Creative Writing
Whether you want to write science fiction, poetry, or for the stage or screen, our Creative Writing degree will support your development as a professional writer.
Explore complex types of communication, digital literacy and innovative storytelling, developing your skills in these areas.
You’ll become part of our vibrant ARU writing community, including postgraduates and alumni, helping you build your professional network and the entrepreneurial skills you’ll need for freelancing and portfolio careers.
Based in the Cambridge School of Creative Industries, you’ll be surrounded by professionals with expertise in performance, film, games, publishing, and digital media.
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Find out more about studying Creative Writing at ARU.
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Get invaluable feedback on all your written work from professional writers, including our teaching staff and Royal Literary Fund fellows
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Attend guest lectures by visiting authors, editors, agents, and other writing-industry professionals
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Join our Cambridge Writing Centre events to showcase your writing and make new contacts
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Develop skills needed by industry and the professional environment on our Careers in Writing module
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Our Business of Being a Writer module will help you understand the path to getting published
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We'll help you find placements and work experience, and you can even opt to take a placement year
Study at an award-winning university
We were named Times Higher Education University of the Year 2023. We've also been awarded a Gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework – a reflection of the outstanding education we offer our students.
Careers
The BA Creative Writing at ARU gave me an inextinguishable tool box of writing skills, critical reasoning, lateral thinking and big picture mindset that has carried through my career so far.
At ARU, you’ll get invaluable feedback on all your written work from professional writers - including our Royal Literary Fund fellows - and other students, giving you the opportunity to consider a range of responses and sharpen your critical skills.
You’ll also develop skills including literacy, communication, research, creative thinking, self-reliance and teamwork. These can help you start a career in many areas, from film, games development and journalism, to publishing, digital media and marketing.
You’ll also have opportunities to take part in collaborative projects, like our HMS Belfast project with Imperial War Museums to commemorate D-Day, and 60 Second Shakespeare with the Globe theatre, London.
Teaching and modules
Our Writing courses will help you develop as a writer, reader, editor, and critic, with skills in high demand in the growing creative industries.
In your first year, you’ll take five introductory modules designed to bring all students to a similar level of subject knowledge and competence. Learn how to reflect on your own practice and assess your own writing work, developing skills around self-concept and personal narrative.
In year 2 you’ll deepen your reflective practice and self-assessment, as well as investigating online methods of finding markets and literary agents and enhancing the digital and information literacy needed to be a successful working writer.
Your final year will involve mostly independent, self-directed work, focusing largely on your Major Project.
Student work
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Created by ARU Writing, Film Production, Acting and Drama students for the Imperial War Museum’s D-Day commemorations. Brian Butler was a local Sightsetter in one of Belfast’s main gun turrets.
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Created by ARU Writing, Film Production, Acting and Drama students for the Imperial War Museum’s D-Day commemorations. Captain Parham was remembered by Belfast’s sailors as a very gentle and humane leader.
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Created by ARU Writing, Film Production, Acting and Drama students for the Imperial War Museum’s D-Day commemorations. Bob Shrimpton was part of HMS Belfast’s ASDIC (sonar) equipment team.
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Created by ARU Writing, Film Production, Acting and Drama students for the Imperial War Museum’s D-Day commemorations. Charles Simpson was one of Belfast’s five Engineering Lieutenants.
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Dr Jon Stone considers how poetry is changing in the digital age.
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Modules are subject to change and availability, and may vary by location. If you have the choice of optional modules, these are indicated with a *.
- Introduction to Imaginative Writing
- Screenwriting: The Short Film
- Multiplatform Storytelling 1
- Contemporary Publishing for Writers
- Multiplatform Storytelling 2
- Into ARU
- Ruskin Module (15 credits)
- Writing Short Fiction
- Careers in Writing: Editing and Copywriting
- Writing for the Stage
- Writing Creative Non-Fiction
- Film Criticism and Reviewing *
- Science Fiction *
- Online Journalism *
- Cult Media *
- From Script to Screen *
- Anglia Language Programme (15 credits) *
- Creative Industries Major Project
- Worldbuilding
- Writing Poetry
- The Business of Being a Writer: Craft and Professional Practice
- Crime and Detective Fiction *
- The Cultural Politics of Celebrity *
- Screenwriting: Writing and Selling the Feature Film *
- Novel Writing: Long-Form Prose *
- Writing and the Present *
- Film Journalism *
- Anglia Language Programme (15 credits) *
You can choose to take an optional placement year as part of this course. Placements typically happen in Year 3, and your course will take four years overall. Find out more about placement years.
- Work Placement - Cambridge School of Creative Industries
Read profiles of teaching and research staff on this course.
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Dr Colette PaulAssociate Professor
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Katharine ReeveSenior Lecturer Practitioner
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Toby VenablesSenior Lecturer Practitioner
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Dr Jon StoneLecturer
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Dr Tim JarvisSenior Lecturer
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Dr Alison MacLeodSenior Lecturer
Entry requirements
Fees and funding
Apply for Creative Writing
Clearing places available
UK students, apply through Clearing for a September 2025 start
UK students
Call our Clearing line
01245 686868
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