Introduction

The Department of English is home to several exciting and vibrant MA programmes. The department has close links to Manchester Poetry Library, the North West’s first public poetry library, is a key collaborator in Manchester’s UESCO City of Literature status, and hosts a varied programme of events that you can get involved in.

MA/MFA Creative Writing is based in the hugely successful Manchester Writing School and is taught by award-winning writers and critics with direct experience of the creative, editorial and publishing processes. You’ll have the opportunity to specialise in a route that interests you with the support of our internationally-renowned academics.

The programme for MA English Studies draws upon the wide-ranging expertise of the staff and various research centres, including the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies, Centre for Migration and Postcolonial Studies, and Manchester Centre for Nineteenth-Century Studies. We are ranked 8th out of 92 UK universities for our Research Power in English Language and Literature (REF 2021).

Our MA Publishing will enable you to develop specialist skills in print and digital publishing, and pursue a variety of careers in the book and magazine industries. You’ll also benefit from our extensive industry connections with the many publishing houses in Manchester, giving you the chance to enhance your employability with a placement.

Find out more from our staff and students

My research directly supports teaching on the MA English Studies unit ‘Narrating the Nation’, which focuses on twenty-first century Britain in the context of encroaching nationalisms.
Dr Sarah Ilott
Senior Lecturer, MA English Studies
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Students are encouraged to take part in live research projects, such as working with us to develop the ecogame ludography, and are also invited to take part in our annual symposium and game jam – Multiplatform.
Dr Paul Wake and Dr Chloe Germaine
Dr Paul Wake, Reader in the Department of English and Dr Chloe Germaine, Senior Lecturer in the Department of English
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We’re really hoping you will expand your own ideas of what your work could do.
Professor Andrew McMillan
Professor of Contemporary Writing
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
From formulating my own ideas and defining my own thesis, to research skills and time management, the course has provided me with the necessary skills to be successful as a fully autonomous scholar.
Derick
Student, MA English Studies
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It feels a privilege to know that we are working with leading researchers and champions of the gothic genre, from Walpole to today and beyond.
Rob
Student, MA English Studies
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Course listing