PhD Creative Writing
Bath Spa University’s Creative Writing PhD has a reputation as one of the country’s leading doctoral programmes. Students are taught by teams of literary scholars and published creative writers with expertise in most areas of prose, poetry, fiction, children’s fiction, narrative non-fiction and scriptwriting.
The PhD in Creative Writing combines a proposed manuscript (fiction, poems or playscript) with an element of supporting or contextualising research. The proposed manuscript will be volume length (the natural length of a book, whether poetry or story collection, novel, or playscript). The supporting research will be 20,000 words.
We receive a large number of applications for the PhD in Creative Writing, and are extremely selective in our recruitment. Criteria for selection include the viability of the proposal, the strength of the creative writing sample, the applicant’s academic and creative writing experience and achievements, and the ability of the School to support the applicant with appropriate supervision and resources. Applicants for this programme will normally hold a first or upper second class honours degree (or equivalent), as well as an MA with Distinction (or comparable achievement).
Our Creative Writing PhD students come from a variety of academic backgrounds, nationalities, and writing experiences, but what successful applicants have in common is enormous writing talent and potential, and the commitment and ability to engage critically with the contexts in which they write, and the processes and techniques they employ.
Research Environment
Our Creative Writing PhD students constitute a writing and research community. The School’s Research Centre for Contemporary Writing sponsors a range of events and activities, some specially arranged for PhD students, and most of which are open to them to attend. These activities include a strand of events at the annual Bath Literature Festival; a Poetry Series; an exchange programme with Columbia College, Chicago; and a series of visits in which literary agents, published writers of all genres, and editors present talks and answer questions.
The School hosts an annual series of Open Lectures and Readings. Speakers include PhD students as well as contemporary writers; previous guests have included Les Murray, Helen Dunmore, DBC Pierre, Toby Litt, Mimi Khalvati and Kathleen Jamie.
The Programme Leader for the PhD in Creative Writing organises training events exclusively for Creative Writing PhD students and their supervisors.
Specialised research training is given through a programme of Writing Workshop Master Classes in which students take it in turns to have their writing workshopped by other Creative Writing PhD students, supervisors, and a published writer from outside the institution. Writers who have led Master Classes include the novelist, literary agent and journalist Anna Davis; the novelist Maggie Gee; the novelist Mo Hayder; the poet and scriptwriter Michelene Wandor; the poet, memoirist and novelist John Burnside; the poet and literary agent Will Francis; and the novelist Christopher Nicholson.
All enrolled and registered Creative Writing PhD students are expected to participate in these Master Classes, though only registered students may submit their writing to be workshopped.
Monthly Contemporary Writing PhD Research Forums
Our monthly Contemporary Writing PhD Forums are a new strand in our continuous provision of specialist research training for Creative Writing PhD students, and an opportunity to develop further our postgraduate community. Here, the focus is usually, though not exclusively, on an extract from the supporting research rather than the creative manuscript of the student’s PhD work, though many of the same workshop principles and methods we use in the creative writing workshop operate.
Run by the PhD in Creative Writing programme leader, guest supervisors and other colleagues, as well as PhD students, participate in these forums. The forums benefit students who may be at quite different points in their work: from a student working on their first chapter, to a student who needs feedback on the final draft of their introduction before submission.
In 2010/11, the PhD Forum included a specialist pedagogical strand in which different Bath Spa lecturers shared their philosophies and strategies for teaching and lecturing in higher education.
In 2011/12, the Forum will include a variety of professional development strands, including funding opportunities for PhD in Creative Writing students and a careful look at successfully completed PhDs in Creative Writing. We will also be looking intensely at the best examples of writers writing about writing – for example George Eliot, Virginia Woolf, Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes – and basing the forums around an anthology of this work.
Individualized, Subject-Specific Research Training
Together, the student and the supervisory team negotiate a series of assignments and activities that help to advance the student’s own work while at the same time equipping him or her with the knowledge and techniques they need to complete their PhD research. Examples of activities might include a student’s presentation of their creative writing at a PhD Master Class Writing Workshop, the submission of a treatment to a publisher, attendance of professional events hosted by the university (e.g., talks by agents and publishers and writers) or leading some undergraduate creative writing seminars. Research training might take the form of a series of one-to-one tutorials with a supervisor on the subject of their contextualizing critical research, for example on narrative theory, or the presentation of a paper at a relevant academic conference, or the targeting of academic journals with material for publication.
