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BA (Hons)
English and Creative Writing

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Key Information

Campus

Brayford Pool

Typical Offer

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Duration

3 years

UCAS Code

Q320

Academic Year

Course Overview

Study world literature, explore your talents, and build a solid technical foundation as a writer with this joint honours degree.

BA (Hons) English and Creative Writing enables students to consider literature from a variety of theoretical, historical, and cultural perspectives. These include poetry, fiction, and drama, as well as less traditional literary forms, such as non-fiction, audio drama, and graphic novels.

Throughout their studies, students can develop their craft as authors, building their own portfolio of creative writing pieces across a wide range of popular formats.

Teaching on the programme is enhanced by workshops, readings, and masterclasses with visiting authors. This gives students practical experience and enables them to learn from experts in the field. Recent students have enjoyed visits from Poet Laureate Dame Carol Ann Duffy, author and TV presenter Chris Packham, and art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon.

Why Choose Lincoln

Subject area ranked 3rd in the UK for student satisfaction*

Optional field trips to places of interest in the UK

Option to study abroad at a partner university

Active research community of staff and students

Hear from guest speakers including published authors

Build your portfolio of creative writing pieces

*Out of 49 ranking institutions in the Complete University Guide 2025.

YouTube video for Why Choose Lincoln

How You Study

This course introduces students to literary forms and theories, enabling them to explore texts and authors from past and present. They are able to study the various approaches to creative writing through the close reading of major contemporary authors, examining their techniques and applying them to the production of original, imaginative work.

In the third year, a wide range of optional modules enables students to pursue areas of particular interest and develop their portfolios while engaging in individual research. This reflects the programme's clear focus on employability, which aims to prepare students for a professional writing or publishing career.

Modules

              † Some courses may offer optional modules. The availability of optional modules may vary from year to year and will be subject to minimum student numbers being achieved. This means that the availability of specific optional modules cannot be guaranteed. Optional module selection may also be affected by staff availability.

