BA English Literature with Creative Writing

Programme overview

Entry requirements

Entry Requirements are available on the Course Search entry

Programme specification

Course Overview

The University of Leeds has an impressive and longstanding reputation in supporting Creative Writing. Throughout this course, you’ll explore richly diverse literary texts across different genres, including fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction, and will see these in the context of a variety of historical periods, places and cultures. You’ll consider how and why these texts are produced, read, and understood and analyse the impact of their creativity and power. You’ll develop your skills as a critical reader, a clear thinker, and a creative writer.  Our modules explore themes relevant to how we live today, including race and ethnicity, gender, climate change and nature, social class, disability and wellbeing.  The School of English supports a vibrant community of researchers and creative practitioners. It is home to the Leeds Poetry Centre, and we regularly host readings and talks by well-known and emerging contemporary writers.  The School also produces a literary magazine, Stand, and publishes the best in new creative writing.

Course Details

This degree programme is designed to allow you to follow a balanced path in which your core literature and creative writing modules progress in tandem and in dialogue with each other. You will take core creative writing modules composed exclusively from the programme’s cohort of students. At the same time, you will enrol in our English Literature core modules. Intellectual and creative currents flowing between Creative Writing and English Literature core modules are further complemented by optional modules in English Language, English Literature, and Theatre Studies, as well as Discovery modules in Creative Writing offered in the Lifelong Learning Centre (LLC).

In addition to your creating writing modules at Level 1, you will take Reading Between the Lines and Writing Matters, introducing you to university-level study, equipping you to read critically and write with rigour and persuasion. You are also presented with a choice of optional modules focusing on Race, Writing and Decolonisation, poetry, fiction and drama. This allows you to meet undergraduates from our other degree programmes, discussing with them materials from a critical and literary tradition which will foster greater awareness of contexts in which your own creative work sits.

In addition to your creative writing core at Level 2, you will take two English Literature core modules, Writing Environments and Body Language. These modules explore two urgent contemporary challenges, the climate crisis and personal wellbeing, and will examine how these issues can be understood and expressed through literary texts. You will also select two further modules from a choice of several options, ranging historically and geographically from Medieval to Contemporary, and from Postcolonial to American.

Level 2 will deepen and enrich subject knowledge and intellectual skills, preparing you for more independent learning at Level 3, where you can select from a range of specialist research modules.

At Level 3, you will take two core Creative Writing modules. The final year Creative Writing Project enhances active research skills, enabling you to define, plan and produce work on a literary subject of your choosing. The module Page, Publication and Audience allows you to develop an understanding of the relationship between creative writing practices and the creative industries, exploring methods of reaching your audience.

After your second year of study, you may apply for transfer to an International Degree at one of a wide range of universities with which the University of Leeds has established links. You may also spend a year in industry on a work placement as an optional third year of your degree programme.

Year 1

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable

Compulsory Modules

At Level 1, candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules: 

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ENGL1012	Writing Creatively	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ENGL1065	Reading Between the Lines	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ENGL1110	Literature, Culture and Critique	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Optional Modules

Candidates are required to study between 40-60 credits from the following optional modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ENGL1016	English Structure, Style, Genre	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ENGL1017	English Variation, Creativity and Use	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL1070	Drama: Text and Performance	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL1221	Modern Fictions in English: Conflict, Liminality, Translation	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ENGL1261	Poetry: Reading and Interpretation	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ENGL1855	Race, Writing and Decolonization	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Discovery Modules

Candidates may take up to 20 credits of Discovery modules. They are encouraged to consider the following Discovery modules in Creative Writing:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
LLLC1040	Creative Writing Workshop	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan), Semester 1 (Sep to Jan), Semester 2 (Jan to Jun), Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
LLLC1433	Writing Science-fiction, Fantasy & Horror	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Year 2

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable

Compulsory Modules

At Level 2, candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules: 

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ENGL2141	Developing Creative Writing in Poetry	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL2142	Developing Creative Writing in Prose	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)

