This writing workshop will introduce students to the giving and receiving of feedback within the critical and supportive context of the creative writing workshop and will increase critical close reading skills (specficially reading like a writer). Students will practice transforming critical and imaginative ideas into their own writing (both fiction and literary essays will be explored), they will apply these critical reading skills to the feedback they give their peers, and the workshop structure will also give students a greater understanding of how fictional texts are constructed, edited and received.

10 Weekly two-hour workshop/seminars and one 45 minute tutorial per student.

Creative Writing MLitt; Creative Writing MLitt by Distance Learning; Creative Writing MFA and Creative Writing DFA

n/a

Fictional Story or Literary Essay on a specific element of genre or craft, of 3000 words (max), submitted along with a 1,000 word (max) self-reflective essay on how the close critical reading as a writer / the giving and receiving of critical feedback has impacted their own writing and own writing process, 85%

Sample of critical feedback given to peers, uploaded to Moodle, and assessed by tutor, 15%

The course as a whole seeks to:

■ develop students' knowledge of different genres of fiction, both long and short form, through discussion of peers' and published texts, and through application of knowledge within their own writing.

■ introduce students to the creative writing workshop and effective methods of giving and receiving useful critical feedback

■ increase students critical and close reading skills, specifically the skills of reading like a writer

■ offer students the opportunity to apply their knowledge of fiction to their own creative and/or creative/critical work and receive feedback from peers and the tutor, which will contribute to the re-writing and editing of their own writing

■ encourage students to engage critically and creatively with questions of genre, form, and craft of fiction - across different fiction genres and forms

■ encourage students to engage critically and creatively with questions of genre, as raised by other students' work, as well as discussion of published examples of different genres

■ build and consolidate students' research and writing skills

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

■ engage critically, in writing and oral discussion, with a range of literatures and genres and aspects of the craft of fiction;

■ identify and analyse connections and contrasts between fictional texts composed in different structures, approaches and forms;

■ apply their ideas, knowledge and experimentation to their own creative work

■ identify and interrogate key elements of craft and form that contribute to a text's effectiveness

■ apply close reading, critical and creative skills to the useful feedback given to their peers

■ apply close reading, critical and creative skills to the writing and re-writing of their own fictional or essayistic texts;

■ work at a Masters standard in both the quality and depth of discussions and written work (which can be fiction or essay based)

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.