ma creative writing and publishing

MA Creative Writing & Publishing

Blend storytelling artistry with essential publishing skills. Gain hands-on experience with the Bournemouth Journal and Writing Prize. Join a diverse international cohort, expand your global perspective and prepare for a dynamic publishing career.

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• Delivery: Full time according to Funding Council definitions, Part-time, Part-Time, Part-Time, online, Part-time, online, Full-time, online, Full time, online

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This course has multiple potential start dates, please confirm the specific entry point and course details that you would like to apply for:

• Start date:  January, 2025 Delivery:  Full time according to Funding Council definitions Duration:  17 MONTHS Apply now
• Start date:  January, 2025 Delivery:  Part-Time Duration:  2 YEARS Apply now
• Start date:  January, 2025 Delivery:  Part-Time, online Duration:  2 YEARS Apply now
• Start date:  January, 2025 Delivery:  Full-time, online Duration:  17 MONTHS Apply now
• Start date:  September, 2025 Delivery:  Full time according to Funding Council definitions Duration:  12 MONTHS Apply now
• Start date:  September, 2025 Delivery:  Part-time Duration:  2 YEARS Apply now
• Start date:  September, 2025 Delivery:  Part-time, online Duration:  2 YEARS Apply now
• Start date:  September, 2025 Delivery:  Full time, online Duration:  12 MONTHS Apply now

Why study MA Creative Writing and Publishing at BU?

• Versatile Writing and Publishing Skills: Master creative writing across various genres and forms while gaining essential skills in editing, marketing, design, and production, enabling you to navigate the publishing world independently. 
• Real-Life Publishing Experience: Work on real-life projects with BU’s own Bournemouth Journal, providing you with invaluable practical experience and a strong portfolio that will impress potential employers. 
• Expert Guidance and Mentorship: Learn from seasoned writers and industry professionals who bring a wealth of knowledge and experience, helping you refine your craft and understand the intricacies of the publishing industry. 
• Engage in Prestigious Writing Competitions: Participate in BU’s renowned international competitions, including The Bournemouth Writing Prize and the New Media Writing Prize, to showcase your talent, gain recognition, and connect with the writing community.
• Cultural and Critical Analysis: Deepen your understanding of the cultural and critical contexts that influence writing and publishing, enriching your own practice and broadening your perspective on the literary world. 
• Global Perspective and Networking: Join a diverse international student body, enhancing your learning and preparing you for a global writing and publishing career. Expand your horizons with opportunities to study or work abroad.
• Co-Creation Projects with Other Degrees: Collaborate with staff and students from media production, media communication and other courses on initiatives that celebrate diversity, inclusion and empathy through the creation of short films, interactive multimedia stories and AI animated photographs. These include Allies in Action , Rising Voices , Digital Storytelling in the Community , and Memory Markers .  

Find out more about the content of this course .

Flexible study 

The MA Creative Writing and Publishing course offers you the option to study full-time or part-time, either in person or online. Lectures and online resources are combined with weekly small-group seminars to explore key texts, ideas, and concepts in more depth. If you are an online student, all your classes will take place virtually. Most lectures are prerecorded but full-time students will also attend six to eight hours of live workshops each week. These sessions will bring together a diverse cohort of students from all over the world, workshopping original stories, engaging with literary texts and mastering publishing practices.

Weekly Heard Word Workshops on Zoom

In addition to scheduled classes you are welcome to attend 2-hour weekly online writing workshops on Zoom. During these sessions you will network with a featured writer, receive feedback on your own work and share notes with others.  

Take a glimpse at life on Talbot Campus

Key information

Next start date:.

January 2025, September 2025, January 2026, September 2026

Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus or online

1 year full-time (September start), 17 months full-time (January start), 2 years part-time (September and January start). All options are available to study in-person or online

Entry requirements:

A Bachelors Honours degree with 2:2 in any subject, or equivalent. For more information check out our  full entry requirements .

For September 2025 entry:  A portfolio is also required in support of your application.

International entry requirements:

If English is not your first language you'll need IELTS (Academic) 6.5 with a minimum of 6.5 in writing and 6.0 in speaking, listening and reading. For more information check out our full entry requirements .

Course details

On this course you will be taught by a range of staff with relevant expertise and knowledge appropriate to the content of the unit. This will include senior academic staff, qualified professional practitioners, demonstrators, technicians and research students. You will also benefit from regular guest lectures from industry.

Contact hours and assessment

Details of the assessment methods and contact hours for each unit of the course can be found in the programme specification. 