Other Research Training
Each student, upon enrolment, has an individual meeting with the University’s Tutor Librarian to discuss his or her research needs. The Library and Information Service offers training in the use of their resources and on research methods and management. The University has excellent electronic resources and search engines, and is constantly updating and increasing this provision.
The Graduate School provides a series of generic training workshops for students (e.g. The Progression Assessment Process, The Viva, IT skills) and staff development workshops (e.g. The Progression Assessment Process, Appointing Examination teams).
How It Works
The emphasis is not on creating two separate pieces of work, but on integration, on purposeful exploration through practice: an interdependent programme of theoretical and practical work.
Both sections of the PhD must contain work of publishable quality. In the case of the contextualising component, this might mean some of the material could be turned into an article for an academic journal, but this element of the PhD must contain original, rigorous research. Together - taken as a whole - these two elements must make a new contribution to knowledge.
Creative Writing PhD Examples
These examples describe the work of a few of our actual students, past and present. They are meant to help you conceptualise what you might do. They are by no means restrictive or exhaustive.
- Julie Hayman wrote a novel about a man who survives a train crash, only to become obsessed with a female traveller - a stranger - who died. Julie’s critical research concerned the narrative techniques through which novelists dramatise the elastic qualities that time may display during a crisis; specifically, the way time may slow down when physical violence or impact is imminent. Julie was interested in the relationship between events that may take minutes or hours for readers to read and absorb, a few seconds to live through in ‘real time’, and a lifetime in terms of the perceptions of those who endure them. Julie completed her PhD with the support of a full time ARHC studentship.
- Lucy Christopher’s PhD novel is for young adults, and was bought by Chicken House soon after she began it for her PhD. Stolen is a kind of epistolary novel, the story of a young woman who is kidnapped in an airport and then held in the Australian outback. Lucy treats her heroine’s complex feelings towards her captor, and her increased love for the dangerous landscape in which she is held. Lucy’s contextualising research is called The Making and Changing of Stolen. It is a kind of memoir which examines the literary, geographical, and commercial influences and pressures on her novel. Since beginning her PhD, Lucy has published a second novel for young people, Flyaway. Stolen and Flyaway have been shortlisted for numerous awards. Lucy is working on her PhD with the support of a full time AHRC studentship.
- Ian Breckon studied fine art in Norwich, then took the MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa, graduating with distinction. His first published novel, which he wrote for the MA, was Knight of Swords. His PhD novel, which is under contract, is an historical novel about Amelia Horne, one of the few survivors of the Cawnpore massacre during the 1857 uprising in India. The novel is yet untitled. Ian’s critical study is called ‘“The Bloodiest Record in the Book of Time”: Re-imagining the Amelia Horne Narratives in Fact and Fiction’. Ian is working on his PhD with the support of a full time AHRC studentship.
- Nikita Lalwani took the MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa, graduating with distinction. Her MA novel, Gifted, was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize; shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year; and won the Desmond Elliot Prize for New Fiction. Nikita’s PhD novel, as yet untitled, will be her second published work of fiction. Her suporting research is entitled, ‘An Analysis of Nostalgia in Ango-Indian Writing’. Nikita is working on her PhD with the support of a full time AHRC studentship.
- Sam Harvey took the MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa, graduating with Distinction. Her MA novel, The Wilderness, was published by Jonathan Cape, and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize and the Guardian First Book Award, and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. The Wilderness won the Betty Trask Award and AMI Literature Award. Sam’s PhD novel, which will also be published by Cape, is provisionally entitled Ascent. It is a contemporary telling of the life of Socrates. Sam is working on a critical study entitled ‘Philosophy and the Novel’, in which she attempts to understand how fiction can encompass philosophical ideas while not forsaking the forward motion of narrative and story. Sam is working on her PhD with the support of a full time AHRC studentship.