              Introduction to Writing Formats 2025-26CRW1001MLevel 42025-26This module aims to introduce students to a wide range of writing formats offered at the University of Lincoln. Students will be encouraged to try different forms to establish good writing habits, with an emphasis on routine and discipline, and by providing clearly structured creative writing exercises that draw on their reading (textual interventions). The module will establish points of contact between creative and critical writing, and encourage students to develop their ideas while understanding their creative process.CoreTexts in Time: Medieval to Romantic 2025-26ENL1070MLevel 42025-26Texts in Time: Medieval to Romantic introduces students to a variety of materials from a range of cultural and historical contexts from the 12th century to 1830, and to methods of reading historically. Students will thus build a foundation on writers and historical periods which they can choose to pursue in greater detail at levels 2 and 3. Students will examine literature in English in a range of forms, such as poetry, drama, fiction, and essays, and the conditions under which these materials were created. There will be a particular emphasis throughout the module on questions concerning the self in society and the cultural tensions that arise when different understandings or definitions of identity clash. The chosen texts will demonstrate and explore understandings of the self in relation to matters such as sex, gender, race, nationality, class, religion, and age.CoreTexts in Time: Victorian to Contemporary 2025-26ENL1071MLevel 42025-26‘Texts in Time: Victorian to Contemporary’ introduces students to a variety of materials from a range of cultural and historical contexts from 1830 to the present, and to methods of reading historically. Students will thus build a foundation on writers and historical periods which they can choose to pursue in greater detail at levels 2 and 3. Students will examine literature in English in a range of forms, such as poetry, drama, fiction, and essays, and the conditions under which these materials were created. There will be a particular emphasis throughout the module on questions concerning the self in society and the cultural tensions that arise when different understandings or definitions of identity clash. The chosen texts will demonstrate and explore understandings of the self in relation to matters such as sex, gender, race, nationality, class, religion, and age.CoreWriting Narrative 2025-26CRW1004Level 42025-26This module introduces students to the core skills and ideas involved in writing stories along with the fundamentals of good research. The module examines the nature of story and narrative, how to create a character, and it introduces the idea of the character in action as a fundamental ingredient in building a dramatic story. Focussing on how to blend fact and fiction, the student will be expected to create a historically accurate sequence that utilises all of the previously considered concepts and in-class writing exercises.CoreWriting Poetry 2025-26CRW1002MLevel 42025-26This module is an introduction to poetry writing and allows students to develop as writers and readers of poetry. Students can read a variety of texts and study various poetic forms and techniques by a range of contemporary poets. The close reading and the innovative application of language will enable students to develop their own skills in these areas and help them to craft their own poetry, paying close attention to the mechanics of poetic writing. Emphasis is placed upon journal writing and workshop practice.CoreWriting Portfolio 2025-26CRW1003MLevel 42025-26This module gives students the freedom to work within whatever genres and written formats they choose and put together a portfolio of their own work. This might take the form of one long piece or of several shorter pieces. The notion of ‘work in progress’ that is developed through to completion will be the basis of this module. Students have the chance to employ the skills gained in previous modules to undertake a more challenging and larger piece of creative work through a series of workshop-based classes that include detailed peer and tutor reviews of students’ work-in-progress.CoreDis-Locations: the Literature of Late Capitalism 2026-27ENL2023MLevel 52026-27Fragmentation, uncertainty and conflict characterise a world in aftermath of war, at end of empire, and at the beginning of a period of radical social and cultural change. This module aims to chart the emergence of the contemporary world from these fractured beginnings through an introduction to British literature of the period 1950–2000. From the post-war Windrush migration to the rise of the historical novel at the turn of the millennium, the Angry Young Men to new feminist perspectives and postcolonialism, this module explores relevant theoretical perspectives on the late 20th Century and encourages an appreciation of the relationship between texts and their social, political and cultural contexts.CoreStory and the World 2026-27CRW2015Level 52026-27In this module students are given the conceptual terms required for an understanding of how narrative works, and how narrative constructs our idea of ourselves and our social relationships as well as informs our ability to create stories. In lectures and workshops, students will be studying the analysis, practice and enjoyment of narrative and will be asked to consider a wide range of texts across a range of forms and genres, literary and popular, visual as well as verbal, as examples of story telling.CoreTheory Wars 2026-27ENL2017MLevel 52026-27This module considers the range of theories that we can use when we read and think about literature. Students will have the opportunity to study psychoanalysis, feminism, Marxism and postmodernism, among others, to think about why and how we structure meaning and interpretation in certain ways. We consider questions such as ‘what is an author?’, ‘what is gender?’ and ‘why do certain things frighten us?’ through theorists such as Roland Barthes, Judith Butler and Sigmund Freud.CoreAfter The End: Reading the Apocalypse 2026-27ENL2027MLevel 52026-27This module explores apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic texts using a range of novels, short stories, poems and films. Lectures will establish cultural and historical contexts and address issues such as form and genre. The module will explore a range of significant periods from early Judeo-Christian fears regarding the purging moral apocalypse, through Romantic preoccupations with nature and industrialisation, postmodernism and more contemporary concerns about viral or cybernetic apocalypse. We will draw from a range of disciplines including literary theory, psychoanalysis, cultural theory, philosophy and trauma theory.OptionalAmerican Literature I 2026-27ENL2024MLevel 52026-27This module explores the nineteenth-century literature of the USA, chiefly focusing on fiction and poetry. Authors covered include Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Walt Whitman and Willa Cather, among others.OptionalAmerican Literature II 2026-27ENL2025MLevel 52026-27This module covers a broad range of twentieth-century American fiction and poetry. Beginning with Fitzgerald, other authors studied include Ernest Hemingway, Jack Kerouac, Toni Morrison, Thomas Pynchon and David Foster Wallace.OptionalBritish Medieval Literature 2026-27ENL2044MLevel 52026-27This module examines key British medieval texts, primarily in Middle English, from the High and Late Middle Ages (that is, from approximately the twelfth century to fifteenth century). It explores the breadth of literary activity in the period through a variety of genres--such as debate poetry, ethnographies, beast fables, romance, dream visions, satire, devotional and mystical writings, and mystery plays--and the evolution of a new form of English (the precursor of modern English), revealing that the medieval period is, in truth, a far cry from the misnomer by which it is often identified, the ‘dark ages’.OptionalClass, Power and Performance on Stage and Screen 2026-27ENL2029MLevel 52026-27OptionalClassic and Contemporary Fantasy 2026-27ENL2064MLevel 52026-27This module examines one of the most varied literary genres extant, one that, at times, is often relegated to the margins because of its slippery nature. Students will examine early examples of fantasy and trace the genre’s development across a number of key historical epochs, from the classical and medieval periods to the twenty-first century. They will consider especially Tolkien as a pivotal force in the growth of fantasy literature and theory, as well as The Inklings, a group whose works had a profound influence on the evolution of the genre in the twentieth century. A range of subgenres of the fantastic will be explored, which may include high and low fantasy, ironic fantasy, historical fantasy, or magic realism, and, alongside primary texts, they will read selections from modern theoretical and critical texts that articulate different interpretations and approaches to the fantastic.OptionalExperimental Writing 2026-27ENL2066MLevel 52026-27This module, conceptually, textually, formally, and intellectually challenging, is designed to introduce students to a range of innovative literatures, in a variety of forms, in order both to interrogate the idea of experimental writing, and its own often aggressive interrogation of the expressive potential of literature.OptionalLiterature of the Fin de Siècle 2026-27ENL2065MLevel 52026-27This module examines some of the preoccupations of the fin de siècle through a series of texts and authors who helped to shape the cultural climate of the 1880s-1900s. These decades gave rise to a pervasive feeling of vital urgency and exhilaration in Britain, as well as a conflicted sense that society was teetering on a cliff edge of irredeemable degeneration. Texts will be read alongside and in light of social and political developments, such as anxieties about Britain’s empire and position on the global stage, evolution and degeneration, sexual identity, women’s rights, the rise of occultism and spiritualism, Decadence, and radical politics. The study of fin de siècle writing will be set against the backdrop of the infamous Oscar Wilde trial, and the sensationalised Jack the Ripper murders, contemporary anxieties about criminality, the empire, and eugenics.OptionalMaking It New: An Introduction to Literary Modernism 2026-27ENL2016MLevel 52026-27In this module students will have the opportunity to explore the early twentieth century, one of the most creative periods in English literature, when writers like James Joyce, T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf and D.H. Lawrence were challenging conventional ways of writing and reading, and rewriting how we experience and understand the world and ourselves. Required reading will include some of the most powerful works from the modern movement between 1910 and 1940 including James Joyce’s Ulysses and T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land.OptionalModern Drama (Level 2) 2026-27ENL2011MLevel 52026-27OptionalPostcolonialism 2026-27ENL2022MLevel 52026-27This module examines literary representations of the world that emerge from the history of European exploration and expansion, and considers literary responses from groups that were marginalized through imperialism. Students will be encouraged to look at the treatment by white writers of issues of race and empire in the early twentieth century. They will also have the opportunity to explore ways in which postcolonial literatures develop strategies of 'writing back' to the imperial centre and re-thinking identity in terms of race, gender and nation. The final section offers a study of postcolonial Britain and some global implications of postcolonial writing.OptionalReading the 'Global' 2026-27ENL2074Level 52026-27This module enables you to explore how works examine, contest, and imagine multiple forms of living ‘otherwise’ in a globally interconnected, but unequal, world through reading a variety of 20th and 21st Century Anglophone Literature. You can engage in lively, interlinked thematic debates, that might include Indigeneity and settler colonialism; nationhood and anticolonial resistance; diaspora; globalization and neocolonialism; world literatures and the neoliberal world-system; cosmopolitanism; the trans-Indigenous; environment and climate; and speculative futures. Primary works could include African, Caribbean, Indigenous, Irish, South Asian, MENA, Pacific Rim, and diasporic literary and cinematographic texts such as film and television.OptionalRenaissance Literature 