Download the programme specification (pdf 460kb)

• Writing Fiction:  The creative writer must learn to critically examine their own work and the work of others. Here, in a workshop environment, you will develop your skills as a writer of prose fiction by developing your own writing and responding to critical feedback from your peers.
• Narrating Identities: Self, Text & the World:  This unit aims to provide you with a sophisticated knowledge and understanding of cultural and critical influences on a range of texts and literary media, exploring how literary, philosophical, and aesthetic movements have been used to define, construct and represent the self across the 20th and 21st centuries.
• Interactive Storytelling:  Using a narratological and creative approach, you will study the development and nature of the art of storytelling in the context of digital-interactive media.
• Writing Across Cultures & Forms:  This unit is a mix of theory and creative practice that aims to prepare you for approaching your practice-led dissertation. It could also support you should you decide to pursue a practice-led PhD with BU as it will require you to articulate clear research agendas focusing on original creative works. 
• Marketing & PR for Writers : This unit will equip you with the knowledge and marketing skills needed by writers and publishers, regardless of the format. You will develop your own ‘brands’ online and will have the opportunity to work on real-life projects for Fresher Publishing, devising marketing and PR strategies to raise awareness/sales of the Fresher Writing Prize and the Fresher Writing anthology.
• Design, Editing & Publishing: The aim of this unit is to enable you to evaluate and practice the significant processes of professional publishing. It seeks to equip you with the knowledge and skills needed by writers, editors and other professionals in the publishing industry by engaging in real publishing projects for Fresher Publishing , the university’s own publishing press.
• Dissertation/Major Project:  You may choose between a purely theoretical, academic dissertation or a major creative writing project supported by either a reflective or ‘route to publication’ rationale. By bringing together the skills, craft, theories, knowledge and critical insight you have developed during the programme, you will hone your individual strengths and establish lines of enquiry that may take you onto further doctoral study or into future careers.

The majority of assignments are all individual coursework, although the publishing semester will include group work. You will work on real-life publishing projects for the university’s publishing press, Fresher Publishing and will have the opportunity to be involved in the administration of The Fresher Writing Prize and New Media Writing Prize .

MA Creative Writing and Publishing students are immersed in a vibrant media culture and have access to an extraordinary range of multimedia facilities, including radio studios. This offers the potential for students to produce audio clips for their author websites (produced in the Marketing and PR unit) and even full length audio books.

You will be working on industry relevant software, including Indesign and Photoshop, and will also have the opportunity to use the university’s own software – Genarrator – for producing interactive narratives.

Programme specification

Programme specifications provide definitive records of the University's taught degrees in line with Quality Assurance Agency requirements. Every taught course leading to a BU Award has a programme specification which describes its aims, structure, content and learning outcomes, plus the teaching, learning and assessment methods used.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the programme specification, the information is liable to change to take advantage of exciting new approaches to teaching and learning as well as developments in industry. If you have been unable to locate the programme specification for the course you are interested in, it will be available as soon as the latest version is ready. Alternatively please contact us for assistance.

Writing competitions

Studying at BU gives you various opportunities to test yourself and your development by entering our annual writing competitions.

New Media Writing Prize

This international prize – a result of a partnership of Bournemouth University and if:book UK – promotes the best in new media writing and you can enter your exciting and inventive stories that integrate a variety of formats, platforms and digital media.

The Bournemouth Writing Prize

Fresher is a publishing press, established at Bournemouth University to nurture the publishing talent of the future and support writers everywhere. Fresher runs the Bournemouth Writing Prize, an annual international short story and poetry competition, designed to boost your career as a writer.

Your application

What we’re looking for.

For MA Creative Writing and Publishing we are looking for able, innovative, and articulate students who like to read as much as they like to write, and who will work well in a group, offering constructive criticism to their peers.

Equally, you will be able to work independently, developing your own work in response to feedback from fellow students and tutors. You will also need to be commercially and digitally aware; ready to learn new publishing software and apply it to practical, real-life projects.

Selections methods

The admissions team will look at your online application including your qualifications, personal statement and any work experience. 

Please make sure your application stands out from the crowd and leaves us in no doubt why you want to study MA Creative Writing and Publishing at Bournemouth University.

For more information, take a look at our how to apply pages .

In support of your application to MA Creative Writing & Publishing, you are required to submit a creative writing portfolio.

This portfolio should be between 3,000-5,000 words. The portfolio can be specialised by genre or made up of a combination of fiction, poems (equivalent of 10 poems), screenplay, creative non-fiction, and/or extract from a novel. 

