MA Creative Writing

Suggested reading

You’ll be given lots of information about which textbooks to read and introduced to the University Library, as well as the many ebooks we have for you to access, when you begin your studies in September. We don’t recommend rushing out to buy texts before you arrive. But if you can pick some up second hand, borrow from a library or access online, we suggest:

• ATWOOD, M., (2003). Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing. London: Virago.
• BYRNE, J. and SHEPPARD, R., (eds.), (2017). Atlantic Drift: An Anthology of Poetry and Poetics. Todmorden: Arc Publications and EHU Press.
• KROLL, J. and HARPER, G., (eds.), (2012). Research Methods in Creative Writing. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
• EARNSHAW, S., (ed.), (2014). The Handbook of Creative Writing. 2nd    ed. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
• COX, A., (2016), Writing Short Stories. Oxon: Routledge.

Depending on your area/genre of interest:

• EAGLETON, T. (2006). How to Read a Poem. Oxford: Blackwell.
• GUTKIND, L. (2012). You Can’t Make This Stuff Up. The Complete Guide to Writing Creative Nonfiction. De Capo Lifelong Books.
• STEVENS, K. (ed.), (2014). Writing a First Novel. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
• WILTSHIRE, K., (2015). Writing For Theatre: Creative and Critical Approaches. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
• CHURCHILL, C., Blue Heart (1997), London: Nick Hern.
• ALLEN, T., and DUNCAN, A. (2007) Don’t Start Me Talking: Conversations     with Contemporary Poets. Cambridge: Salt.

Useful websites

Depending on your areas of interest, you might also want to visit the following websites:

• BBC Writers’ Room
• Publishers Weekly
• Poetry Foundation
• Creative Non-Fiction
• Writing in Practice
• The Wolf poetry magazine

Things to do now

To help you prepare for your studies and start to get an understanding of how writers analyse fiction, in particular short stories, you may find it useful to start reading:

• SAUNDERS, GEORGE (2021). A Swim in a Pond in the Rain (In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading and Life). London: Bloomsbury Publishing.