Creative Writing

UCD offers two graduate courses in creative writing, an MA and MFA. The MA programme includes workshops, seminars and supervision meetings, providing committed students with the support they need to produce a major piece of writing by the end of the course.

The MA in Creative Writing builds on the well established commitment of the UCD School of English, Drama and Film to fostering and supporting new writing. The university has long been associated with some of Ireland’s greatest writers, including James Joyce, Flann O’Brien, Mary Lavin, Anthony Cronin, John McGahern, Neil Jordan, Conor McPherson, Marina Carr, Colm Tóibín, Emma Donoghue, Maeve Binchy and many others. The Booker Prize winning novelist Anne Enright is Professor of Creative Writing, and among the teaching staff are novelist Sarah Moss, poet Ian Davidson, poet and novelist Paul Perry, novelist and playwright Declan Hughes, life writer and critic Catherine Morris and novelist Paula McGrath.

The MA programme:

Provides opportunities to explore and develop your own creative writing skills supervised by experienced published staff of international reputation.

Actively fosters the development of students' capacity to edit their own work.

Ensures that the art of writing is informed by contemporary theory and practice.

Offers courses incorporating the manuscripts of works of leading writers held in Special Collections and courses which explore material in the National Folklore Collection in UCD, one of the richest archives of oral tradition in the world.

Lectures, seminars, workshops and supervision meetings aim to provide committed writers with taught classes on the theory and practices of writing. These include presentation and editing techniques, creative reading of selected texts as well as the supervision of a major writing project. Among the important issues addressed on an on-going basis are voice and structure. Every effort is made to ensure that a student progresses on these as well as many other fronts.

Stage 1 - Core
Craft and CompositionCRWT40010
CHAPTER ONE: BEGINNING A NOVELCRWT40030
Writing ProjectCRWT40180
Writing PoetryCRWT40200
Life WritingCRWT40250
Writing Project PreparationEDF40080

Stage 1 - Option
Sound & Visual PoetryCRWT40160
Creative ReadingCRWT40220

The entry requirement for the MA programme is a BA Hons English or equivalent (NFQ Level 8), and/or proven commitment to and experience in the field of creative writing; a portfolio (a 3,000 word sample of prose or 6 poems, or a combination of prose and poetry) of recent creative work; a personal statement of reasons for taking the course and references. Applicants whose first language is not English must also demonstrate English language proficiency of IELTS 7.5 (no band less than 7.0 in each element), or equivalent.

These are the minimum entry requirements – additional criteria may be requested for some programmes

The following entry routes are available:

MA Creative Writing FT (Z012)
Duration 1 Years Attend Full Time
Deadline Rolling*

* Courses will remain open until such time as all places have been filled, therefore early application is advised

90

1 year full-time.
MODE OF DELIVERY: Face-to-Face

MA Creative Writing (Z012) Full Time
EU fee per year - € 7920
nonEU fee per year - € 19900

***Fees are subject to change

Tuition fee information is available on the UCD Fees website. Please note that UCD offers a number of graduate scholarships for full-time, self-funding international students, holding an offer of a place on a UCD graduate degree programme. For further information please see International Scholarships.

Next Intake: 2024/2025 September.

Careers & Employability
Many graduates of the MA in Creative Writing establish successful writing careers. Graduate of the programme Colin Barrett won the Guardian First Fiction Prize with Young Skins then went on to win both the Frank O'Conner International short story award and the Rooney Prize for Literature. Other graduates go into the publishing industry, while some go on to do an MFA in Creative Writing.