How and when to apply

Please see our website for the application deadlines. You should apply as early as possible to be considered for your course of choice. If you require a student visa, apply for the visa as soon as you have an unconditional offer and receive your CAS. There may be delays in visa processing in your country and you need to be in Bournemouth ready to study for the start of term.

Click the green ‘Apply now’ button to submit your application free of charge online through myHub, our application portal. You will create your own myHub account so that you can track the progress of your application. Don’t forget to save your application as you go; you can return to it at as many times as you want before you submit it. For more information visit our How to apply section .

Entry requirements

General entry requirements.

The entry requirements for this course are:

• A Bachelors Honours degree with 2:2 in any subject, or equivalent.

For September 2025 entry: A creative writing portfolio is required from applicants that meet our entry requirements as an Additional Selection Measure. This portfolio should be between 3,000-5,000 words. The portfolio can be specialised by genre or made up of a combination of fiction, poems (equivalent of 10 poems), screenplay, creative non-fiction, and/or extract from a novel. 

If you lack the formal academic qualifications needed to enter a postgraduate or post-experience degree, there are several alternative routes to follow - some based on experience. Contact the Future Students Enquiry Team  for more information.

International entry requirements

You can find details of the international qualifications we accept, and what level of study they apply to, on our  entry requirements for non-UK students' page .

Please see below some examples of the qualifications for entry:

• India: Bachelor’s degree (three years) from a recognised HE institution with a minimum overall result of 55%  
• Nigeria: Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution with a minimum classification of 2:4  
• China: Chinese Bachelor's (Honours) degree from a recognised higher education institution with 65% or above  
• Turkey: Bachelor’s degree (Lisans Diplomasi - four years) with a minimum overall GPA of 2.3/4.0  
• Ghana: Bachelor's degrees from University of Ghana or Legon with a grade of 2.00 or above, or from Cape Coast with a grade 2.5 or above  
• USA: US Bachelor’s degree (four years), with a 2.5 GPA or above  

All applications will be subject to a minimum grade and your degree may need to be in a relevant subject area.

English language requirements

If English is not your first language, you will need to provide evidence that you understand English to a satisfactory level. English language requirements for this course are normally:

IELTS (Academic) 6.5 with minimum 6.5 in writing and 6.0 in speaking, listening and reading  or equivalent .

View  further information about our English language requirements .

Bournemouth University International College offers a number of pre-sessional English and preparatory programmes to prepare international students for postgraduate study at BU. Admission to the degree is guaranteed on successful completion of your course to the required level.

On this course you will learn the advanced craft of creative writing plus the business and practice of publishing. You will also analyse cultural and critical influences on the writer and the industry. Learned skills will be put into practice in group publishing projects for the university’s own publishing press, Fresher Publishing .

Potential roles and sectors

This course will provide you with a wide range of skills for employment in the media and communication-related industries including:

• Media writing
• Advertising
• Public relations

Further study

If you want to continue your studies after achieving your Master’s, you can look into our range of doctoral programmes .

Costs and fees

You can find full information about the deposits required and how to pay your fees in our postgraduate fees and funding section, including details of the Postgraduate Loan (subject to fee status).

All fees are quoted in pounds sterling and are per annum. Fees quoted are for tuition only unless stated otherwise. Your tuition fees will be the same for each year of your course.

Find out more about living expenses for postgraduate students

No hidden extras

What’s included in your tuition fee.

Your tuition fee covers expenses associated with your course including tuition materials, access to facilities, mandatory field trips and the following:

• Our fees commitment means your tuition fees are fixed and your fee will be the same for each year of your course.
• Materials for laboratory and field-based teaching activity
• Support for finding placements (UK or abroad) and fieldwork, and non-financial support whilst on placement if this is part of your course of study.
• A range of student services – advisors, help desks, counsellors, placement support and careers service.
• The Library – access to a wide range of electronic resources (databases, e-journals and e-books), print and multimedia collections, subject librarians and study spaces.
• Access to Brightspace, our virtual learning environment, which offers a responsive and personalised learning experience with powerful learning analytics capabilities, integrated social media and advanced video features.
• IT labs (some open 24/7), wireless network, AV equipment to borrow
• Free software download to your personal device of Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus while you are studying, as well as access to applications provided on AppsAnywhere, subject to licensing and compatibility restrictions.
• Disability and additional learning support , according to individual circumstances.
• The BU Language Centre to help you develop/improve foreign or English language skills
• 24 hours a day, 365 days a year security team.

Costs of living and other expenses you need to consider

Additional costs.