2026-27ENL2018MLevel 52026-27Students studying Renaissance Literature have the opportunity to look in detail at a range of texts from the late Elizabethan period to the mid-1630s, including work by Shakespeare, John Donne, Ben Jonson and Mary Wroth. They also have the chance to explore the historical and cultural contexts in which these texts were produced, and the effects that they had on the politics and culture of the British Isles in the period. Lectures aim to examine post-Reformation England and late humanism, patronage, gender relations, early modern literary theory, education and philosophy.OptionalRestoration Literature 2026-27ENL2021MLevel 52026-27Students taking Restoration Literature, the companion module to Renaissance Literature, can study in detail a range of texts written between the era of the English Civil War and the first decade of the eighteenth Century, including work by John Milton; Andrew Marvell; Aphra Behn; and John Wilmot, the 2nd Earl of Rochester. Students have the opportunity to also study the historical and cultural contexts in which these texts were produced. Lectures aim to examine the origins and effects of the civil war, the ethics of rebellion and reform, the Restoration theatre, religious controversies, gender relations, developing philosophical thought and Restoration manners.OptionalRomanticism: Literature 1780-1830 2026-27ENL2063MLevel 52026-27Students will study English literature of the Romantic period (1780-1830), including poetry, fiction, autobiography, and political polemic. The module will address revolutions in politics and literary form and ideas of nature, the sublime, sensibility and feeling, abolition and slavery, Enlightenment feminism, the Gothic, Orientalism, and childhood. Students will have the opportunity to study works by writers including William Wordsworth, William Blake, Mary Shelley, Jane Austen, and Olaudah Equiano, placing them in their cultural context.OptionalStudy Period Abroad - English and Creative Writing 2026-27CRW2002MLevel 52026-27This module provides an opportunity for English and Creative Writing students to spend a term at second level studying at one of the University’s partner institutions. During the term abroad students undertake a course load at the partner institution of equivalent standard to that of one term of the programme at Lincoln. Participation in study abroad also offers opportunities for personal student development in the wider sense, taking in cultural, sporting, and social opportunities. In order to participate, students are usually expected to obtain a 2:1 or higher at Level 1, have a good record of attendance and participation, and must complete an application process. A limited number of places will be available each year, and participation is at the discretion of the Module Co-ordinator and the Programme Leader.OptionalThe Arthurian Myth 2026-27ENL2043MLevel 52026-27This module examines Arthurian narratives, myths, and traditions within a variety of contexts and media, and traces a variety of themes associated with Arthur and his court, including history and national identity; violence; kingship and rule; loyalty and betrayal; and love, sex, and gender roles. Students will be expected to assess the importance of a myth that spans more than a millennium and address how medieval texts made meaning within their specific socio-cultural situations, as well as how later periods make meaning through their deployment of the medieval in new contexts.OptionalThe Craft of Creative Non-Fiction 2026-27CRW2003MLevel 52026-27While students are introduced to prose fiction writing and essential narrative techniques at level 1, the field of prose writing is much wider than short stories or novels. In areas such as travel, historiography, literary journalism and biography, writers frequently employ similar techniques to those used by novelists to make events and characters more vivid. This module will encourage students to use their creative and technical skills to write non-fiction, including but not limited travel writing, life writing, articles, reviews and journals. Particular attention will be paid to balancing the need to convey factual information with the creative potential of narrative, language and form. This module will allow students to research a field they wish to investigate such as current events, the arts, history or some aspect of science. Students will learn both how to conduct research (through archival research, observations, and interviews) as well as the fundamental techniques of telling a true story. Extended over two semesters, it will enable students to engage more deeply with a chosen field of non-fiction, for example to produce chapters that would contribute to a book as well as features.OptionalThe Craft of Fiction 2026-27CRW2006MLevel 52026-27This module will explore the role of fiction writing with an initial emphasis on the short story. Many writers begin with the short story. Through writing short stories they are able to experiment, learn the fundamentals of narrative composition, and have the satisfaction of completing something to a high standard in a relatively short period of time. This module will introduce students to the work of a range of fiction writers, whilst helping them to develop their skills in crafting prose. They will be asked to study particular stories each week, but also expected to pursue their own interests in reading. The skills required for writing short stories are also key to working in other forms, so this module will help students to develop as writers, whatever their plans and ambitions may be.OptionalThe Craft of Poetry 2026-27CRW2004MLevel 52026-27The poetry workshop operates as a series of sessions in which students experiment with a variety of poetic forms with the aim of compiling a collection of their own verse. Students will engage with a number of different poets each week as a stimulus to their own poetic engagement, and will compose and perform their own work as part of a practice of critique.OptionalThe Craft of Scriptwriting 2026-27CRW2007MLevel 52026-27This module develops students' knowledge of the craft of scriptwriting for a wide range of formats, including but not limited to audio drama, graphic novel and moving image (short film). Students will study, watch and listen to a number of texts appropriate to the format they