English and Creative Writing

An introduction to the analysis of narrative forms and genres, focussing primarily on pre-20th Century, 20th and 21st Century texts.

An introduction to writing techniques focussing primarily on the crafting processes of poetry and prose. 

This module introduces key skills for university study, progressing to research, writing and project development. You will learn skills of close reading and textual analysis, practice on a range of cultural forms and focussed on representations of Manchester as a diverse, international city. You will then develop your own independent project and put into practice the analytical skills developed. 

An introduction to the conventions of storytelling focussing on forms such as flash fiction, short stories, screenwriting and writing for theatre.

Students focus on two literary forms chosen from a list (for example prose, poetry, scriptwriting) and follow an intensive workshop for one semester. 

Students explore literary adaptation, analysing how texts survive and evolve - how the meanings of stories, characters, poems, songs and ideas change across time and across forms. Students will be supported to make adaptations of material encountered on the module. Students then explore the artistic process underpinning literary adaptation, examining a range of strategies by which a text or existing cultural artefact might be re-made. Students will make their own literary adaptation of an existing story, character, painting, videogame, piece of music or film, whilst reflecting critically on the process.  

This module will analyse the current climate crisis applying the methodologies of creative writing, English literature, or film and media studies.

This module will explore the organisations and activities that make up Manchester’s UNESCO City of Literature network, and assess ways in which literary activity can help cities address contemporary global challenges.

The module will take students through the various stages of recruitment from identifying strengths and skills, to job searching and CVs, using platforms such as LinkedIn, and interview practice. Students will build up a portfolio of tasks related to employability, for instance, CV, video interview, assessment centre and reflect on their learning across the module.

A module that is about reading in context, focussing on the relationship between aesthetic form, thematic content and historical context in a diverse range of texts and genres from the 19th to early 20th centuries. 

You will practise reading in context, focussing on the relationships between aesthetic form, thematic content and historical context in a diverse range of texts and genres from the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

A module that is about reading in context, focussing on the relationships between aesthetic form, thematic content and the historical context in a diverse range of texts and genres from the 1940's-1970's.

This module investigates cultures of resistance and their historical conditions. To do so, it places a range of resistant cultural texts in dialogue with relevant theoretical and critical material. 

An innovative module which applies interdisciplinary methods and perspectives in a professional and/or public setting. Students work in interdisciplinary teams on one of a range of projects to showcase interdisciplinary skills in practice.

An innovative module that applies interdisciplinary methods, approaches and perspectives of humanities and social science disciplines to contemporary socio-economic challenges, complementing Engaging the Humanities 1. Each year the module will address a different contemporary issue or theme.

This module examines the films, industries, festivals and issues that make up the vibrant cinemas associated with the continent of Europe.

This module explores the legacies of British colonialism as engaged in the literature and culture of postcolonial nations.

A module that is about reading in context. You will initially focus on a diverse range of texts and genres from the 1940s to the 1970s, considering the relationships between aesthetic form, thematic content and historical context.  Focus will then move onto the relationships between aesthetic form, thematic content and historical context in a diverse range of texts and genres from the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

This module examines British literature and culture during one of its most significant periods, from the Revolutionary Controversy of the 1790s to the end of the Romantic movement around 1830.

This module explores the production, reception and dissemination of non-Anglo-American cinema and provides students with the necessary tools to explore global screen cultures. In this module students will interrogate the issues and experiences of transnational interaction and cross-cultural appropriation, the problems with the concept of authentic `national cinema', and consider the depiction of 'third world' and 'diaspora' populations.

You will work with a supervisor from our creative writing team to define an independent project in a form, and on a topic, of your choosing. This may be focussed on the production of a creative artefact -  e.g. a book of poems, a screenplay or a novel chapter - or may involve working on a creative project with an external partner beyond the University, for example an organisation in the creative industries. You will conduct preliminary research, submit a detailed proposal, and undertake a major piece of creative work. 

The module will aim to introduce English as a core curriculum subject in secondary schools and as an A-level subject. It will provide students with insight into the application of their subject specialism to teaching in school and colleges in England, covering aspects of both curriculum content and subject pedagogy.

The module will take students through the various stages of recruitment from identifying strengths and skills, to job searching and CVs, using platforms such as LinkedIn, and interview practice. Students will build up a portfolio of tasks related to employability, for instance, CV, video interview, assessment centre and reflect on their learning across the module.

The Study Abroad module will involve study for one semester at an approved partner University overseas.

