Creative Writing BA(Hons)

International requirements and visas

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Visas and immigration advice

Top reasons to choose this course

• Staff are active writers – you will learn from published novelists, poets and screenwriters.

• Strong local publishing connections – we organise a programme of visiting writers and publishing professionals. Take a look at some of our prizes and partnerships.

• Scrivener talks give you the chance to speak to a professional writer about their work.

• Our focus on employability, including a placement, ensures you will graduate as an emerging writer with a strong skill set.

• Extracurricular activities such as the Performance and Communities Research and Enterprise Group and the student-led Creative Writing Society.

• Alumni making a difference – graduates from our programmes include Paris Lees, Merci Roberts, Munroe Bergdorf and Tanaka Mhisi.

• Excellent student support and a warm and encouraging community.

• Weekly round-up of writing competitions and opportunities to promote your work and consider future careers.

• Workshops and spoken word events help you find your writing voice.

• Professional feedback on any aspect of your writing from our resident Royal Literary Fund Fellow.

Year 1

All students study the same modules in year 1, where you will develop your awareness of writing genres and work with local writers.

You will learn through lectures, seminars and workshops as well as small group and individual tutorials.

Modules

• Narratives of (Un)belonging

  Explore the cultural and critical concepts of belonging and unbelonging. You’ll situate yourself as an emerging, socially responsible writer in the wider world by engaging with diverse writings that explore themes of migration and movement, home and displacement, search for a community and our relationship to the environment and different spaces.

• The World, the Text and the Critic

  Taking inspiration from Edward Said’s book The World, the Text, and the Critic (1983), this module enables you to explore some of the key debates in contemporary literary studies. Organised around decolonial, feminist, queer, ecocritical and other approaches to texts, you will develop critical writing skills and knowledge of social, cultural and political contexts in the interpretation of literary works and the wider world. 

• Writers on Writing

  Explore the concept of a professional writerly identity and consider a ‘writing life’ in personal, local and global terms. Through studying and contact with professional writers, you will investigate writing as self-expression, craft, process and profession; curating a writerly identity/persona; developing your writing towards your future career; and the writing life and its implications on the global stage, for example as an act of resistance to inequalities.

• Storying The Self

  This module will introduce you to practices of storying the self in writing and digital media. Through creating a first person story combining audio script, music and still image, you will engage with the expressive complexities of autobiographical representation. The module will also give you the creative writing tools to experiment with storying the self in a variety of written genre.

• Staging Politics

  How might theatre engage audiences with the politics of class, race, gender, sexuality and the environment? You’ll examine a range of plays in context, exploring how provocative stories develop through characterisation, stage directions, dialogue and dramatic action. Learn to think critically and creatively about theatrical texts and how to write scripts for stage in inclusive collaborations with your peers.

• Brighton Writes

  Brighton is a vibrant and unique place that has impacted on British and European culture as well being at the forefront of social changes since the eighteenth century. This module is a literary and cultural exploration of Brighton as a place. You will engage and connect with Brighton’s history, literary culture and your own creative writing practice. The module benefits from several city trips which will bring learning materials to life.

Our courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis in order to make sure that what you learn with us is relevant and that your course enables you to develop appropriate skills. When you apply to study with us, we will inform you of any new developments in your chosen programme through Student View.

The Pier Review literary magazine run by students, teachers and alumni.

Year 2

There are placement opportunities available in the second year as well as field trips to theatres, museums, schools and community organisations. You are also welcome to study abroad for a semester during your second year.

You will be able to choose to either stay with the broad Creative Writing degree or specialise in wellbeing or comics and graphic novels. Core and option modules available to you will depend upon which pathway you choose. In year 2 you’ll take two core modules and choose four options.

Modules

Core modules

• Genres

  You will study a range of genre and sub-genre specialisms in drama, poetry and prose, with a view to developing your own creative practice in one or more of these. You’ll reflect on the place of genre in storytelling and in the publishing ecosystem and on the distinctions between highbrow, lowbrow and commercial writing. You’ll also look at how genre conventions may be productively or unproductively used and how genre may be used as a cultural lens.

• Childhood, Psychology and Society

  This module examines the role of psychology in understanding contemporary issues that children face in society, including their education, health and wellbeing and involvement in the criminal justice system. You will critically evaluate current psychological interventions that are used with children and propose new and novel interventions.

