Creative Writing: First Novel
MA

“Studying for the Master’s degree at St Mary’s was absolutely key in my journey to completing my first novel. Whilst there was still a good deal of work to be done in re-writing and editing afterwards, the course certainly took me a long way along the road to publication. I have also gained an excellent group of fellow writing friends to continue working with, long after the course has finished.”

Louise's novel, People Like Us, will be published in the UK in hardback, e-book and audiobook in January 2020 and then in paperback in September of the same year. 

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"I would never have considered myself a writer before I embarked on the MA – it is testament to the course, to my peers and to the excellent tutors, that I now do."

Lara's first novel, The Devil's Claw, was published by Trapeze Books in 2017. The second book in the series, Dark Sky Island, will be published in April 2019.

Jess studied Creative Writing at St Mary's from 2011 until 2014. Her novel, Himself, was published by Canongate in July 2016. Jess is now working on two further novels, along with her first collection of short stories – many of which are either set in Ireland or have Irish protagonists.

Jess graduated with a PhD in Creative Writing, following the completion of an MA in Creative Writing (Enabling Creative Writing in the Community). Her PhD dissertation focuses on the ways in which disparate modes and genres can be brought into correspondence to create new hybrid forms – adaptable crime fiction variants. The critical commentary explores the tensions and similarities, contrasts and shared concerns in these two different approaches to fiction writing. Her research resulted in a magic realist crime novel, which was later revised and rewritten for publication. Jess is currently working on several academic articles drawn from her PhD research.

Jess has published short stories and a London theatre group has performed her work. 

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I had been considering a creative writing course for some time, but this was the first one specifically focussed on giving me the feedback and techniques to write my first novel.

When I look at my own writing now compared with a year ago before I started, the improvement has been dramatic. There has been an excellent balance between learning how to write more powerful and tighter narrative sentences, combined with how to build structure and plot.

The course has offered practical guidance on how to think about getting published. As a group of students, we have learnt so much from constructive feedback, both from our tutors and from each other.

I would definitely recommend this course to anyone who wants to turn an idea they have for a novel into reality. The course convenor and other tutors have given their time very willingly to help us develop our skills. All the tutors are published authors with different skill sets and levels of experience and this has been really useful.

I selected the Creative Writing First Novel MA as it's specifically designed for those who are attempting to write their first novel. It is a very small cohort of writers, which not only allows us all to get to know each other's work, but also allows for close contact with the tutors.

The programme gives an insight into the inner workings of the novel and a greater understanding of the writing process. It's a valuable opportunity to hone your writing skills and gain support and feedback from experienced, established authors and tutors, as well as sharing the writing experience with your peers on the course.

The support from tutors and peers was excellent. The intimate cohort of students, along with tutors who are accessible and happy to spend time sharing their years of experience as authors, makes St Mary's different to other universities.