Create publishable, disciplined fiction and poetry under the tutelage of internationally acclaimed authors.
Work under the guidance of internationally acclaimed writers of fiction and poetry.
Graduate with a coherent and extensive body of creative work.
Hone your skills with a focus on writing, reinforced with sound criticism and editing.
Acquire the discipline and market awareness needed to create publishable work.
Join numerous acclaimed authors as an alumnus of a longstanding, well-regarded course.

This course takes your work and your ambition seriously. You'll focus on your own writing, under the guidance of acclaimed authors of fiction and poetry. You'll leave with a body of work you can be proud of.

Networking opportunities

With frequent guest speakers, masterclasses and a wide involvement with the local and national literary industry, the course provides ample networking opportunities.

All our courses are designed around a set of key principles based on engaging you with the world, collaborating with others, challenging you to think in new ways, and providing you with a supportive environment in which you can thrive.

With a focus on the disciplined honing of your skills, this course is designed to help you become a publishable writer. You'll be assessed on writing projects frequently, with a culture of self-reflection and peer reviews. You'll take part in genre-specific creative workshops, benefit from one-to-one tutelage and take modules based around criticism and research acquiring the grounding that underpins great work.

You learn through

• seminars and tutorials
• frequent assessment, culminating in a major project
• genre-specific creative workshops
• masterclasses with writers, publishers, agents and other literary figures
• presentations
• editing sessions
• critical, theoretical and research-based modules
• one-to-one tutorials

This course prepares you for a career in

• writing fiction, poetry, children's writing and memoir
• editing
• teaching
• further research
• blog and online writing
• copyediting, proofreading and ghost-writing
• reviewing and criticism
• copywriting

Some of our most successful students include best-selling author ofA Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, Marina Lewycka, T.S. Eliot short-listed poet Frances Leviston and Radio 4 and BBC TV script writer Sharon Oakes.

 

A folder of original writing demonstrating postgraduate level potential and, normally, a degree in English or related discipline.

If English is not your first language you will need an IELTS 6.5 score with a minimum of 6.0 in writing and 5.5 in all other skill areas or equivalent. If your English language skill is currently below IELTS 6.0 or equivalent we recommend you consider a Sheffield Hallam University Pre-sessional English course which will enable you to achieve an equivalent English score.

If you do not have such academic qualifications we may consider your application individually, based on your personal, professional and work experience, and other formal qualifications. You may also be able to claim credit points which can reduce the amount of time it takes to complete your qualification at Sheffield Hallam. Find out more

Application guidance
When applying, you need to submit a completed application form, which includes a section requesting further information in support of your application. This part of the form should use tell us who you are, describe your relationship with writing, and what you hope to achieve on the course.

You also need to provide a sample of your original writing. Your sample is the most important part of the application, and you should use the opportunity to show us what you can do and persuade us that you have what it takes to thrive on the course.

We require one of the following
• 3,000 words of prose - two short stories, two chapters from a children's book, novel or memoir
• ten poems
• a twenty minute script of a one-act play or radio play

Please submit your supporting work to the relevant email address below:

UK students: homeadmissions@shu.ac.uk

International or non-UK European students: internationaladmissions@shu.ac.uk

Important notice:

The structure of this course is periodically reviewed and enhanced to provide the best possible learning experience for our students and ensure ongoing compliance with any professional, statutory and regulatory body standards. Module structure, content, delivery and assessment may change, but we expect the focus of the course and the learning outcomes to remain as described above. Following any changes, updated module information will be published on this page.

Final Year Compulsory modules
Module	Credits	Assessment
Extended Project	60	Coursework
Novel	30	Coursework
The Contemporary Writer	30	Coursework
The Craft: Short Fiction And Poetry	30	Coursework
The Workshop	30	Coursework