• Stories that Transform: Reading and Writing for Change

  You will explore a variety of writing styles and genres during this module and consider the potential storytelling has to transform readers and writers. You will experiment with different writing styles, voices and techniques to develop your storytelling craft. These could take the form of styles such as prose, poetry or script, but may also include narrative forms that blend image and text.

• Professional Practice and Placement

  In this module, you will undertake a work placement or creative project where you’ll put into practice the skills and knowledge you’ve learned throughout your degree. It will enable you to follow up on areas of particular interest and gain insight into the kinds of roles and work you may wish to enter into in future. It will develop your employability skills, confidence and knowledge of your professional and personal self.

• Psychology Mental Health and Distress

  This module covers psychological understandings of mental health and distress. It looks at the role of biology, culture and history in the formulation of mental health problems and the role and validity of diagnoses in clinical management. It also evaluates psychological explanations, personal experiences and interventions for mental health and distress.

• Community Engagement

  At the heart of this module is a 40-hour voluntary engagement within a local, not-for-profit organisation. You will also explore community engagement theory, reflect on your personal values and aspirations, and develop transferable skills through both theory and practice. You will develop awareness of broad social, structural and economic issues which impact the work of local not-for-profit organisations and the lived experiences of the communities they support.

• Research and Practice

  This module introduces the research skills and methods appropriate to undergraduate study of creative writing and prepares you for your third-year dissertation or creative/critical project. You will learn the relevant traditions, approaches and methods to collecting, creating and analysing materials and apply your knowledge in workshop exercises. Both cultural and ‘life’ texts are covered.

Options*

• Contemporary Narratives and Society

  In this module you will explore the ways in which social, cultural and political changes and their effects on society and the individual have been explored in contemporary narratives. You will also investigate how these narratives act as vehicles for the expression of and engagement with political and social issues.

• Writing for Stage, Radio and Screen

  You will develop the ability to write engaging and inspiring scripts across stage, radio and screen during this module. You’ll analyse a range of produced work and relate your own practice to that of other writers. The module will provide you with a sense of the creative and professional opportunities available in writing for each of the three media.

• Early Modern Literature

  This module introduces a range of literary texts written between around 1600 and 1750 and places them within the historical, social, cultural and political contexts of the time. You will discuss the major historical developments and movements of the period as reflected in the texts, such as Early Modern feminism, religious and political controversies, colonialism and the slave trade.

• Travel Narratives Through Time and Space

  This module will introduce you to a range of texts including semi-fictional travel adventure stories, pilgrimage narratives, prescriptive tourist guides, letters from abroad, travel journalism, blogs, memoir, scholarly travelogue, fiction and visual representations (film, photos). You will explore how gender, class, colonialism and post-colonialism shape the travel narrative, the intercultural experience of the traveller, migration and mobility.

• Introduction to Journalism

  This module is a practical introduction to journalism and the media industry and will provide you with the skills to plan and write news and feature articles on various topics for different media audiences. You will look at the work of press officers, how to write press releases and feature articles, the ethical aspects of journalism, how to interview effectively and how to write for specific audiences.

• Twentieth Century Literary Experiments

  This module explores a selection of twentieth-century writing, focusing on some of the key experiments in modernist and postmodernist writing and looking at these as part of a wider cultural change. You will explore ways to situate literary innovation within a social and historical context and look at some prominent themes. You’ll also study technical and formal innovation in poetry and prose.

• Queer Writing

  In this module you will explore a tradition of LGBTQ+ writing in the context of the history and politics of sexuality and queer identities over the past two centuries. The module uses key dates in that history to examine and debate how representation and writing have been both tools of oppression and liberation. Primary texts and films/TV shows could include The Well of Loneliness, Stone Butch Blues, The Black Flamingo, Swimming in the Dark and Fairytales for Lost Children.

• Literature and Art History

  Literature and Art History introduces the interrelationship between literature and fine art and addresses two key issues: how to study a text’s broader cultural setting and how to use art history to enhance literary analysis. You will explore topics including the illustrated manuscript, visual realism, the literary imagination, ‘painterly’ literature, ‘poetic’ painting, language and the word as art objects, writers’ responses to art, and the impact on literature of radical modes of visual representation, such as abstraction and minimalism.

