BA (Hons) English Literature & Creative Writing Bachelor's degree at the University of Kent

How free are writers to make and break literary forms? How do literary forms shape our understanding of selfhood, history, and society? Gain an introduction to the relationship between form and context in literary studies as you explore a rich variety of literary forms from the medieval period down to the present, including poems, plays, novels, and short stories. In lectures and seminars, you will examine how forms produce aesthetic effects and relate to ideologies, with a particular attention

There is another world, which is this world. Dystopias, futures and other forms of speculative writing offer us a new clarity on the some of the most pressing issues we face in our world today. Through examining four thematically structured units over the course of the term, you'll discover how the study of narratives that exist in 'other worlds' can offer insightful and nuanced analyses of complex questions involving environmental, political, historical, and/or societal concerns. You'll also co

What are the key ideas you need to become a literary critic? What are the different approaches to interpreting a literary text? In this module, students will learn about some of the most important thinkers in the history of literary criticism, understand how their ideas and methods changed the way we study literature, and put them into practice in your own writing. They will study revolutionary ideas about class and capitalism, explore dreams and the unconscious, and discuss landmark texts in th

How do writers emerge from, work within, speak to and challenge their cultural and creative contexts? How do those contexts shape our creative identity and practice? What are the varied professional practices and communities that form part of a critic and/or writer's work? You'll be introduced to a range of methodologies to help you develop your identity and interests as a writer, be that critical, creative, or a mixture of the two. You'll explore approaches to creating and developing your own w

What does it take to be a creative writer today? How can you create exciting stories and relatable characters? And does your poetry really have to rhyme? By introducing you to the working methods of the contemporary writer, you'll develop skills in both fiction and poetry. Each week you'll learn an exciting new writing skill like composing a sonnet or developing plot diagrams. The purpose of creative writing is to make other people feel things and see the world in a new way. You'll become a much

How does class feature in contemporary literature today? How do writers tell their class stories? You'll consider British working-class writing in an environment of global economic crisis, insecurity, and austerity, and the context of the marginalisation of working-class voices. Examine how questions of class belonging, community, and identity shape contemporary culture, and how class interacts with other forms of non-class social exclusions. Developing a critical language to talk about class th

How does language speak power? How does it speak against it? Consider these questions in relation to the world's superpower, the US, from the times of the Puritan settlers to the age of Donald Trump. Look at how certain forms of speech, specific rhetorical manoeuvres and particular metaphors have structured power, as well as how they have been mobilised to challenge a status quo. In so doing, you'll be given the necessary tools to understand and critique the aesthetic, political and rhetorical

Feminist poet and critic Adrienne Rich suggested that poetry could be a space that allows 'the structures of power to be described and dismantled'. Romantic poet P. B. Shelley called poets 'the unacknowledged legislators of the world'. Can poetry help us reimagine and restructure our world? What forms might those imaginings and restructures take? What are you and your poetry, invested in? And what kinds of writing could your poetry be? You'll approach these questions from different angles. You w

How do writers craft stories that are compelling, thought-provoking and original? What are the building-blocks of successful fiction writing, and what can we learn from writers past and present, including each other? Each week, you'll explore a key concept of story-telling, such as point-of-view; characterisation; dialogue; plot; structure and planning; voice and tone; description and imagery; location and place; editing and re-editing; theme. You'll also take part in writing workshops, develop

To have the right to the world is to have the right to write, read and construct the world; the right to make a different world. In this project-based module you'll investigate a range of literatures and arts that focus on the right to the world as related to displacement, movements and actions. Drawing on Lefebvre's 'right to the city' and 'right to difference', you'll interrogate who has the right to the world, and explore the ways authors and artists have struggled to claim the right to const