Optional Modules

Students should select at least one of the following modules, or they may select both options:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ENGL2030	Writing Environments: Literature, Nature, Culture	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ENGL2045	Body Language: Literature and Embodiment	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Student may also take one or more modules from the options below to fulfil their required credits. Students can select a maximum of one module (20 credits) per basket. The selection of modules should be balanced across both semesters.
Basket 1:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ENGL2029	Renaissance Literature	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ENGL2144	Life, Love and Death from Chaucer to Marlowe	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Basket 2:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ENGL2065	Postcolonial Literature	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ENGL2090	Modern Literature	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Basket 3:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ENGL2095	Other Voices: Rethinking Nineteenth-Century Literature	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL2096	The World Before Us: Literature 1660–1830	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Basket 4:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ENGL2055	American Words, American Worlds	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL2080	Contemporary Literature	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Basket 5: Please note that some of the modules in this basket have pre-requisites for enrolment.

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ENGL2034	Cursing and Courtesy: (im)politeness in English	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ENGL2037	Forensic Approaches to Language	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ENGL2042	Language Policy, Planning, and Politics	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ENGL2049	Language of the Media	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ENGL2051	Language in Society	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Basket 6: Please note that some of the modules in this basket have pre-requisites for enrolment.

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ENGL2023	Power of Language	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL2032	Children, Talk and Learning	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL2033	Crime Fiction Stylistics: Crossing Languages, Culture, Media	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL2039	Keywords: the words we use and the ways we use them	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL2047	Trial Discourse: The Proceedings of the Old Bailey 1674-1913	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL2048	Dialect Hunting	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL2143	Writing in the Age of Digital Media and AI	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL2181	Digital Discourse: language, social media, AI	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Basket 7:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
FOAH2020	Towards the Future: Skills in Context	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
HIST2240	Hands on Heritage	20	Not running in 202627
HIST2260	Digital Methods for History, Art and Literature	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Discovery Modules

Candidates may take 20 credits of discovery modules. They are encouraged to consider the following Discovery modules in Creative Writing:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
LLLC2248	Script Writing	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
LLLC2262	Travel and Journalistic Writing	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan), Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
LLLC2287	Creative Writing Workshop Two	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
LLLC2303	Writing for Children and Young Adults	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Year 3

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable

Compulsory Modules

At Level 3, candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ENGL3800	Creative Writing Project	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP

Optional Modules

Candidates will be required to study 20 credits from Baskets 1 or 2, which contain compulsory option modules. If the 20 credits are chosen from Basket 1, students choose an additional 40 credits made up from Basket 2 and 4, and a further 20 credits from Basket 1 or 3. They will take at least 40 credits in English Literature modules. The list below is indicative and subject to change depending on staff availability:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ENGL3039	Performance Writing	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ENGL3463	Miniature Worlds: Writing the Short Story	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Basket 2:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ENGL3065	Page, Publication and Audience	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL3070	Art in Residence: Cultural Practice in Context	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Basket 3:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ENGL3031	Sex and Suffering in the Eighteenth-Century Novel	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ENGL3033	Writing and Gender in Seventeenth-Century England	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ENGL3034	Romantic Lyric Poetry	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ENGL3037	Speech Acts: Contemporary Approaches to Text and Performance	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ENGL3046	Parts, Periodicals, Newspapers: Literature and the Nineteenth-Century Press	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ENGL3073	Turks, Moors and Jews: Race and Identity in Early Modern Drama	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ENGL3114	Forming Victorian Fiction	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ENGL3321	Angry Young Men and Women: Literature of the Mid-Twentieth Century	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ENGL3680	Postcolonial London	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
FOAH3001	Global African Writing	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Basket 4:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ENGL3008	Writing Modern Sexualities	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL3027	Shakespeare	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL3061	Heart Disease in Contemporary Literature	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL3062	Charles Dickens Then & Now	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL3068	African American Narrative	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL3072	Narratives of Witchcraft and Magic	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL3164	Imagining Posthuman Futures	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL32111	Gender, Culture and Politics: Readings of Jane Austen	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL3391	September 11 in Fact and Fiction	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL3394	Bowie, Reading, Writing	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL3396	Fictions of the End: Apocalypse and After	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL3462	Slavery and Antislavery in the Atlantic Imagination	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Discovery Modules

Last updated: 14/05/2026 16:39:07

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