wish to practice and develop their understanding of the relationship between character, script and production. Attention will be given to the nuts and bolts of scriptwriting - dialogue, pace, setting, and story. These are key to all forms of creative writing and literary analysis, as well as to creating successful script-based texts.OptionalVictorian Worlds: Literature 1830-1914 2026-27ENL2070MLevel 52026-27OptionalWriting and Enterprise 2026-27CRW2001MLevel 52026-27The aim of this module is to give students an insight into careers in the writing industries. It aims to prepare and support them in the process of applying for employment, residencies, grants, internships and other work in the creative industries and also help to prepare them for the realities of life as a contemporary writer.OptionalA Dream Deferred: Class in American Literature 2027-28ENL3072MLevel 62027-28OptionalAmerican Detective Fiction and Film: 1930 to the Present Day 2027-28ENL3081MLevel 62027-28Why have detective narratives proved so enduringly popular? This module will interrogate the iconic figure of the private eye in American popular culture, through the fiction and film of the twentieth and twenty-first century.OptionalContemporary American Fiction 2027-28ENL3017Level 62027-28This module offers an opportunity to engage with American literature (in a variety of forms) and some of its socio-historical, political and ideological contexts from the late 1990s to the present day. We will explore aspects of canon-formation in American fiction, and study a selection of texts by both new and established writers, in some cases at the point where they are first published in paperback. We will take a thematic approach, locating American cultural production in regional, national and global contexts, with a particular emphasis on writing in the 21st century. There are no pre-requisites for this module.OptionalContemporary Drama 2027-28ENL3004MLevel 62027-28OptionalFinal Major Project (Creative Writing) 2027-28CRW3001Level 62027-28The Final Major Project in creative writing provides all L3 CW students with the opportunity to write an extensive piece of creative work of 8,000 words (or equivalent poems/scripted text) and an accompanying 2,000 word analysis of influence, audience, genre and narrative devices over a period of two semesters. The choice of form, style and genre is up to the student, with an appropriate supervisor assigned to them for the duration of the module. Creative , technical and academic skills developed at Level 2 are further enhanced through this creative dissertation; these include the structuring of an extended piece from an initial idea, the drafting process, editing, and mastery of the particular genre in which they have chosen to work. This close engagement with textual production as a practical exercise not only helps students develop an effective writing style but, by placing them in the position of the author, also deepens their understanding of the author-text-audience relationship within critical, creative and commercial contexts.OptionalGlobal Medical Humanities 2027-28ENL3100Level 62027-28OptionalGothic in Literature and Film 2027-28ENL3006MLevel 62027-28Monsters and attics, desolate landscapes, imprisonment and pursuit: the gothic genre emerged in the late eighteenth century to depict our darkest fears and desires. Termed 'the literature of nightmare', gothic departs from a realistic mode of representation and employs a powerful means of symbolic expression. Students are given the opportunity to investigate ways in which the genre has explored psychological and political anxieties, and themes of sexual and social transgression. We consider literary texts from the eighteenth to the twenty-first centuries, including literature and film, and we give attention to sub-genres such as ‘female gothic’, ‘imperial gothic’ and ‘children’s gothic’.OptionalGrowing Up and Growing Old: Youth and Age across the Nineteenth Century 2027-28ENL3080MLevel 62027-28This module explores what it meant to grow up and to grow old in the nineteenth century, through often contradictory accounts of experiencing age categories from childhood to old age. Students will have the opportunity to examine various constructions of ageing, to reflect on age as a crucial facet of identity. This module considers age as a lens to explore the nineteenth century as a transitional period of growth and expansion as well as decay and decline, through a range of Romantic and Victorian texts.OptionalIndependent Study: English 2027-28ENL3043MLevel 62027-28In this module students have the opportunity to research in depth an author or topic of their choosing. Students are expected to commence research over the summer between Levels 2 and 3 and, on their return, have regular, one-to-one meetings with a tutor who is a research specialist in that field. The supervisor offers advice and direction, but primarily this module encourages independent research leading to the production of a 10,000 word dissertation.OptionalIrish Writing since 1900 2027-28ENL3071MLevel 62027-28This module is designed to examine how terms such as Ireland and Irishness have been constructed and questioned across the last century, a period of immense and often turbulent historical and social change. It aims to explore the representation of place, the nature of nationalism, the changing family unit, gender roles and Ireland's relationship to globalization in Irish poetry, drama and fiction.OptionalLife Writing 2027-28ENL3032MLevel 62027-28This module responds to the recent interest in the representation of lives within literary studies. It discusses a range of life representations (including biography, autobiography, letters, confessions, memoirs, and poems) from the Romantic period to the contemporary moment. Students may consider the origins of autobiography, address Modernist experiments with life representations, and discuss twentieth-century and contemporary innovations, including disability narratives and cross-cultural autobiographies. Themes such as the construction of selfhood, conceptions of memory, the relational self, and the ethics of life writing are addressed.OptionalLiterature and the Environment 2027-28ENL3050MLevel 62027-28The first principle of ecological thinking is that it is not only human beings that are meaningful, and that we are neither so separate