We are committed to offering you value for money and ensuring there are no hidden costs while you are studying with us, therefore we have listed below any additional costs you may incur that are not covered by your tuition fee:

• Laptops, tablets and mobile devices and any software used on personal devices. Access to a personal computer is strongly recommended for your study. If you are experiencing financial difficulty, visit our website for information regarding hardship funds.
• For students enrolled on the online version of the course you will need to own or have acess to a computer with a minimum of 8 gigabytes of RAM and install Adobe software (InDesign and Photoshop) on this computer.
• Textbooks, general stationary and other supplies. Our award-winning library has a large range of textbooks and online resources, free of charge. The Students Union shops stock stationary supplied on both campuses,
• Accommodation and living costs . Please visit our website for more information.
• ​Travel costs for optional field trips, outdoor wear and footwear for mandatory and optional field trips (if applicable).
• Travel costs to and from the University campus. An annual bus pass can be purchased alongside your rent if you are living in halls of residence/Unilet accommodation or may be purchased separately.
• ​Travel costs to and from your placement (both in the UK and overseas) if this is part of your course of study. Placement year funding information can be found on our website.
• You will need to meet the cost of any Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check if required by your placement setting, including any Post Office or Digital ID verification charges.
• Clothing or equipment costs required for your placement if this is part of your course of study. 
• SportBU membership .

While all aspects of the programme, including required field trips, are included in the fee, additional, optional or extra curricula activities may be available for which a student contribution is required.

Repeat units

If you need to repeat one or more units during the course of your studies (with or without attendance) the pricing will be pro-rata of the full time fee.

International (not Rep. of Ireland) students need to pay a non-refundable deposit to secure their place on a postgraduate course. For January 2025 entry, a £5,000 deposit is required. You will need to pay your deposit by the date stated in your offer letter. The remainder of your fee will be payable on registration/enrolment/ There are two exceptions to the non-refundable rule on the deposit.

• You fail to meet the academic or English requirements of your offer
• You are refused a visa to enter the UK, provided the reason for the refusal is not a fraudulent application.

Financial help available from BU

We offer a range of scholarships to eligible students who are beginning their studies at BU. Please visit our funding pages  for details on living costs, budgeting and paying your tuition fees.

On this course you will be taught by staff with relevant expertise and knowledge appropriate to the content of the unit. This could include senior academic staff, qualified professional practitioners and research students, many of whom are actively engaged in research and/or professional practice which is integrated into the teaching of this course. Please note that staff can change.

Dr Brad Gyori - Programme Leader

Brad Gyori is a Senior Lecturer in Digital Storytelling at Bournemouth University. He is the Programme Leader for the MA in Creative Writing and Publishing and an HEA Senior Fellow. He holds a PhD in Rhetoric and Composition from Arizona State University and has taught both media theory and production at ASU and the Tribeca Academy in downtown Chicago. He is a practice-led researcher, playwright, web designer, screenwriter, director, journalist, songwriter and novelist. As a television writer-producer, he has worked for such networks as MTV, VH1, FX, E! and HBO online. For ten years, he was the Head Writer of the Emmy award winning Talk Soup. He has been nominated for five Emmys. His articles have appeared in The Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, Interactive Storytelling, Journalism Education, The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based Learning and Flow. In 2014, his play Desolation Angels was presented as a staged reading at Chicago's Steppenwolf theatre...

Course changes

Changes for 2025 entry, changes for 2024 entry, changes for 2023 entry, changes for 2022 entry, changes for 2021 entry, changes for 2020 entry, changes in 2018, changes in 2017.

Information on this page relates to next entry point (see box containing fees figures), unless indicated otherwise. Statistics shown throughout this page are taken from The Discover Uni dataset (formerly Unistats) and BU institutional data, unless otherwise stated.

Graduate Publishing and Writing (MA)

Advance your knowledge of today’s publishing and writing trends

GRE requirements

Award-winning literary journals on campus

Credit hours

About the Graduate Publishing and Writing Program

Emerson College’s on-campus Publishing and Writing MA program will help you discover your place in the ever-vital, ever-changing field of publishing. You will learn to shape the prose of fresh voices as an editor, represent writers as a literary agent, or work with exciting online publications and new media formats. 

Housed in the Department of Writing, Literature and Publishing in the School of the Arts , our program allows you to explore all facets of publishing in the publishing hub of Boston. Our experienced faculty provide a comprehensive overview of the publishing of books and magazine media via print, digital, video, social media, and other platforms. You will enjoy the flexibility to take a variety of creative writing and literature courses that suit your interests and goals.

