Period of Candidature

• Full-time candidates: minimum 1 year and maximum 3 years
• Part-time candidates: minimum 1 year and maximum 4 years.

Entry Requirements

• A good Bachelor's Degree in either English Literature or a relevant field from a recognised university;
• Demonstrated ability to pursue research in the candidate's proposed field of advanced study. Candidates should include with their application a research proposal in which they outline what they intend to study and why they intend to do so, together with a justification of their chosen methodology. Length: 1,000-1,500 words.

An MA candidate is required to complete three courses approved by his/her supervisor, to attend all designated events, and to submit a dissertation of between 30-35,000 words.

Master of Arts with specialization in creative writing

Students with substantial creative writing experience may be eligible to undertake a Master of Arts with a creative writing specialization. A graduate degree with a creative writing focus allows the student to develop a creative project as the thesis component of their degree. Creative projects may be undertaken in fiction, poetry, scriptwriting, creative non-fiction or multi-media writing, subject to available supervision.  The candidate is required to complete three courses approved by his/her supervisor, to attend all designated events, and to submit a dissertation (see below for word counts). The dissertation will be split between the creative project (75% of the total word count) and an exegesis (25% of the total word count). The exegesis will describe the project’s aims within a creative and critical context.

Research proposals

For fiction projects, proposals should include a 1000 word sample of the fiction, and 500 words describing the creative project and summarizing the exegesis.

For poetry projects, proposals should include a 400 word sample of the poetry, and 500 words describing the creative project and summarizing the exegesis.

For scriptwriting projects, proposals should include a sample of a complete scene (800 words), and 500 words describing the creative project and summarizing the exegesis.

Proposals for projects in other genres should be discussed with the creative writing coordinator.

Final submissions

For fiction projects, final submissions will include 22500 – 26250 words of fiction, 7500-8750 words of exegesis, and a list of works cited.

For poetry projects, final submissions will include 9000 – 10500 words of poetry, 7500-8750 words of exegesis, and a list of works cited.

For scriptwriting projects, final submissions will include a script of 18000 – 21000 words, 7500-8750 words of exegesis, and a list of works cited.

Submissions for projects in other genres should be discussed with the creative writing coordinator.