How To Apply
Dr Tracy Brain, Creative Writing PhD Programme Leader, is the first point of call for all applicants. She has an overview of procedures that monitor students’ progress, including Registration Applications submitted by students after enrolment and Progression Assessments.
Telephone: (01225) 875693.
Application forms and admission details can be found on our Graduate School website.
Proposals should be two to four pages long. Please ensure that your proposal contains the following:
- A full description of the creative piece you are proposing to write.
- A detailed account of the supporting research you are proposing to engage in. This will be a step-by-step account of your investigation, indicating the types of sources and methods you will use, why you will use them, and a list of key books in your area.
- An analysis and justification of how and why these two components are necessary to each other. How will the research component help your creative writing? Why will it be a necessary part of your creative process? It is important also to offer an account of the original contribution to knowledge that your project will make. What will be new about your argument? What will be original about the piece of creative writing?
Please also include a sample of your recent creative writing, in the genre you are proposing to work in, of no more than twenty pages.
Hard copies of completed applications and supplementary material need to be sent to our Graduate School Administrator, Allison Dagger, at the following address:
The Graduate School Administrator,
Corsham Court,
Corsham,
Wiltshire, SN13 0BZ,
United Kingdom.
Telephone: (01225) 875510.
We accept applications all year round, though please bear in mind that the Graduate School closes for most of July and all of August; further, the members of staff who assess applications take annual leave during these periods. Therefore, applications that arrive in the summer may not be considered until early September.
Please bear in mind that we cannot evaluate applications until your references have been sent, so it can help speed the process if you alert your referees to the fact that we will be writing to them, and ensure that they send them promptly.
Once an offer is made to a successful applicant, we cannot guarantee that the place will remain available if enrolment is delayed for more than six months. This is because our ability to provide appropriate supervision depends on the continued availability of staff and resources.
International Applicants
International applicants can apply to study full time or part time.
Tuition Fees
Details of tuition fees can be found on the Graduate School webpage.
AHRC Block Grants
The university has been awarded block grants for two, full time, PhD in Creative Writing students.
The first block grant holder will begin their full time PhD study in October 2012. The second block grant holder will begin their full time study in October 2013. Click here to download the application form for the 2012 commencement.
The competition for these grants is open to already enrolled BSU PhD in Creative Writing students who are very early in their studies; and to external candidates.
Competition for these grants will be extremely high. The successful applicants are likely to be published writers – or writers with at least one book under contract – who hold a 1st class undergraduate degree and a distinction for an MA in Creative Writing (or equivalent).
PhD in Creative Writing International Fellowships, Studentships and Internships: Full Time, Residential PhD in Creative Writing Students, Bath Spa University’s Contemporary Writing Centre
For 2011/12, the University’s Contemporary Writing Centre is offering partial bursaries for full time international students applying to the residential strand of its PhD in Creative Writing programme.
The value of the bursaries is as follows:
- Value £3000 (approx $4700 US) in the first academic year; then £100 per academic year with the opportunity to teach up to 6 hours per week (approx £40.00 per hour, subject to availability)
- All fellowship funds are payable in three instalments, subject to satisfactory progress.
- Fellowships are awarded on academic merit as determined by a panel of BSU staff based on your application, sample of your creative writing, and your interview. If no suitable candidates present themselves the awards will not be made. Fellowships are normally awarded for three academic years covering the period 1 September – 31 July. Fellowships are normally awarded to one person but can, in exceptional circumstances, be split between two people Fellowships are only available to students who are studying on the full time residential track of the PhD. Student fellows will normally be given the opportunity to undertake development activities in Year 1 that prepare them to teach during Year 2 and/or 3.
For more details, please see the Postgraduate Fellowships page.
Supervisors
Our students work closely with a team of two or three supervisors - a mixture of accomplished creative writers and literary scholars. The different strengths of your supervisors will come into play with the different aspects of your research. One may have a strong role in supporting your work on your creative manuscripts, for instance, while the other possesses expertise in your area of critical research.
