Introduction

If you want to get serious about creative writing or publishing, the Manchester Writing School – with a proven reputation for developing gifted students into award-winning professional writers and industry experts – is the ideal place to start.

Sitting alongside the UK’s second oldest School of Art, a new School of Digital Arts and the Manchester School of Theatre, our students are part of one of the UK’s largest and most multi-disciplinary creative communities. With opportunities to work in partnership with students from these disciplines our students collaborate on projects that expand their creative horizons.

We offer opportunities to study at BA, Masters and PhD level.

Postgraduate

Our masters programmes in Creative Writing will help you explore and practise techniques and styles of modern and contemporary writing and apply these through the development of your own creative work.  They are available to study on campus in Manchester and internationally via online distance learning. The Master of Arts (MA) and Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing combine a strong practical element with a substantial academic component. Our courses will help you develop your writing skills through a blend of writing workshops and reading units, allowing you to explore the techniques and styles of modern and contemporary literature. Our MFA and MA can be tailored to suit your writing preferences by following a specialist route in Novel (including Short Fiction), Poetry, Writing for Children & Young Adults, Scriptwriting (for stage, screen or radio) or Creative Non-Fiction. All MFA students complete a full-length book or script under the expert supervision of the Manchester Writing School teaching team

Our MA in Publishing allows students to explore the publishing industries and their markets internationally, as well as the trends, innovations, opportunities and challenges facing this rapidly-changing profession.

Doctoral study in Creative Writing is available through the Centre for Research in Creative Writing, English, Languages and Linguistics (CELL)

Courses (3)

Funding opportunities

US-UK Fulbright Scholarship

For students based in the USA wishing to join one of our masters courses.

Scholarship details

Joyce Nield Scholarship

For students from a non-UK Commonwealth country joining the MFA or MA in Creative Writing course.

Scholarship details

We offer a range of scholarships established thanks to the generosity of donations from Manchester Met friends, alumni and staff. Please visit our scholarships page for information on other funding opportunities. For information on postgraduate loans or our Alumni loyalty discount please visit our funding pages.

Videos

Watch our staff talk about the MA/MFA Creative Writing course

Over the last few years I’ve been encouraging quite exciting collaborations between our writers and our actors.
Professor Simon Stephens
Professor of Scriptwriting
Creative non-fiction is a broad term that basically covers all writing where we’re telling compelling true stories.
Dr Rachel Lichtenstein
Reader in English
The Manchester Writing School is a place for students to pollinate and cross pollinate their ideas.
Professor Monique Roffey
Professor of Contemporary Fiction
We’re really hoping you will expand your own ideas of what your work could do.
Professor Andrew McMillan
Professor of Contemporary Writing

Undergraduate

Our undergraduate programmes cover traditional and innovative aspects of the discipline, combining creative writing with the study of literature, media and publishing. Embark on our BA Creative Writing degree and from the very start you’ll study and practise the art and craft of writing in a wide range of established and new forms. Skilled writers must also be well-developed readers and our BA English and Creative Writing offers the best of both worlds. You’ll learn from academics with expertise in a variety of specialist areas, as well as critically acclaimed poets, novelists and scriptwriters. The English department encompasses three specialised areas: English, Creative Writing, and Film and Media Studies and, because these disciplines complement each other so well, you can combine different subjects and choose the path that’s right for you. Apply via UCAS.

Short courses

The School also offers Short Courses and Continuing Professional Development Courses, including an accredited Masters-level course in Teaching Creative Writing and our annual two-day Summer School.

Find out more