from, nor so dominant over, the non-human as we tend to think. In this module students can explore what difference it makes to read literature from this perspective. We study literature as part of our complex interaction with our environment, and, perhaps sometimes, as a uniquely valuable one. Students can read texts from ancient Greek pastoral to contemporary dystopias, and from the poet John Clare to the woodland historian Oliver Rackham.OptionalLiterature and the Visual, 1770–1900 2027-28ENL3095MLevel 62027-28OptionalMadness, The Body, Literature 2027-28ENL3069MLevel 62027-28OptionalNineteenth-Century Women's Writing 2027-28ENL3016Level 62027-28This module explores literature by nineteenth-century women writers through the Romantic and Victorian eras up to the suffrage campaigns. We explore how women negotiated cultural ideals of femininity and the challenges of authorship to produce writings across forms including novel, short story, poetry, play, and in a range of genres such as social realism, gothic, fairy tale and life writing. We consider how these works engage with contemporaneous social debates, especially about women’s social position. Authors addressed include Jane Austen, Anne Bronte, Dorothy Wordsworth, Christina Rossetti, Mary Molesworth, Amy Levy and Elizabeth Robins. These works are interpreted in relation to their cultural context and in light of recent critical debates.OptionalPoetry and Innovative Form 2027-28CRW3005MLevel 62027-28This module enables students to practice advanced techniques and develop innovative strategies for writing poetry. Students will read and reflect upon a range of contemporary works (including emergent forms) in order to further develop their own poetics and poetic practice. Furthermore, the study of poetics as a writerly and speculative discourse will accompany and influence the students' own writing - and the reflection upon the writing - and suggest emergent writing possibilities that students might engage in beyond the module, i.e. various creative environments and cultural economics.OptionalPostmodernism: Apocalypse and Genesis 1967-2000 2027-28ENL3031MLevel 62027-28OptionalScience Fiction 2027-28ENL3036MLevel 62027-28This module considers the genre of modern science fiction and its evolution into one of today’s most popular narrative genres. Analysing a variety of forms – novel, short story, drama, graphic novel and film – students will have the opportunity to examine the socio-historical contexts of some of the most influential narratives of this period. This ranges from the emergence of “scientific romance” in the late nineteenth century, to late twentieth-century forms like cyberpunk and radical fantasy; from the problems of defining “genre fictions” and privileging science fiction over fantasy, to our enduring fascination with alternate histories, non-human agents (robots, animals, genetic hybrids, the environment), ecocatastrophe and post-apocalypse.OptionalSex, Texts and Politics: The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer 2027-28ENL3078MLevel 62027-28This module concentrates on the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, with a particular emphasis on The Canterbury Tales, perhaps Chaucer’s most famous work. Students will have the opportunity to examine the General Prologue and a variety of tales in relation to their historical context and literary antecedents, and, throughout, specific attention will be given to questions of genre (ranging from fable and epic to satire and romance), literary authority, narrative construction, and medieval aesthetics.OptionalShakespeare I 2027-28ENL3074MLevel 62027-28This module provides an opportunity for students to study the works of Shakespeare in detail. The dissemination, influence, and adaptation of Shakespeare is unrivalled, and without an understanding of the conventions that the works dissolved and those that they initiated, a full appreciation of the canon of English literature is inevitably lessened. This modules challenges Shakespeare’s status as an icon of tradition and elitism by reading the texts in the light of recent developments in critical theory, and by locating them in the culture of their age. Students will be invited to examine the ways in which different theoretical approaches might have a bearing upon the interpretation of Shakespeare, they will also be conversant with the religious climate of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, the conditions of performance and play-going in Shakespeare’s theatre, and the significant cultural and historical events of the period.OptionalShakespeare II 2027-28ENL3075MLevel 62027-28This module allows students to study the works of the Bard in detail, and to read them in the light of critical theory and literary history. Shakespeare’s plays are a cornerstone of the canon of English literature, but in wider culture they are often treated as inflexible repositories of ‘truth’ and ‘human nature’. This module will resist such approaches, and concentrate instead upon the ways in which the plays address the concerns of their day, as well as how they have been made to signify in other eras. Students can develop an understanding of how Shakespeare’s work dealt with early modern dramatic conventions, politics, and thought; how it addressed questions of history, religion, and race; and how it shaped the culture within which it was written. This module considers Shakespeare’s mature comedies, histories, and tragedies.OptionalSingle Author Study A 2027-28ENL3085MLevel 62027-28This module allows students to pursue an in-depth study of one author’s literary or dramatic works. The author of choice varies from year to year according to academics’ current research interests, but potential authors may include writers of fiction and/or poetry such as Angela Carter, Charlotte Bronte, Iain Banks, Thomas Pynchon, M.R.James, Jane Austen and Sylvia Plath; and dramatists such as Caryl Churchill, Thomas Middleton, Aphra Behn, Ben Johnson and debbie tucker green. Students will explore the writer’s oeuvre in terms of themes, style, and engagement with form and genre traditions, and with contemporary cultural debates. We also address practicalities of authorship such as the role of editors, publishing/performance formats, and different readerships/audiences. Students will also consider the writer’s legacies including