This module will focus on representations of the United States’ history, culture and selfhood promulgated by the nation’s movie industry from the early twentieth century to the present day; exploring how Hollywood has articulated, interrogated and dominated available ideas of American national identity.

American Sounds and the City combines the study of American literature, film and music to explore the soundscapes of the American city. 

Touching upon a broad range of genres, this module is concerned with critical and creative conceptions of 'space' and travel (both geographic and metaphorical) in American literature from colonial times to the present.

This module draws on LGBT Studies and Queer Studies to analyse cultural constructions (and manifestations) of non-normative sex, sexes and sexualities.

This module investigates the question of the human in contemporary cultural debate. To do so, it draws upon theoretical and critical work in the field and sets these conceptual frameworks in dialogue with a wide range of literary and cinematic texts. 

This module teaches you how to tell true stories in a post-truth world, how to narrate real-life events (escapades) through innovations in essay writing, observational fieldnotes, literary journalism, life writing and narrative scholarship in a range of media and to understand the ethical consequences of doing so. 

This module provides an analytical study of the gothic mode on screen.

This module will introduce students to all parts of the book publishing process and industry. Through practical exercises and interactive lectures, students will learn how the industry developed, specialist genres such as children's publishing and how publishers commission, edit, design and produce books in all formats. 

This module explores novels and novellas for adults that can be categorised as belonging to recognisable commercial and popular genres. You will be expected to engage both critically and creatively a range of genres.

This module explores the relationship between postcolonialism and popular culture, examining the ways in which colonial histories and legacies are interrogated, mythologised or sublimated within popular cultural forms.

This module explores the relationship between race, postcolonialism and popular culture, examining the ways in which colonial histories and legacies are interrogated, mythologised or sublimated within popular cultural forms.

This module provides an analytical study of a range of classic and modern texts written for children. It also uses these texts as models for the production of new texts. The module also covers appropriate techniques for writing for children. 

This module provides an analytical study of a range of twenty and twenty-first century games, both analogue and digital. Students will be introduced to the critical and historical field of game studies, and given guidance on the appropriate techniques for writing for gaming and the experience of working with pre-determined project briefs.

This module focuses on reading and analysing a representative range of work by contemporary poets, and introduces students to relevant critical work. It equips students with critical, analytical and writing skills to read and write poetry effectively. Assessment will give students the opportunity to produce written work in critical and creative modes, and to reflect analytically on their own work. The module will provide students with the opportunity to attend a major poetry event (e.g. the Forward Prize or the T. S. Eliot prize awards) and to visit poetry readings. 

This module introduces students to the range and diversity of contemporary poetry, and develops students' own critical skills in relation to the study of contemporary poetry.

This module provides an analytical study of a range of twenty and twenty-first century games, both analogue and digital. Students will be introduced to the critical and historical field of game studies, and given guidance on the appropriate critical approaches and terminology to enable them to read games and gaming.

Students will read and research a range of texts and map the terrain of contemporary literary fiction. Students will engage in current debates around the meaning and vitality of literary fiction and the way it intersects with various political movements. Students will engage and experiment with the formal innovation that defines contemporary literary fiction. Students will ultimately offer their own creative responses to the formal and political concerns of the moment through their own creative writing. 

This module is concerned with critical and creative conceptions, constructions and depictions of forms of violence and trauma, and introduces students to representations and theories of trauma drawn from multiple locations (temporal and geographic).

This module looks at Shakespeare's plays and poems in regard to both his contemporary intellectual, political and social meanings and effect, and the influence of his work on subsequent culture, in terms reception, adaptation and reinvention. 

This module explores ideas and attitudes towards human bodies, medicine and technology in contemporary world literature, film and theory.

This module will critically analyse the representation of place in key contemporary texts. These texts, drawn from a range of genres, will be evaluated within the frameworks (including literary geography and ecocriticism) provided by contemporary theoretical debates. The module will also situate creative and conceptual writing about place within the context of 'real world debates': topics to be covered will include environmental crisis, regeneration and the post-industrial city, and digital technologies and spatial literacy.

Students will read and research a range of texts and map the terrain of contemporary literary fiction. Students will engage in current debates around the meaning and vitality of literary fiction and the way it intersects with various political movements. Students will engage and experiment with the formal innovation that defines contemporary literary fiction. Students will ultimately offer their own creative responses to the formal and political concerns of the moment through their own creative writing. 

A creative advanced Scriptwriting course which develops skills in team storylining and individual scriptwriting skills in the context of the study of contemporary professional practice.