manchester met phd creative writing

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PhD in Creative Writing and English Literature

Manchester metropolitan university, different course options.

• Key information

Course Summary

Tuition fees, entry requirements, university information, key information data source : idp connect, qualification type.

PhD/DPhil - Doctor of Philosophy

Subject areas

English Literature Creative Writing

Course type

Discover your research degree study options, including areas of expertise for our academic supervisors. Our research degrees will help you advance or change your career, deepen your expertise, and expand your research and practical skills. Join an innovative research cluster focusing on digital society and culture. We provide a comprehensive development programme for research students.

UK fees Course fees for UK students

To be confirmed

International fees Course fees for EU and international students

You should, as a minimum, have a first or 2.1 honours degree or an equivalent qualification.

Manchester Metropolitan University (Manchester Met) is a higher education institution that prides itself on providing a warm, engaging and supportive environment to over 6,000 postgraduate students. The university is divided into four distinct faculties, enabling the effective streamlining of expertise, resources and funding to the relevant schools and departments, and enhancing the postgraduate experience. These are: the Faculty of Arts and... more

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PhD Creative Writing / Programme details

Year of entry: 2025

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Programme description

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Our PhD Creative Writing programme gives you the opportunity to work on a significant piece of creative writing while developing your research skills.

You will benefit from creative supervision by an experienced poet or fiction writer and draw on the range of expertise within the University to find a supervisor for your critical element. 

There are two elements to the programme. The first is a creative element that can be a novel or a collection of short stories of up to 100,000 words, or a book-length collection of poetry of up to 60 poems.

The PhD also has a critical element, which is a piece of literary or cultural criticism of 30,000 to 50,000 words maximum.

Special features

Centre for New Writing

Undertake our PhD Creative Writing programme and you will become part of the University's Centre for New Writing, which has been championing contemporary fiction, poetry and creative writing since 2007 and is home to writers including Jeanette Winterson, Kamila Shamsie, Ian McGuire, Kaye Mitchell, Jason Allen-Paisant, Beth Underdown, Honor Gavin, Frances Leviston, Horatio Clare and John McAuliffe, and Luke Brown.

Additional programme information

Our Humanities Doctoral Academy combines the strengths of our four schools to bring expertise, knowledge, support and high-quality services for postgraduate researchers.

We are a community of academic leaders and postgraduate researchers across all levels in the Faculty of Humanities. The Doctoral Academy Hub houses our specialist professional service teams who support postgraduate researchers throughout the programme journey. This includes admissions, registration, student experience, progression, examination, and graduation.

We collaborate closely with other University directorates including Manchester Doctoral College, Researcher Development team, and the corresponding Doctoral Academies in the Faculty of Science and Engineering and the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health. Together we provide the best experience and support for your studies and research.

Equality, diversity and inclusion  is fundamental to the success of The University of Manchester, and is at the heart of all of our activities. 

We know that diversity strengthens our research community, leading to enhanced research creativity, productivity and quality, and societal and economic impact. 

We actively encourage applicants from diverse career paths and backgrounds and from all sections of the community, regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation and transgender status. 

All appointments are made on merit. 

The University of Manchester and our external partners are fully committed to equality, diversity and inclusion.

Teaching and learning

The PhD will require you to develop your research skills and, to this end, you will be able to undertake a research skills audit and attend seminars and workshops on research methods in the first year.

In this way, you will participate in training seminars across the field of arts, languages and cultures, which will develop useful research, teaching and IT skills.

You will also attend seminars in relation to publication, authors' rights etc, which will be particularly useful to students of creative writing.

Specialised research training, and a wider postgraduate research culture within which your work will develop, is given through a programme of writing workshop masterclasses in which students take it in turns to have their writing workshopped by the other Creative Writing PhD students, supervisors and visiting writers from outside the institution.

Coursework and assessment

The PhD will normally consist of an extended and original piece of creative work and a shorter piece of literary or cultural criticism on a related subject.

The creative element could be a novel, a collection of poems, or collection of short stories. For fiction writers, the word length of this section will normally be around 80,000 words (there is a maximum word length of 100,000 words).

The critical component will involve a critical study of a subject related to the creative work, usually 30,000 to 50,000 words in length. This may involve any of the currently debated topics in English and American Studies as they relate to your creative work. For example, you might explore particular thematic or generic preoccupations in the work of other writers, or investigate some of the wider literary, theoretical, or poetic contexts into which your writing fits. Please note that the critical element is not a commentary on your own work or a self-reflective essay on your own creative processes; it is a piece of literary or cultural criticism of the type you would undertake if you were working towards a PhD in English Literature.

See what our current PhD students are working on.

Related research

What our students say.

Manchester is home to one of the UK's five National Research Libraries - one of the best-resourced academic libraries in the UK and widely recognised as one of the world's greatest research libraries.

Find out more about libraries and study spaces for postgraduate research students at Manchester.

We also have one of the largest academic IT services in Europe - supporting world-class teaching and research. There are extensive computing facilities across campus, with access to standard office software as well as specialist programmes.

Find out more about facilities for our English Literature and Creative Writing students.

Disability support

PhD in Creative Writing and English Literature

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Different course options

PhD/DPhil - Doctor of Philosophy

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Entry requirements, tuition fees, latest reviews, what students say.

MMU was not just a university it was a whole experience for me and I think the best choice and decision I have ever made. From staff to facilities it is a dream university. It is.. Read more

You should, as a minimum, have a first or 2.1 honours degree or an equivalent qualification.

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Manchester Metropolitan University (Manchester Met) is a higher education institution that prides itself on providing a warm, engaging...

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Mphil/PhD in Creative Writing and English Literature

At manchester metropolitan university.

Qualification

Next intake

27 January 2025

Entry Score

Course info

About the course

With a PhD or other postgraduate research degree in the areas of Creative Writing and English Literature you will: Work with renowned experts in the field. We are a leading centre for creative and theoretical literary analysis. In the latest national evaluation of research, 78% of our research was rated as world-leading or internationally excellent (REF2014). We are ranked in the top 10 in the UK for our English research impact (Times Higher Education). Choose from our flexible study pathways. We offer practice-led and theoretical research degrees which can be pursued full or part time. We offer a distance learning programme for students with professional or personal commitments that prevent campus-based study. Be part of the Manchester Writing School. The Manchester Writing School is one of the most successful literary centres in the UK. We can supervise creative projects, and offer various PhD routes suitable for established or aspiring writers. Join a thriving intellectual community. We are a metropolitan centre for literary research and practice in a UNESCO City of Literature, with a large number of postgraduate and early career researchers. Our Centre for Creative Writing, English Literature and Linguistics brings together a range of cultural approaches to deliver innovative and impactful research. Engage in innovative public engagement programmes. Through the work of both our Centre for Creative Writing, English Literature and Linguistics and our Writing School, participate in innovative public engagement activities such as lectures, seminars, performances and film screenings. Undertake tailored personal and professional development training. The Postgraduate Arts and Humanities Centre provides a comprehensive development programme for research students.

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Start dates and prices

Course fees are indicative and should be used as a guide. to get an accurate price.

Duration: 3 Year (s)

Fees: GBP 17000

How to apply

Entry requirements for Manchester Metropolitan University

Application deadline.

The application deadline isn't available Speak to an IDP counsellor for more detailed information

Further information

If you aren't eligible for the above entry requirements, you might ant to explore pathway options at Manchester Metropolitan University . If you want to find out more, speak to our counsellors.

Career outcomes

Pathway options to study at this institution

Reviews and rankings

THE World Ranking

601 st / 1250

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About Manchester Metropolitan University

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