Creative Writing Research PhD at Kings College London

Overview

The PhD in Creative Writing at King’s is a practice-led course, incorporating taught elements and aspects of professional development. It is designed to cater for talented, committed writers who are looking to complete a book-length creative work for publication and sustain a long-term career in writing.

Key Benefits

Our unique programme offers students:

• a varied, structured framework for the development of their creative work, with regular feedback from experienced author-lecturers in the department through supervision and workshops
• purposeful engagement with professionals from the publishing and performance industries throughout the course, building potential routes to publication
• valuable teaching experience in creative writing at HE-level through our Graduate Teaching Assistantship scheme
• practical experience in public engagement, through curating and chairing public literary events at King’s
• a community of fellow writers and collaborative projects

Description

The course provides a supportive environment in which to enhance your creative writing technique, to explore the depths of your ideas, to sustain your creative motivation, and to prepare you for the demands of the writer’s life beyond university.

At King's we know that writing well requires self-discipline and an ability to work productively in isolation; but we also appreciate that postgraduate writers thrive when they are part of a community of fellow authors, an environment of constructive criticism and shared endeavour.

We offer our PhD students the guidance of knowledgeable and experienced practitioners, as well as give them frequent opportunities to interact and collaborate with peers, to forge lasting connections within London’s writing industry, to develop their editorial skills and teaching experience.

PhD students are expected to attend the quarterly Thesis Workshop, and also to take an active part in curating literary events at King's, including an annual public lecture by a high-profile author and the "Poetry And..." quarterly reading series. 

Course study environment

We place great emphasis on pastoral care and are a friendly and welcoming department. Our home in the Virginia Woolf Building offers many spaces for postgraduate students to work and socialise. Studying in London means students have access to a huge range of libraries from the Maughan Library at King’s to the Senate House Library at the University of London and the British Library.