Creative Writing

Entry requirements

Why Lancaster?

• Develop your own writing with one-to-one tutorial support from our many celebrated author-tutors.
• Study online or join us on campus to be close to the Lake District, home of the Romantic poets, and inspiration for many writers since
• Study on campus in the University Library’s bespoke Postgraduate Study Space, or in the Castle Quarter within the University’s Postgraduate Study Hub at The Storey, the city’s Victorian-build arts venue.
• Benefit from our rich programme of literary events on campus, online, and in the city’s historic Castle Quarter
• Make the most of our partnership with The Wordsworth Trust in Grasmere and Lancaster’s city-wonderful based LitFest

Our Creative Writing programme has a long and distinguished history which dates back to 1970, meaning that, in the UK, we were there at the very beginning of the discipline. And we remain at the fore with prize-winning authors as tutors, and students who go on to publish their work both while with us and after.

Your project

Typically, we would expect a critical writing piece around 20,000 words long and a creative writing piece of around 60-80,000 words. You can work in a traditional form such as poetry, fiction, drama, and memoir and/or a newer form such as fantasy, game writing, young adult fiction, and the graphic novel. These, though, are just examples; we’re happy to discuss other forms and projects with you.

Finding the right supervisor is key to your success. We would, therefore, recommend that you already have one in mind and contact them before submitting your application. To find out more, see here. https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/english-literature-and-creative-writing/phd/doctoral-supervision

Campus and/or online

Our pioneering virtual learning and research facilities mean you can study from anywhere in the world. Our campus students enjoy a lively programme of Department events, and both distance and campus students meet in termly Work in Progress sessions.

If you haven’t studied a Master’s in Creative Writing at Lancaster, you’ll be able to take our Creative Writing module, Research Methods and Professional Practice. You can take this module in person or online.

Events and Support

We have rich literary connections with the city and nearby Lake District. Many of our special literary events, such as talks from visiting scholars and authors, take place in The Storey, Lancaster’s Victorian Art Centre or at Lancaster’s spectacular medieval Castle.

The archive-rich Wordsworth Museum at Grasmere is usually the venue for our annual study retreat day, and the Department’s May Gathering, a social event, is usually held at Lancaster’s ancient Priory, as is our annual October Lecture.

We seek, when possible, to offer students the opportunity to undertake limited, but paid, undergraduate teaching at some point during their programme of study.

Prizes

Our author-tutors have won or been listed for:

The Betty Trask Award, Portico Prize

BBC National Short Story Award

Waterstones’ Children’s Book Prize

Tir na n-Og Award

Carnegie Medal

Somerset Maugham Award

Whitbread Poetry Prize

TS Eliot Prize

Costa Book Award

Edge Hill Prize

Papatango Prize

Eric Gregory Award

Crashaw Prize

Bridport Prize

Pigott Poetry Prize, Desmond Elliott Prize

Polari First Book Prize

Careers

Our students go on to many different professional futures, including careers as authors, or within universities, publishing, media, and arts management.

Recent publishing successes include:

The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai (finalist of the 2021 Dayton Literary Peace Prize, winner of the 2020 BookBrowse Best Debut Award, winner of the Blogger's Book Prize 2021, winner of the 2021 International Book Awards, winner of the 2021 PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award, and winner of the 2020 Lannan Literary Award Fellowship)

Alligator and Other Stories by Dima Alzayat (James Tait Black Memorial Prize, finalist; PEN/Robert W. Bingham Award, finalist; Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize; Short Story Prize, longlist)

Remembered by Yvonne Battle-Felton (longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize)

Months of entry

October

Course content

Why Lancaster?

• Study online or join us on campus to be close to the Lake District, home of the Romantic poets, and inspiration for many writers since
• Benefit from our supervisory strengths in contemporary poetry, fiction, creative-critical writing, creative non-fiction and script writing
• Complete a significant creative writing project, whether you want to craft a novel or create an entire script
• Be inspired by our rich programme of literary events on campus, online, and in the city’s historic Castle Quarter
• Join a vibrant, supportive community of PhD students working across a range of literacy genres and research projects

We have a team of award-winning novelists, poets and playwrights with the expertise and experience to bring your creative project to life. Our staff have a range of impressive accolades including the BBC National Short Story Award, Waterstones’ Children’s Book Prize and Pigott Poetry Prize. Meet some of our team.

Your unique project

Wondering what a PhD in creative writing looks like? It depends what project you decide to work on. Typically, we would expect a critical writing piece around 20,000 words long and a creative writing piece of around 60-80,000 words. Your creative work can be an extract or a complete piece or collection of prose fiction/non-fiction, a collection of poetry, or a completed script for stage, screen or audio. These are examples; we’re happy to discuss other forms and unique projects with you.

Finding the right supervisor is key to your success as they’ll act as a critical friend. We expect you to already have one in mind while completing your application and to contact them before submitting your application. Most students have one or two supervisors, but you might have more depending on the nature of your project.

Online or on campus?

Our pioneering virtual learning and research facilities mean you can study from anywhere in the world. Our campus students enjoy a lively programme of departmental events and both distance and campus students meet in termly Work in Progress sessions.

If you haven’t studied a Master’s in Creative Writing at Lancaster, you’ll need to complete the core Creative Writing module Research Methods and Professional Practice. You can take this module in person or online.

Information for international students

We may ask you to provide a recognised English language qualification, dependent upon your nationality and where you have studied previously.

We normally require an IELTS (Academic) Test with an overall score of at least 7.0, and a minimum of 6.5 in each element of the test. We also consider other English language qualifications.

If your score is below our requirements, you may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English language programmes.

Contact: Admissions Team +44 (0) 1524 592032 or email pgadmissions@lancaster.ac.uk

Fees and funding

Learn more at the fees and funding page.