• Power and Persuasion

  In this module, you will explore how power and persuasion are created, legitimised and challenged by examining a range of discourse types. You will study theoretical approaches to understanding the art of persuasion, drawing upon the literature of rhetoric and notions of power. You’ll examine different types of media, apply theoretical and analytical perspectives and locate the texts and their creators within their political, social and cultural contexts.

• Writing for Stage, Radio and Screen

  You will develop the ability to write engaging and inspiring scripts across stage, radio and screen during this module. You’ll analyse a range of produced work and relate your own practice to that of other writers. The module will provide you with a sense of the creative and professional opportunities available in writing for each of the three media.

• Poetry and Process

  This module focuses on writing poetry that works on the page as well as in performance. You will learn the effects of using varied approaches to the line and stanza, and different types of poetic device, technique and structure. You will produce your own original poetry designed to move a reader who doesn’t know you and cultivate critical skills to apply to your own writing practice.

• Image and Text: The Language of Comics and Graphic Novels

  This module will teach you to deconstruct comics and graphic novels and explore how the interrelationship between text and image generates meaning. You will look at the formal properties of the page, such as panels, borders, gridding, speech bubbles and artist style, and investigate how these impact and inform the text. You will also explore the ways in which comics are used to reflect personal, local and global issues.

• Twentieth Century Literary Experiments

  This module explores a selection of twentieth-century writing, focusing on some of the key experiments in modernist and postmodernist writing and looking at these as part of a wider cultural change. You will explore ways to situate literary innovation within a social and historical context and look at some prominent themes. You’ll also study technical and formal innovation in poetry and prose.

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Final year

In your final year you will take two core modules and choose from a selection of options depending on the pathway you have chosen. Publisher Epoque Press awards a prize for the best dissertation.

Modules

Core modules

• Brighton Rocks: Final Year Show

  This module will enable you to critically reflect on your academic and personal development throughout your time at Brighton University and the ways in which you are equipped to meet personal, local and global challenges. You will gain experience presenting, exhibiting or performing your work in a conference setting and, together with other students, will organise a final year show.

• Creative Dissertation

  In this module, you will work closely with a supervisor to undertake an academic investigation to develop your understanding of your chosen subject area(s) and your sense of yourself as a researcher, writer and artist. Workshops and seminars will provide guidance on framing the enquiry, the use and interpretation of published critical and theoretical material, structure of the dissertation and critical debate.

Options*

• Russian Literature and Culture: The Golden Age and Beyond

  You will study selected works of Russian fiction in English translation in this module and critically analyse the influence of major historical, political and socio-economic events. You’ll explore notions of civilization and national and cultural identity, as well as the ways in which authors have supported or opposed ideologies and beliefs circulating within Russia.

• Restoration Dramas

  British theatre is defined by its engagement with its own history; this module will look at 17th-century dramatic texts and how they reflected the culture, politics, theatre and society of the time, focusing on their exploration of and challenge to cultural identities and ideas. During the module, you will write and produce a contemporary-style theatre programme for an actual or imagined seventeenth-century production of a restoration play.

• Postwar American Literature

  You will look at the diversity of American Literature in this module, stretching from the postwar period to the end of the twentieth century. Looking at the genres and forms of Postwar American literature, for example the modern American novel, poetry and the short story, you will examine the ways in which American literature both documents and responds to the changing social, cultural and political contexts of the twentieth century.

• Apocalypse, Utopia, Dystopia

  In this module you will study major texts of the apocalyptic, utopian and dystopian tradition and consider their generic definitions and distinctions. You will examine ways in which these genres communicate anxieties regarding contemporary political and social issues and engage with contemporary identity politics of gender and sexuality, class, ‘race’ and ethnicity. You’ll also explore the ways in which these texts have been adapted for other forms of media.

• Environment, Landscape and Nature Writing

  This module considers how landscape is depicted in the literary arts and how these representations can shape nation, culture and identity. Landscape can be overlooked as ‘scenery’ or a literary device forming a ‘setting’, but landscape and our perceptions of it harbour complex ideas about who and where we are. You will explore ideas through walking, sensory engagement, identifying landscape features and understanding what it is it to have a ‘sense of place’.

• Autoethnography

  In this module, you will research autoethnographic work and design a research project that links your personal experiences with a specific cultural/social group and your writing development. Guided by workshops, feedback and tutorials, you will present your autoethnographic project to a seminar group where your ideas will be discussed to help you produce your final assessment piece.

