Program Overview
Based in the childhood home of Oscar Wilde at 1 Merrion Square and delivered in association with the Irish Writers’ Centre, the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing offers aspiring or published writers a one-year course of study which examines the process and practice of producing prose fiction.
Semester 1
- Imagination and storytelling
- Writing workshop 1: the novel
- Writing workshop 1: the short story
- The writer as critic
- The craft of creative writing
Semester 2
- The business of writing and publishing
- Writing workshop 2: the novel
- Writing workshop 2: the short story
- Masterclass in fiction writing
- Creative writing project
Module descriptions
Imagination and storytelling
The module examines the human propensity of using language to transform personal and social experience into imaginative constructs expressed in narratives, oral and written. Storytelling is one of cultural universals, from tribal myths to the modern novel and TV sitcoms, and its main functions include artistic self-expression, imposing cognitive order onto lived experience, and addressing the elusive questions of the purpose and meaning of life.
Writing workshop 1: the novel
The module is designed to develop greater competence and self-management in the complex process of writing a novel. Taught by an established novelist, the workshop guides students through the stages of planning, drafting, revising and completing a novel, with a focus on controlling and developing plot, characterisation, dialogue, and narrative style.
Writing workshop 1: the short story
Taught by an established short story writer, the workshop is designed to help writers to develop ideas for short stories and to draft and revise their stories effectively. Students are advised on such aspects of short story writing as setting up, developing and resolving the plot; introducing setting and context; developing characters; writing meaningful dialogue; establishing narrative point of view, tone and style.
The writer as critic
The module is designed to aid writers in developing skills and techniques of literary criticism; in other words, how to write effective, interesting, and persuasive reviews and interpretive analyses of literary fiction based on one’s experience, knowledge of literature, and insight into the creative writing process.
The craft of creative writing
This module provides students with practical guidance on the structural and technical aspects of fiction writing. Using examples from canonical fiction, the course discusses such topics as planning and preparation; relations between story and plot; plot structure and development; authorial and narrative voice; objective and subjective narration; characterization and character hierarchy; individualization of dialogue; employment of style, tone, metaphor, diction, and other literary devices.
The business of writing and publishing
Presented by agents, publishers and other professionals from the publishing industry, the module offers expert guidance on successful interaction with literary agents and publishing houses, publishing rights and contracts, applications for bursaries, e-publishing, publicity and marketing, editing and copy-editing, copyright law.
Writing workshop 2: the novel
This workshop is the second semester continuation of the first semester workshop on the novel. Students continue to share and discuss their work-in-progress with an experienced writer and other student-writers. Students offer drafts of their chapters for classroom discussion, thus obtaining the benefit of professional feedback and peer review to help them in the creative process.
Writing workshop 2: the short story
This workshop is the second semester continuation of the first semester workshop on the short story. Students continue to share and discuss their work-in-progress with an experienced writer and other student-writers. Students offer drafts of their short stories for classroom discussion, thus obtaining the benefit of professional feedback and peer review to help them in the creative process.
Masterclass in fiction writing
In this module an established writer shares his or her experience and gives expert advice on writing fiction effectively and successfully. The discussion focuses on such aspects of the creative writing process as generating and researching ideas for new fiction; thinking about story and characters; developing the plot; refining sentences and paragraph construction, and developing authorial voice and tone. Students are also given first-hand advice on how to promote their work, how to deal professionally with publishers, agents, and editors.
After completing all the taught modules students are assigned an experienced writer as a supervisor to guide them through the process of writing a work of fiction: selected chapters from a novel, a short story or a collection of short stories. Students work on their writing project on their own, meeting their supervisor regularly to receive helpful feedback and professional advice on their work in progress. The word limit is approximately 15,000 words; the student should include in the submission a 1500 word critical analysis outlining the authorial decisions taken in arriving at the submitted piece.
Attendance in all assigned modules is mandatory. Students are assessed by their participation in classroom activities, as specified by the lecturer. The final award is based on course work and the final project: 50 percent is made up from assessments in the taught modules, while the remaining 50 percent is related to the creative writing project, which involves a portfolio of about 15,000 words of original literary fiction, corresponding approximately to three chapters from a novel or to four short stories.
An honors bachelor's degree in a cognate discipline may be an advantage but is not a necessity for entry to the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. The principal requirements for admission to the programme are a demonstration of sufficient interest in the activity of creative writing and furnishing evidence of an ability to undertake and benefit from a course of master’s level study and tuition in creative writing.
An applicant for the MFA should submit to the Admissions Office a statement of approximately 500 words of his or her interest in undertaking the course and a portfolio of his or her prose writing. The portfolio may consist of a single piece of writing or of a collection of up to four samples; the entire length of the portfolio should be approximately 3000 words. The applicant will also be required to attend an interview (in person or by means of the internet).
Fees (Per-Year) - 10,000 Euros
Intake Per-Year - September & January
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