the ‘afterlife’ of their works in adaptation. As well as studying texts, students will engage with conceptual debates about the role of the author : is attention to the author’s life an outmoded and over-deterministic approach to the study of a text? or a necessary part of contextualisation? As we scrutinise the figure of the author in biography, literary societies, literary tourism and popular culture, we ask : what purposes does the ‘author’ as a cultural construction serve ? and does this have anything to do with reading?OptionalSingle Author Study B 2027-28ENL3086MLevel 62027-28This module allows students to pursue an in-depth study of one author’s literary or dramatic works. The author of choice varies from year to year according to academics’ current research interests, but potential authors may include writers of fiction and/or poetry such as Angela Carter, Charlotte Bronte, Iain Banks, Thomas Pynchon, M.R.James, Jane Austen and Sylvia Plath; and dramatists such as Caryl Churchill, Thomas Middleton, Aphra Behn, Ben Johnson and debbie tucker green. Students will explore the writer’s oeuvre in terms of themes, style, and engagement with form and genre traditions, and with contemporary cultural debates. We also address practicalities of authorship such as the role of editors, publishing/performance formats, and different readerships/audiences. Students will also consider the writer’s legacies including the ‘afterlife’ of their works in adaptation. As well as studying texts, students will engage with conceptual debates about the role of the author : is attention to the author’s life an outmoded and over-deterministic approach to the study of a text? or a necessary part of contextualisation? As we scrutinise the figure of the author in biography, literary societies, literary tourism and popular culture, we ask : what purposes does the ‘author’ as a cultural construction serve ? and does this have anything to do with reading?OptionalThe Literature of Childhood 2027-28ENL3010MLevel 62027-28This module explores how childhood is constructed in a wide range of literary texts – texts by adults for adults, by adults for children, and by children themselves. Underpinning the module is the notion of ‘childhood’ as a cultural construct into which writers invest various, even contradictory, meanings. Students have the opportunity to explore texts by adults who idealise or demonise the child to suit their personal and philosophical agendas. Students may then analyse the mixture of didactic and therapeutic agendas in enduring genres of children’s literature such as the fairytale, adventure story and cautionary tale. Finally, we turn to children as authors in a study of juvenilia.OptionalTwenty-First Century British Fiction 2027-28ENL3079MLevel 62027-28This module aims to explore new thematic trends, stylistic innovations and cultural developments in post-millennial British fiction, including a focus on globalising processes, transnational migration and digital technology. The module also addresses the development (and rethinking of the concepts) of gender and class in literature of the period and account for the continuing importance of the literary form in an age of digital publishing.OptionalWomen’s Writing and Feminist Theory 2027-28ENL3002MLevel 62027-28Students can study a diverse range of prose, poetry, and drama written by women from the eighteenth century to the present is considered alongside key concepts in feminist theory and the history of the women’s movement. Writers range from Mary Wollstonecraft to Zora Neale Hurston to Jeanette Winterson. Topics range from the feminine aesthetic and French feminism to feminist utopianism and cyberfeminism.OptionalWriting Contemporary and Historical Fiction 2027-28CRW3011Level 62027-28In this module, students have the opportunity to examine the narrative, technical and aesthetic aspects identified in this broad range of narratives through reference to successful published texts and develop their own narratives. Unrestricted to the format in which they wish to write, students will examine approaches to crafting a successful genre-based novel that will appeal to, meet and potentially challenge the expectations of their respective audiences. With frequent reference to contemporary works, the module is structured in a way that will be guided by the interests of the learners; contemporary fiction can range from literary writing to crime thrillers, and while writing for historical fiction includes its own specific practices (such as the application of appropriate and accurate research), both creative forms share an enduring popularity with readers. As such, this makes these areas of writing attractive to new authors, and this module will encourage students to learn and develop practical, incremental skills and progressively apply these to their final assessment and be given the opportunity to evaluate the how, why and when of its production.OptionalWriting for Children and Young Adults 2027-28CRW3009MLevel 62027-28In this module, students approach writing for children and young adults in a way that reflects the genre’s relationship to literary fiction and traditional storytelling. By examining the narrative, technical and aesthetic aspects identified in these narratives—as well as in their own writing—students are encouraged to craft narratives that appeal to readers of all ages. With frequent reference to contemporary works, the module is structured in a way that encourages students to learn and develop practical, incremental skills and progressively apply these to their final project: the opening passage to a novel-length work, with an accompanying outline for the complete story.OptionalWriting Science Fiction and Fantasy 2027-28CRW3007MLevel 62027-28This module will introduce students to some of the specific elements of writing science fiction and fantasy. Although these two genres only emerged fully during the twentieth century, they have their roots in literature that is as old as the classics in the case of fantasy and the writings of Jonathan Swift and Mary Shelley with regard to science fiction. Frequently a medium for satire and social commentary, this module will explore some of the ways in which science fiction and fantasy authors offer means to develop thought experiments and oblique commentary on contemporary developments.Optional