Program Highlights 

• A dynamic curriculum that builds a solid foundation of skills in book, magazine, and digital publishing
• An emphasis on hands-on learning, with options such as working on the Emerson College-owned digital publication The Independent and with community partners (current and former partners include the Boston Globe Magazine , Bookbuilders of Boston, and Artists for Humanity)
• Internship opportunities at a wide variety of publishers (such as children's and adult trade, academic, magazine media, and news) and publishing-related firms
• Study full-time or part-time in person on our beautiful Boston campus
• Most classes, whether in-person or online, are offered in the evening to maximize flexibility
• Access to a vast alumni network
• No GRE requirements to apply

Request More Information

Program details.

• Curriculum Requirements
• Emerson Advantage
• Tuition & Financial Aid

4+1 Bachelor’s to Master’s Program

Our Publishing and Writing MA program is available to current Emerson undergraduate students who are interested in pursuing a master’s degree in just one additional year. For more information, visit our 4+1 MA in Publishing page.

Explore Similar Programs

• Popular Fiction Writing and Publishing (MFA)
• Writing for Film and Television (MFA)
• Creative Writing (MFA)
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College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences > Academics > English > Graduate Programs > Writing and Publishing (MA)

Writing and Publishing (MA)

Hone your voice—and make it heard.

In DePaul’s flexible master’s in Writing and Publishing, you have the unique opportunity to study across genres and develop and revise your work under the mentorship of acclaimed authors and poets. Choose from courses in poetry, fiction and non-fiction (travel, magazine, memoir, science writing, personal essay, etc). Professional internships give you the opportunity to join Chicago’s vibrant literary scene—and to start a rewarding creative career.

Earn additional graduate certificates in

• Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
• Teaching English in Two-Year Colleges
• Digital Humanities

Courses are offered weekday evenings on the Lincoln Park Campus or online. The program may be completed in two years.

Study writing in the city of broad shoulders

Carl Sandburg, Richard Wright, Gwendolyn Brooks, Nelson Algren, Lorraine Hansberry, Saul Bellow: these are just a few of the literary voices that grew out of Chicago—not to mention the many esteemed writers working and living in the city today. While sharpening your skills here, you’ll join the city’s thriving literary and publishing community by engaging with visiting writers and editors and taking part in internships in publishing and teaching.

Application Deadlines

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, though we encourage you to submit your application materials eight to 10 weeks prior to the quarter in which you wish to enroll. The deadline to be considered for a graduate assistantship is January 15.

Submit an online application, official transcripts, current résumé, a 500-700-word reflective essay, letters of recommendation and writing portfolio.

Required Courses

You’ll take five writing workshops, one course in language and style, two electives in language, literature, publishing and teaching, and four open electives.

The master’s in Writing and Publishing’s imprint, Big Shoulders Books , has produced five volumes.

of Writing and Publishing graduates were employed, continuing their education or pursuing other goals within six months of graduation.

Learn from award-winning writers

Barrie Jean Borich, associate professor and faculty advisor for Crook & Folly, has won a Lambda Literary Award in Memoir, an IPPY Gold Medal in Essay/Creative Nonfiction, and an IndieFab Bronze Award for Essays. She also won the American Library Association Stonewall Book Award for her book, “My Lesbian Husband.” You’ll have the opportunity to learn from her in one of her creative nonfiction or publishing focused courses.

“When I think of DePaul, I think of the people who welcomed me into their lives and invited me into a space where I could teach and write and contribute to something meaningful. ... I am still in touch with the friends and connections I made at DePaul; they have become the most necessary foundation in a competitive field like mine.”

Raul (MA ’13)

Assistant professor of creative writing, ithaca college, and fiction editor, prairie schooner.

Alumni Network

Alumni of the master’s in Writing and Publishing program have published books with major and independent presses such as Simon & Schuster, Steerforth/Random House, Harper Perennial and Sarabande, and their work has appeared in the New York Times, Chicago Review of Books, Ploughshares, Glimmer Train and Salon. Graduates of the program hold editorial positions at National Geographic, New York Magazine, University of Chicago Press and Cricket Media, and have gone on to top MFA and PhD programs in creative writing.

Scholarships & Aid

The English Department offers yearly graduate assistantships that include a stipend. Learn more about the opportunities available to you.

Contact Information

For more information about applying, contact The Office of Graduate Admission at (773) 325-7315 or [email protected] .

Take the next step

We’ll send you information about the degree, admission requirements and upcoming info sessions. Let’s get started.