Among your supervisors will be a lead supervisor (termed your ‘Director of Studies’), upon whom the administrative load of your PhD work will fall. He or she completes, assembles and submits the paper work that accompanies your registration application form; completes the annual monitoring report on your progress that is submitted to the School each May; and organises your progression assessment, PhD submission, examination panel and viva.
The Director of Studies is responsible for any other paperwork that may need to be completed while you are a student here. Please note that the Director of Studies does not have more or less input into your research and writing than your other supervisors.
Full Time International Students: Low Residency PhD in Creative Writing, September 2012 Start
In early 2012, Bath Spa University’s Department of Creative Writing will be recruiting a cohort of between four and six students for a Low Residency PhD in Creative Writing.
The successful applicants will begin their postgraduate study in September 2012. Applications are welcome in most areas of writing, including, fiction, non-fiction, script and poetry.
Application Timescale
The application process will open on January 1st, 2012. It will close on 30th April 2012.Click here to download the application form.
Applicants can indicate a preference for their interview to take place at the Chicago AWP in February/March, if shortlisted. Otherwise interviews of shortlisted applicants will normally take place via Skype or phone.
The final decision on all shortlisted applicants will be made in early July, 2012.
Application Instructions
Applicants must complete the special application form, as mentioned above, again available here.
Please note: It is the responsibility of applicants to make sure their referees send their references directly to the Graduate School.
Programme Arrangements
You will work with a team of three supervisors. These members of staff will be announced closer to the time that the application process opens.
There will be one residency period a year. During your residency periods, you will work intensively at Bath Spa with your supervisors and other students, attending workshops and training events. Residency activities will largely be based at our Corsham Court campus.
You will have six substantial tutorials per academic year.
There will be an induction, soon after your enrolment.
You will engage with other students and staff via a moderated discussion board. The cohort model aims to encourage a sense of community, and to give support and feedback on a regular basis.
You will be subject to the same processes and quality check-points of enrolment, registration, annual monitoring, progression assessment, and viva as all of the University’s PhD students.
PhD Timescale for Submission: Minimum of Two or Maximum of Three Years
The Low Residency PhD in Creative Writing programme is for full time International students only. It is a structured programme for students who are strongly motivated to complete within a carefully circumscribed timescale, and have a clear idea of exactly what their PhD research and manuscript will entail.
You may work with extra intensity and submit your PhD after a minimum of two years, though it is rare for a full time PhD student to be ready to submit this quickly, and more likely that you will take the maximum of three years before doing so. The time scale of your doctoral programme will be negotiated between you and your supervisors, and will depend on your progress.
Other Contact Details
Dr Steve May, Head of Department for Creative Writing:
Telephone: (01225) 875867.
Professor Tim Middleton, Head of the School of Humanities and Cultural Industries:
Telephone: (01225) 875660.
Dr Paul Davies, Head of the Graduate School:
Telephone: (01225) 875470.
Mark De Fleury, Tutor Librarian
Telephone: (01225) 876578.
PHD Creative Writing Staff
All members of the Creative Writing team can supervise at PHD level, therefore your supervisor will be a specialist in your chosen area of research.
- Richard Kerridge - Award-winning nature writer; writing and environmentalism; postmodernism.
- Steve May - Award-winning radio dramatist; writer for television and theatre; novelist
- Lucy English - Novelist and poet
- Tim Liardet - Poet
- Julia Green - Childrens' writer
- Tessa Hadley - Novelist
- Tracy Brain - Contemporary women’s writing, the Brontës, Samuel Richardson
- Gavin Cologne-Brookes - Contemporary American fiction
- Colin Edwards - Poetry; early modernists; suspense fiction
- Jonathan Neale - writes theatre, radio, novels and narrative nonfiction.
- Gerard Woodward - Novelist and poet
- Mimi Thebo - Novelist and children's writer
- Steve Voake - Children's writer
- Carrie Etter - Poet
- Andrew Miller - Novelist
- Celia Brayfield - Novelist and journalist
- Ursula Sarma - Playwright
- Paul Meyer - Novelist
- Paul Evans - Nature Writer and Journalist