• Community Placement: Theory in Practice

  This module enables you to develop practical wisdom by actively implementing and testing out the skills and knowledge gained from your degree through a 50-hour professional work placement. You will build employability skills and follow up on areas of particular interest related to your main field of study. Critically reflecting on yourself and your experience, you will gain an insight into future employment positions.

• From Script to Screen

  In this module, you will take an original premise and develop a screen play and storyboard, then direct and edit your work into a six-minute fictional film. A series of lectures and workshops will explore short film structure, characterisation, visual grammar, scene writing and genre, as well as storyboarding, film editing and film production.

• Creative Writing Project

  During this module, delivered via a series of master classes, you will choose a specific style or genre and develop an extended piece of creative writing that fulfils the criteria for published work. Styles can include poetry anthology, a TV, film, radio or stage script, a short story or the beginning of a novel. Working in groups, you will discuss your processes and share your writing and there will be opportunities to submit your work for the student anthology, competitions and open mic nights.

• Women's Writing and Feminist Theory

  This module explores and discusses the ways in which literary texts engage with dominant ideas about gender and sexuality and the extent to which feminist ideas have transformed form, content and the political purpose of literary writing globally. It draws on feminist literary, political, anthropological and sociological theories to debate cultural forms in different contexts.

• Gothic Texts and Contexts

  In this module you will critically reflect upon the social relevance of Gothic texts and how they articulate, develop or challenge notions of the ‘Gothic’ from the eighteenth century into the twenty-first century. You will look at texts such as Paradise Lost, Dr Faustus, The Castle of Otranto, The Monk, Frankenstein, Christabel and Carmilla; Gothic works by fine artists such as Turner, Goya, Fuseli and Blake; and Gothic popular culture via films and TV shows like Nosferatu and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

• Victorian Sexualities

  You will build on your experience of the nineteenth century in this module by focusing on the important and controversial discourse of sexuality. You will explore some key representations of sexuality in literature, medical and legal discourse and art and will construct a case study to demonstrate your critical awareness of these issues and the debates surrounding them.

• Literature and the World Wars

  This module examines how British literary history and cultural memory have been shaped by the two world wars. Through close reading of short stories, novels and poetry, you will critically explore the shock, chaos and variety of wartime experience and its deep effects on personal psychology and identity, sexuality, gender and class relations. Writers discussed might include Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, Elizabeth Bowen, TS Eliot, Robert Graves, Rudyard Kipling, DH Lawrence and Virginia Woolf.

• Postcolonial Literatures

  You will explore the richness and diversity of writing that has emerged from the experience of Western European colonisation during this module. Studying writers from such regions as Africa, Asia and the Americas, you will investigate the range of complex political and cultural debates which inform postcolonial theory and literature. Authors featured might include Bharati Mukherjee, Chimamanda Adichie, Jean Rhys, Tayeb Salih and David Malouf.

• European Literatures and Film

  This module examines how the idea of Europe has changed between 1945 and the present day. The core focus of the module will be on literary and film responses to Europe’s colonial legacy, to post-1945 European history – from the Second World War to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the 1989 ‘revolutions’ – and to more recent events in the post-communist period, such as the expansion of the European Union in the 21st century, the migrant crisis and Brexit.

• Adaptations

  In this module you will study literary adaptations, comparing and contrasting narratives and their transformation through the process of adaptation to film and to various audiences. You will analyse the reception of adaptations in media reviews and scholarly critiques and explore and deconstruct the ‘fidelity argument’.

• Citizen Journalism: Theory and Practice

  You will develop your understanding of the ethics, politics and practices of public and citizen journalism during this module. You will engage critically with theory and research, exploring key concepts of accountability, accuracy, trust, misinformation, bias and the responsibility of citizen journalism before working independently to create your own portfolio.

• Mood and Anxiety Disorders in Children

  This module explores childhood mood and anxiety disorders and how sleep problems, vicarious learning of fears, peer relations, coping strategies, consumer culture, resilience, friendships and exposure to crime relate to anxiety and intergenerational anxiety. You will explore the importance of early intervention and prevention strategies by evaluating evidence of their effectiveness and critically examine methods used within mood and anxiety research on children.

• Community Wellbeing and Social Justice

  This module looks at the practices, values and theories underpinning a social justice approach to community wellbeing and the diverse approaches used by psychologists to address inequalities-based challenges to wellbeing. It will cover topics including empowerment, marginalisation, participatory action research and creative methods. The module culminates in a Festival of Social Justice, in which you will work with other students to present social justice issues.

