Creative Writing
The Journalism and Creative Writing Undergraduate B.A. creates a space for you to read widely and write imaginatively in a range of literary forms including fiction, poetry, and dramatic writing. At the same time you will gain practical experience in journalism.
The Master of Research in Creative Writing is a new one-year postgraduate degree. Students work at an extended piece of creative writing on a one-to-one basis with their supervisor from the Creative Writing team. There are no formal classes except a class in research skills. Once a month, there is an informal, practical workshop normally run by students.
At every level of your study, you will be able to get involved in:
- Regular talks from visiting writers
- The annual Keith Wright Memorial Award writing competition
- Participation in local writing events
- Student-led creative writing magazine
- The Edwin Morgan International Poetry Competition
In 2012 our undergraduate students performed at the Glasgow Aye Write Festival and the Edinburgh International Book Festival, and three post-graduate students organised and ran a highly successful Creative Writing Conference – the first of its kind at Strathclyde.
The Edwin Morgan International Poetry Competition is funded by the University of Strathclyde and is now in its fourth year. The Guardian ran a feature about the 2011 edition of the competition.
The writers teaching at Strathclyde are David Kinloch, Beatrice Colin, Bryony Stocker and Lucy Burnett, They write and publish in a wide variety of genres and forms including poetry, fiction and drama. David’s latest book of poetry is Finger of a Frenchman (Carcanet, 2011) and Beatrice’s most recent novel is The Songwriter (John Murray 2010). Bryony writes historical crime fiction and Lucy, hybrid, trans/generic writing and poetry, including Leaf Graffiti (Carcanet, April, 2013).
Our Keith Wright Memorial Fellow is the novelist, journalist and filmmaker, Ewan Morrison. He organizes author visits and if you knock on his door, he will give you useful feedback on your writing. His latest novel is Close Your Eyes (Cape 2012).
Our Visiting Scholar is the poet, essayist and editor Chris Agee. He edits Irish Pages, Ireland’s premier literary journal ( www.irishpages.org). He is available on Thursdays or Fridays for informal/confidential individual writing and publishing consultations. Interested students can contact him directly at editor@ irishpages.org . His most recent collection, Next to Nothing, was shortlisted for the 2010 Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry, funded by the Poet Laureate and organized by the Poetry Society in London.
In 2011, we teamed up with Carnegie Mellon University to produce an anthology of new writing in 2012, edited by Rodge Glass on this side of the Atlantic, and Jane Bernstein of CMU. We are also associated with the new Glasgow publishing house Cargo
Successful graduates include: Louise Welsh, Colette Paul, Laura Marney and Alison Miller.