New online Creative Writing degree puts students in charge of their timetable
A new online master’s degree, designed to accommodate the commitments and complexities of modern life, will welcome its first students in January.
The MA Creative Writing (Online) degree at the University of Exeter has been tailored specifically to put students in control of their own timetable and to break down barriers to learning for those unable to access a campus-based programme.
The two-year part-time degree can be studied flexibly, at the learner’s own pace, from wherever they are, with the inaugural cohort set to become the first to study in this way in the New Year.
Authors and professionals from across the creative industries will lead a rich mix of online and accessible sessions, including lectures, Q&As and guest talks, alongside academics from Exeter’s world-renowned Department of English and Creative Writing.
“We are looking forward to welcoming our inaugural cohort in the New Year on what is one of the first degrees of its kind in the UK,” said Dr Ali Lewis, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, and the programme’s director. “We have designed this programme from the ground up so that it is truly flexible and asynchronous, enabling people to study anywhere in the world at any time of day.”
The nature of the degree is very different to Exeter’s campus-based MA in Creative Writing, with four new modules that each run over the course of 12 weeks, culminating in a dissertation. They include a specific creative industries-focused module, devoted to the pitching, promoting and publishing of written work, and another on how writing might help to change the world for the better.
Among the guest speakers providing special lectures are the PEN Heaney Prize-winning author Susannah Dickey; Ella Frears, whose 2024 novel Goodlord was a Guardian book of the year and nominated for the 2024 Sky Arts Breakthrough Artist of the Year ; and cultural historian Jennifer Otter Bickerdike, famed for her biographies of Britney Spears and the Bangles.
Dr Lewis said that working with the university’s expert Learning Design Team was key to designing a genuinely digital-first and inclusive programme that makes thoughtful use of educational technology.
“We wanted to make this degree as accessible as possible,” he said. “We know that many people want to write, but they have to balance that with care responsibilities, for example, or they find in-person classroom environments uncomfortable. Some people face barriers due to their work or travel. This degree is about fitting study around life, rather than the other way around.”
Though the degree is a first for the Department of English and Creative Writing, the University has extensive experience in designing and delivering online courses at postgraduate level and for continued professional development. For more information, visit the University website.
More information on the MA Creative Writing (Online), including details of discounts available for University of Exeter alumni, is also available on the website.