• Counselling Skills and the Therapeutic Relationship

  You will study the therapeutic relationship from several theoretical perspectives in this module. Introducing basic counselling skills within a helping context, the module examines the professional skills and qualities that enhance therapeutic relationships and how issues of diversity can shape them. The professional ethic of the ‘reflective practitioner’ is used to highlight the importance of reflecting for developing personal skills, therapeutic relationships and working with diversity.

• (Re)viewing Shakespeare

  In this module you will re-view Shakespeare by looking at his drama within the playing and political contexts of 1590 to 1615 and explore our contemporary interpretations of his work by understanding the place and meaning of ‘Shakespeare’ in our culture. You will see his plays performed during theatre visits and write a review of one of the works you have seen or studied.

• Literature and Philosophy

  Literature and Philosophy introduces key philosophical ideas and practices by exploring how some literary texts both exemplify philosophical problems and provide distinctive and valuable approaches to them. You will learn to combine philosophical and critical approaches to literary texts using philosophical exposition and exegesis, literary theory, and skills of textual analysis.

• Brighton Rocks

  This module will explore writings from and about Brighton with an emphasis on their distinctiveness and their relation to socio-cultural and historical contexts. You will investigate lines of continuity and difference in representations of Brighton across the twentieth and into the twenty-first century. You will also explore your own experience of Brighton. Texts might include The Death of Bunny Monroe by Nick Cave, Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan and The Perfect Murder by Peter James.

• Conflict, Migration, Borders

  This module examines the mass displacement of refugees from areas of conflict and the search for sanctuary in the EU. Through a variety of genres, including novels, short stories, testimonies and films, you will explore ways in which cultural production is charting the experience of conflict and displacement and analyse how writers and film-makers challenge the discourses underlining the development of Fortress Europe.

• Sexualities

  This module will involve studying theoretical and methodological approaches to sex and sexualities, including biological, sexological, postmodern, feminist and queer perspectives. You will examine the role of psychology in defining ‘normal’ or ‘transgressive’ sexualities in historical and political contexts and explore social meanings and cultural representations of sexuality and how these intersect with gender ideologies.

• Psychology of Poverty

  This module will expand your understanding of poverty, social exclusion and related inequalities from several psychological vantage points. It will outline different perspectives on conceptualising, characterising and measuring poverty and you will learn different approaches to consider the impact of poverty on individuals and families while also exploring how poverty gets socially constructed.

• Cyberpsychology

  In this module you will explore how interactive technologies affect an individual’s sense of self, experience of relationships and psychological wellbeing. You will also reflect on your own use of interactive media – such as mobile phones, video games, online games, interactive TV, email – and how this shapes your psychological experience.

• Ecopsychology and Ecotherapy

  The focus of this module is the relationship between humans, wellbeing and the natural environment set against the backdrop of climate change and wider ecological crisis. You will consider work in psychology and the social sciences which address these issues and how they interrelate, as well as looking at related practical interventions.

• Critical Addiction Studies

  You will study biological and psychological theories and models of addiction during this module and analyse government responses to substance use, including via drug and alcohol policy. You’ll look at historical and contemporary attitudes towards those who use drugs as well as reflecting on your own beliefs about and attitudes towards addiction and addicted people and how these inform and are informed by your experiences of the world.

• Writing the Contemporary

  In this module you will look at how contemporary texts – including fiction and non-fiction, novels, poetry, films and drama – reflect, challenge, articulate or attempt to define society's preoccupations. You’ll study innovations in forms, genres and literatures of the contemporary period and investigate the challenges of new technologies and media.

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Specialise in wellbeing

At the end of your first year, you can carry on with your Creative Writing BA for a broad view of the subject along with your choice of option modules or you can choose to specialise in creative writing combined with wellbeing.

Choosing to specialise means that your core modules and options focus on the subject that you choose and you’ll graduate with that subject in your degree title.

Creative Writing with Wellbeing BA(Hons)

You will explore specialist wellbeing-related modules alongside core creative writing modules and choose option modules in the subjects that interest you most.

You will link your knowledge of wellbeing to the craft of writing and consider texts and your own work in relation to political, social, cultural and medical theories. You’ll focus on diversity and global challenges, identify underrepresented stories and question their absence, and think ethically and sensitively about addressing gaps in literature and writing that your work can fill.

