writers responded to environmental changes. It examines key historical and intellectual developments shaping debates about the natural world in the Victorian period; you consider links between the historical past and current modes of environmentalism.

Mind Readings
20 credits

This module explores the representation of the mind and mental states in literary texts, with a focus on madness and unconventional states of mind. It introduces students to the interdisciplinary study of literature alongside psycho-sciences, including psychoanalytic literary criticism, the history of psychiatry, medical-model psychology, and cognitive literary studies. Students will question established discourses and modes of representing madness and the mind in contemporary culture, challenging scientific and medical authority. 

Space and place: travel writing at home and abroad
20 credits

This module enhances students' understanding of non-fiction travel literature, encouraging nuanced interpretations and effective long-form writing. It explores travel narratives' reflection of encounters with otherness, reassessment of the familiar, and their link to human identity and the non-human world. Indicative texts range from Mary Wollstonecraft to Robert Macfarlane, spanning from the late-eighteenth to the early 21st century.

Developments in Contemporary Writing and Publishing
20 credits

This module delves into contemporary literature, covering fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, and explores current debates in the English-speaking publishing world. It emphasizes how production circumstances shape contemporary texts and encourages reflection on the writer's role in modern society. Topics include women's history in the era of #Me Too, climate fiction, diversity in publishing, gender identity, freedom of speech, 'cancel culture,' and pandemic writing. Students will engage with works by various authors such as Hallie Rubenhold, Reni Eddo-Lodge, and Akwaeke Emezi.

Modern Fiction and Environment Crisis
20 credits

This module focuses on modern fiction focused on the urgent environmental crises with which we are now obliged to reckon. Some of the issues you will engage with on this module include climate, the environment as a concept, the non-human, and the alternative approaches to nature represented in indigenous narrative systems.

Black Lives in American Literature
20 credits

This module explores writing by and about African Americans from the mid-twentieth century to the present; you will consider how Black writers and artists have contested racial injustices, articulated new identities, and identified grounds for solidarity and alliance.

Migrants to the Screen
20 credits

This module focuses on recent works of transnational fiction that have been adapted for the screen. Drawing on literary studies, film studies, adaptation studies, and postcolonial studies, you will examine novels about migrants alongside their film adaptations, considered as ‘migrants’ from page to screen.

The Literature of Extinction: American Writing and the Environment
20 credits

This module explores how extinction on various scales, from the local and national to the planetary, is conceptualized and represented in American environmental and ecocritical texts, including fiction, nature writing, and ecocritical theory.

Other Worlds
20 credits

This module will deepen your understanding of the early modern world (or worlds) through attention to travel writing, early science fiction, early colonialism, and approaches to race and slavery, through topics such as the representation of piracy, and utopian writing.

Teaching and work-related learning

Excellent facilities and learning resources

We adopt an active blended learning approach, meaning you will experience a combination of face-to-face and online learning during your time at LJMU. This enables you to experience a rich and diverse learning experience and engage fully with your studies. Our approach ensures that you can easily access support from your personal tutor, either by meeting them on-campus or via a video call to suit your needs.

Teaching is delivered via a combination of lectures, seminars, workshops, peer presentations, online activities and film screenings. You can also join online groups so that you can further discuss ideas and issues that arise in the classroom.

Work-related Learning

This course offers several work-related learning options to help you develop professional and transferable skills.

This experience will give you the chance to try out different career options, enhance your CV and develop your skills so that by the time you graduate, you will be well equipped to negotiate your way around the competitive job market.

At Level 6, The Writer at Work module also provides an opportunity to pursue a work-based project, be it organising a poetry festival, placing an idea for a novel with an agent or planning a film production.

Support and guidance

Dedicated personal tutor, plus study skills support

Together with your tutors and fellow students, you will become part of a supportive and creative writing community that continually learns from and inspires each other.

The course has a real ethos of aspiration and achievement and you will be encouraged throughout to be the very best writer that you can, with continual feedback on your work from tutors or your peers. The writers residential in Wales and the many readings and literary events organised by the University are particularly valuable for this reason.

Your final year is the time when you have to really refine your work and take responsibility for your own writing future and, with this in mind, you will be encouraged to use your tutors in the role of publisher, producer, script editor or agent.

From the moment you join LJMU, you will be assigned a personal tutor who will be responsible for your academic and personal progress throughout the course. This kind of one-to-one support is particularly useful for discussing course-related issues or concerns you may have during your studies. You will also receive regular feedback and guidance from your course tutors.

Assessment

Assessment varies depending on the modules you choose, but will usually include a combination of exams and coursework.

We believe that all students perform differently depending on how they are assessed, which is why we use a combination of assessment methods.

All assessment in Creative Writing is by coursework and includes a creative portfolio (about 50% of the marks), plus class contributions, essays, treatments, pitches, learning logs, journals, peer critique, projects, commentaries, group work and presentations.

You will normally be given two or three different assessment tasks per module. Once you reach your final year, your creative work or project will account for 70% of the course, and the remaining 30% taking the form of critical commentary or reflective analysis.

In English Literature, assessments include essays, analytical exercises, portfolios of written work, an optional dissertation, peer presentations and formal exams. In your final year, you can even choose whether you want to be assessed by exam or written essay in some modules.

Throughout your course you will be given regular constructive feedback on draft creative work, but for assessments feedback is provided within 15 working days of submitting a piece of work. You will have opportunities to discuss feedback with your personal tutor and course lecturers; this is particularly useful in helping you to identify your strengths as well as the areas where you may need to put in more work.

Course tutors

Our staff are committed to the highest standards of teaching and learning

This degree provides a rich and diverse mix of LJMU's popular Creative Writing and English Literature single honours degree programmes.

Facilities

What you can expect from your School

The School is based in the Redmonds Building, in the heart of the bustling Mount Pleasant Campus and Liverpools growing Knowledge Quarter. The building is home to high quality lecture theatres and seminar rooms, TV studios, radio suites, green screen, editing rooms and news rooms, social spaces, and a caf. It is only a short walk from LJMUs Aldham Robarts Library, which contains all the resources you will require for your studies.

The university reserves the right to withdraw or make alterations to a course and facilities if necessary; this may be because such changes are deemed to be beneficial to students, are minor in nature and unlikely to impact negatively upon students or become necessary due to circumstances beyond the control of the university. Where this does happen, the university operates a policy of consultation, advice and support to all enrolled students affected by the proposed change to their course or module.
Further information on the terms and conditions of any offer made, our admissions policy and the complaints and appeals process.