Hear from our staff, students and alumni
Learn about studying English, film studies and creative writing from our staff, students and alumni
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I’m Ava and I studied BA (Hons) English and Creative Writing
There isn’t anything I didn’t like about my course. However, if I was to pick out one thing that I liked the most it would be the confidence and support that the staff show their students. They support your journey as English students and want you to constantly step outside the box when it comes to your studies.
What is your top tip for other students looking to study this course at Manchester Metropolitan University?
To jump straight into it and to not be afraid if any idea is too big, or too different. Take every opportunity given and make use of the city itself, as your biggest inspiration.
Please complete this sentence: ‘I’m inspired by…’
…the friends that I made on the course who constantly pushed and inspired me to go further with my writing, without them I don’t think I would have grown as much over the three years of my degree.
What do you love about Manchester Met?
The thing I love most about Manchester Met is the support demonstrated through each member of staff, from seminars to the library. And for a University so big, it is very, very, very welcoming!
Steven
English was always a subject I enjoyed. I love to write, so the opportunity to carry that on at university was always something that interested me. I chose Manchester Met because Manchester is such a great city with a vibrant student life - plus I’d heard positive things about the course. It seemed like a perfect fit! The BA (Hons) in English was thoroughly enjoyable and in no small part helped equip me with the skills I use today as Internal Communications Manager at AXA UK.
My top tip for students is…
Be as innovative as possible and always look at how something can be done differently. Nothing is perfect and if you spot a way something can be improved, suggest it. Believe in yourself and have confidence; if you don’t believe in yourself nobody else will.I’m inspired by…
Outside of work I have been influenced by three key people: Will McInnes, Ricardo Semler and Dan Pink, all of whom have written books about work culture and have inspired me to challenge convention.
Why I love Manchester Metropolitan University…
Manchester Met is a great university in an amazing city with great people. It’s a lot of fun!
I’m Rosa and I study BA (Hons) English and Film
I liked the fact that on my course I was able to learn about political and historical concepts through the lens of literature and cinema. I consumed a large amount of interesting texts during my studies and feel that this should be the experience of any humanities student. It was for me, a great mix of visual, audio and literary.
What is your top tip for other students looking to study this course at Manchester Metropolitan University?
Study around the course. Be independent and consume lots of different types of art and media, not just cinema and literature. Read around all of your interests and experiment with as many of them as possible. Remember that if you take this course, your occupation is reading literature, film and academia, and that’s really amazing!
Have you taken part in any extracurricular activities or projects alongside your studies?
Throughout my degree, I took part in a lot of extracurricular activities. In first year, I was a part of the film society, which took me to the Berlinale Film Festival in Berlin in 2015. In second year, I became involved in homelessness activism in Manchester. I also co-ran an event called ‘Shed the Truth’, which screened films about homelessness and other relevant local issues in the Fallowfield Community Garden. In September 2015, I started volunteering for HOME - this was a great way to supplement my course and I’d recommend it to any incoming students. I also did a semester abroad in Graz, Austria for the second half of my second year and learnt German.
Please complete this sentence: ‘I’m inspired by…’
…lots of people, but what springs to mind right now is translators, polygots and Dr Lucy Burke, who really reignited my love of English and Film in my third year with a fascinating module around critical and cultural theory.
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English doesn't equip you to do one particular kind of work; it equips you to do anything you want to!
Dr Aidan Arrowsmith, Principal Lecturer & BA English Programme Leader
Who am I?
I am the Programme Leader for the English undergraduate degree courses. My research specialisms are in Irish literature and culture, 19th & 20th Century literature and drama, and postcolonial writing and theory. I supervise dissertations and theses in these areas, and also teach at all levels of the undergraduate programme, on units including Approaches to Drama, Postwar to the Present, and Modern Drama.
Why do I teach?
The study of art and culture is about engaging with some of the great ideas that have shaped our world. I am inspired by the fact that my job is about helping people from a huge variety of different backgrounds to become original and critical thinkers, to be able to form opinions about the world around them and to articulate those opinions with confidence. What drives me is the thought that I am enabling people to think in ways that might make their lives –and the world around us—better.
Words of wisdom…
Studying a subject that you find interesting will make you a more interesting person! Good employers want candidates who are not only competent, but who can also make a contribution - who are interesting and interested, who have ideas and opinions and who show a wide variety of abilities. English graduates are those people! English doesn’t equip you to do one particular kind of work; it equips you to do anything you want to!
I enjoy seeing my students discover the joy, excitement and challenges of creative writing.
What is my background?
My pamphlet Breadfruit (flippedeye publishing) was recommended by the Poetry Book Society and my debut collection Pepper Seed (Peepal Tree Press) was longlisted for the OCM Bocas prize (2014) and shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney Centre prize for first full collection (2014). I am published with the poets Sharon Olds and Warsan Shire in The Penguins Modern Poet Series 3: Your Family: Your Body (2017), and my poem Nine Nights was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Single poem in 2017. I am also the founder of Malika’s Poetry Kitchen, a writing collective that has produced award winning poets since 2001.
What are my research interests?
My main interests are within the areas of: Black British Contemporary Poetry, Women Contemporary poets, Caribbean and African American Contemporary Poetry, Autobiographical and Confessional Poetry, Poetry of Witness, Poetry and Performance and Teaching Creative Writing in Schools.
Why do I teach?
I teach because I love it. I enjoy seeing my students discover the joy, excitement and challenges of creative writing. It also enables me to encourage and inspire a new generation of writers, readers, publishers, and agents. But most importantly I have a platform to learn, discuss and exchange ideas about the craft of writing.
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I’m Michael Purton, I studied BA (Hons) English Literature and Creative Writing
I am now the Regional Editor for Newsquest Gloucestershire, overseeing the running of three newspapers – the Stroud News & Journal, Wilts & Glos Standard and Gazette Series. I am also an author and my debut novel, Silhouettes, was published in October 2016.
What did you enjoy most about your degree and why?
There was an excellent variety of subjects on the course, from literature to film to writing, and they were all presented in an interesting and engaging manner, which inspired me to want to analyse each text in detail and ultimately create my own work. The feedback on my writing was always incisive and productive and, as it came from highly-respected lecturers, I was motivated to take their criticism on board and edit my writing accordingly. Outside of academic life, Manchester was a fantastic place to be a student as the city is so rich in culture and buzzes with young people.
What key skills did your degree help you gain?
Writing economically: when I began the course, my prose was far too flowery and baroque; by the time I’d finished, my writing was more concise and engaging. Also, editing my own writing and the work of others. Both of these skills have been vital for my career in journalism.
In one sentence, please describe what you loved most about Manchester Met…
Learning from highly-respected lecturers in a city built for students.