Events such as our wellbeing walks will consider the impact of the outdoors and place on your writing and think about how eco-writing can raise awareness and spark dialogues. Our tutors will help you to develop techniques and skills involved in storytelling in a range of genres and encourage you to think about how your writing can and will impact on the world and how you can be part of, and lead, better conversations about living well.

Through the university’s Centre for Arts and Wellbeing you will be connected with the latest national and international research and events that speak directly to your subjects. You will be encouraged to think about how you can contribute to future work in these vital transformative fields.

Specialise in comics and graphic novels

At the end of your first year, you can carry on with your Creative Writing BA for a broad view of the subject along with your choice of option modules or you can choose to specialise in creative writing combined with comics and graphic novels.

Choosing to specialise means that your core modules and options focus on the subject that you choose and you’ll graduate with that subject in your degree title.

Creative Writing with Comics and Graphic Novels BA(Hons)

Comics and graphic novels entertain and inform through a powerful and dynamic combination of visual art and narrative storytelling and their cultural impact means they are recognised as an important art form. They are used to explore subjects from politics to mental health, social inequality to science, fantasy to fiction in ways that convey emotions, action and atmosphere with broad and inclusive appeal.

On this innovative specialist pathway you will be encouraged to experiment – whether that is creating long-form graphic novels or comic strips – and engage with subjects that excite and inspire you.

Our staff have extensive writing and publishing expertise in the field and they will help you develop your skills and knowledge, ensuring you understand specific storytelling techniques that create an emotional impact on the reader. You will also learn aspects of design such as panel layouts, visual pacing and composition.

As a student, you will be engaging with this evolving art form in a vibrant city where creativity is celebrated, benefitting from our connections to organisations and events in which you can participate and share your work.

This pathway starts in 2025 – if you start your creative writing degree in September 2024 you will be able to choose to specialise in comics and graphic novels in year 2 of your course.

Lab facilities

Mithras House has a series of lab rooms which can be used for teaching on your course or in your independent research work.

Life lab
A skills-based lab for practice-based teaching, social work, psychotherapy and counselling, and employability. The Life lab is fitted with lounge furniture to provide a comfortable space for conducting qualitative research with larger groups. The lab can be used to conduct research activities with children of all ages and can be used for meetings and events. The room also contains a dedicated space to conduct assessed role play or interviews with children.

City lab
This is a qualitative research methods and creative methods resource for all students, staff and researchers, as well as research participants, including children, community groups and the general public. It can also be used for meetings and events. The City lab contains a kitchen, a teaching/meeting room with enhanced acoustic isolation and two meeting spaces that can be separated with a screen or combined to accommodate larger groups.

Design lab
Housing our extensive collection of historic dress and textiles, which are used in some teaching on our History of Art and Design courses, this has the space and equipment for you to work on textile projects. Displays created by students on these programmes are on view in the social spaces of the building.

Community Lab
A space designed for collaborative student learning, this is used by students and staff involved in the university’s Global Challenges programme – our collective mission to contribute towards solutions to tackle the pressing issues facing our world.

Stats lab
A specialist workspace with computing equipment for statistical analysis and projects involving video and audio editing software. The lab contains eight acoustically treated booths for both recording and transcribing interviews undertaken as part of dissertation research and for recording and editing podcasts.

Applied Cognition lab
A dedicated research space for psychological research involving measures such as electrodermal activity (EDA) and electroencephalography (EEG). The space is designed to allow the participant and researcher to sit at separate desks whilst psychophysiological data is being collected. 

VR and eye tracking lab
The VR and Eye-Tracking Lab is used for psychological research using equipment, such as eye-trackers and virtual reality headsets. The space has adjustable lighting and a blackout blind for maintaining consistent lighting conditions during eye-tracking research, as well as sensors set up in the room to allow individuals to move freely around the room during virtual reality research.

Placements

A core module in year 2 of the creative writing and the wellbeing pathways enables you to gain professional experience in industries such as publishing, broadcasting, social media marketing, PR and the charity sector. 

Recent placement hosts include:

• Action Medical Research
• Action Tutoring
• Airstream Photo Booth
• Brighton Dome
• British Forces Broadcasting Services
• Epoque Press
• Factory Films
• The Old Market Theatre
• Little Green Pig
• Men’s Health Magazine
• Prsnt.