              What You Need to Know

              We want you to have all the information you need to make an informed decision on where and what you want to study. In addition to the information provided on this course page, our What You Need to Know page offers explanations on key topics including programme validation/revalidation, additional costs, contact hours, and our return to face-to-face teaching.

              How you are assessed

              The University of Lincoln's policy on assessment feedback aims to ensure that academics will return in-course assessments to students promptly - usually within 15 working days after the submission date.

              The way students are assessed on this course may vary for each module. Examples of assessment methods that are used include coursework, such as written assignments, reports or dissertations; practical exams, such as presentations, performances or observations; and written exams, such as formal examinations or in-class tests. The weighting given to each assessment method may vary across each academic year. The University of Lincoln aims to ensure that staff return in-course assessments to students promptly.

              Staff Expertise

              Lincoln’s English academics are research leaders in their fields, and their projects directly inform their teaching. There are particular strengths in 21st Century literature, 19th Century literature, Gothic studies, American literature, and the medieval. Students may benefit from readings and masterclasses by published authors and guest speakers in the creative industries. Previous guests have included Dame Carol Ann Duffy, Dame Penelope Lively, and Patience Agbabi.

              YouTube video for Staff Expertise

              Study Abroad 

              In the second year, students have the option to select a Study Abroad Period. Students can spend a term studying at one of the University’s partner institutions.

              In order to participate, students are usually expected to obtain a 2:1 or higher in first year, have a good record of attendance and participation, and must complete an application process. A limited number of places will be available each year, and participation is at the discretion of the module co-ordinator and the Programme Leader. Students are responsible for travel, accommodation, and general living costs while studying abroad.

              The University of Lincoln’s Creative Writing programme is unparalleled, offering a diverse range of modules and exceptional academic support. In comparison to programmes offered by other universities, it is by far the most outstanding I’ve seen.

              Jessica Toye

              BA (Hons) English and Creative Writing graduate

              What Can I Do with an English and Creative Writing Degree?

              English and Creative Writing graduates may choose to pursue careers in various literary and creative professions, such as publishing, journalism, advertising, public relations, marketing, the civil service, and communications. Students can continue their studies at postgraduate level or take qualifications in teaching.

              Lincoln graduates have gone on to work at regional and national media outlets including the BBC, The Daily Mail, and Channel 4.

              Entry Requirements 2025-26

              United Kingdom

              104 UCAS Tariff points from a minimum of 2 A Levels or equivalent level 3 qualifications.

              BTEC Extended Diploma: DMM

              T Level: Merit

              Access to Higher Education Diploma: 45 Level 3 credits with a minimum of 104 UCAS Tariff points

              International Baccalaureate: 28 points overall.

              GCSE's: Minimum of three at grade 4 or above, which must include English. Equivalent Level 2 qualifications may be considered.


              The University accepts a wide range of qualifications as the basis for entry and do accept a combination of qualifications which may include A Levels, BTECs, EPQ etc.

              We may also consider applicants with extensive and relevant work experience and will give special individual consideration to those who do not meet the standard entry qualifications.

              International

              Non UK Qualifications:

              If you have studied outside of the UK, and are unsure whether your qualification meets the above requirements, please visit our country pages
              https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/studywithus/internationalstudents/entryrequirementsandyourcountry/ for information on equivalent qualifications.

              EU and Overseas students will be required to demonstrate English language proficiency equivalent to IELTS 6.0 overall, with a minimum of 5.5 in each element. For information regarding other English language qualifications we accept, please visit the English Requirements page
              https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/studywithus/internationalstudents/englishlanguagerequirementsandsupport/englishlanguagerequirements/

              If you do not meet the above IELTS requirements, you may be able to take part in one of our Pre-sessional English and Academic Study Skills courses.

              https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/studywithus/internationalstudents/englishlanguagerequirementsandsupport/pre-sessionalenglishandacademicstudyskills/

              If you would like further information about entry requirements, or would like to discuss whether the qualifications you are currently studying are acceptable, please contact the Admissions team on 01522 886097, or email admissions@lincoln.ac.uk

              Contextual Offers

              At Lincoln, we recognise that not everybody has had the same advice and support to help them get to higher education. Contextual offers are one of the ways we remove the barriers to higher education, ensuring that we have fair access for all students regardless of background and personal experiences. For more information, including eligibility criteria, visit our Offer Guide pages. If you are applying to a course that has any subject specific requirements, these will still need to be achieved as part of the standard entry criteria.

              Fees and Scholarships

              Going to university is a life-changing step and it's important to understand the costs involved and the funding options available before you start. A full breakdown of the fees associated with this programme can be found on our course fees pages.

              Course Fees

              For eligible undergraduate students going to university for the first time, scholarships and bursaries are available to help cover costs. To help support students from outside of the UK, we are also delighted to offer a number of international scholarships which range from £1,000 up to the value of 50 per cent of tuition fees. For full details and information about eligibility, visit our scholarships and bursaries pages.

              Course -Specific Additional Costs

              Students are responsible for travel, accommodation, and general living costs while on study abroad.

              Find out More by Visiting Us

              The best way to find out what it is really like to live and learn at Lincoln is to visit us in person. We offer a range of opportunities across the year to help you to get a real feel for what it might be like to study here.

              Three students walking together on campus in the sunshine

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              The University intends to provide its courses as outlined in these pages, although the University may make changes in accordance with the Student Admissions Terms and Conditions.