In year 3, the Community Placement module is available for all pathways to choose. It is aimed at building your professional experience through 30 to 50 hours of voluntary work with a not-for-profit or community organisation. The placement is assessed and contributes to your degree.

Meet the team

Dr Bea Hitchman is a novelist whose work focuses on gender, queer writing and historical fiction. Her 2013 novel Petite Mort was nominated for the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Prize, the Polari Prize, the HWA Debut Novel Prize and the Desmond Elliott Prize, and serialised as a ten-part Radio 4 drama. Her second novel, All of You Every Single One (2021), was one of Vogue’s Best Novels of 2022 and was nominated for the Polari Prize and HWA Prize. Read novelist and writing tutor Beatrice Hitchman’s staff profile.

Read a Q+A with Bea Hitchman where she talks about her career and how she got into writing novels and teaching.

Dr Craig Jordan-Baker is a writer of drama, fiction and non-fiction. His drama has been widely performed and his first novel, The Nacullians, was published in 2020. His most recent work, If the River is Hidden (2022), is a hybrid work combining poetry and lyrical prose. He was the winner of the 2018 Excellence in Facilitating and Empowering Learning Award. You can read more about novelist and creative writing tutor Dr Craig Jordan-Baker on his staff profile.

Dr Jess Moriarty researches in the field of teaching writing practice, especially in auto-ethnographical academic writing and in creative writing with undergraduates. Another winner of the Teaching Excellence award, she is also co-founder of Work Write Live, which provides a range of writing short courses and volunteering opportunities for students to develop vocational and academic skills. You can read more about writer and creative writing tutor Dr Jess Moriarty on her staff profile.

Read a Q+A with Jess Moriarty where she talks about her career and how she got into writing novels and teaching.

Dr John McCullough is a Costa-shortlisted, Polari prize-winning poet who focuses on mental health, loss, the body, queer politics, queer history and Brighton as a centre for unique LGBT+ subcultures. He has written three collections, the first being The Frost Fairs (Salt, 2011) which won the Polari First Book Prize, was a Book of the Year for The Independent and a summer read for The Observer. His second, Spacecraft (Penned in the Margins, 2016), was shortlisted for the Ledbury-Forte prize and was a summer read for The Guardian. His latest collection, Reckless Paper Birds (Penned in the Margins, 2019), was shortlisted for the Costa. Read more about poet and creative writing tutor Dr John McCullough on his staff profile.

Julie Everton is a playwright and script editor. She teaches drama, script writing and screenwriting. Her research includes writing about real events/people, models of script development and autoethnography. You can read more about playwright and writing tutor Julie Everton on her staff profile.

Dr Barbara Chamberlain teaches modules in creative writing, English language, media and literature in areas including cinema, landscape writing, intercultural communication, teacher training and comics. She co-curates the Graphic Brighton symposium which brings together comics scholars, creators, publishers and readers. Read more about Dr Barbara Chamberlain in her staff profile.

Dr Craig Jordan-Baker

Reckless Paper Birds is the Costa-nominated book by lecturer Dr John McCullough.

Course fees

The fees listed here are for the first year of full-time study if you start your course in the academic year 2025–26.

You will pay fees for each year of your course. Some fees may increase each year.

UK undergraduate and some postgraduate fees are regulated by the UK government and increases will not be more than the maximum amount allowed. Course fees that are not regulated may increase each year by up to 5% or RPI (whichever is higher).

If you are studying part-time your fee will usually be calculated based on the number of modules that you take.

Find out more

• Brighton Boost – cost of living help for our new undergrad students. Find out about how we can help with your study, accommodation or travel costs and more...
• Fees, bursaries, scholarships and government funding info for UK and international undergraduate students
• Student finance and budgeting while studying
• Read our student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf) for more on University of Brighton tuition fees.

Olivia Shaw 

“I've been writing stories since I was very young and I always knew that I wanted to pursue writing further. My high school English teacher told me to consider it as an option, and so I did. 

“The course at the University of Brighton was interesting to me and I’ve always loved Brighton as a city – I think Brighton is an amazing place to grow into yourself and I have loved my time here. 

“I’ve loved getting the chance to explore different mediums and really settle into my creative space. 

“After graduation I’m going to do my masters in Journalism and Documentary Filmmaking.” 

During her course, Olivia won the David Thomas Award and received funding to create a short film.

Campus where this course is taught

Accommodation

Local area

Maps

Support and wellbeing

Sport at Brighton