Creative Writing

This Creative Writing MA programme will empower you in the honing and development of your craft as a writer; we will provide you with the tools and critical prowess to commence a career in writing and publishing.

Some of Ireland’s greatest writers have studied or taught at UCC, including Frank O’Connor, Sean O’Faolain, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, and John Montague, while more recently the Creative Writing programme boasts published graduates including Madeleine D’Arcy, Tadhg Coakley, and Laura McKenna. Notable writers associated with UCC include Mary Noonan, Doireann Ní Ghríofa, Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh, Thomas McCarthy, Sean Dunne, Paul Durcan, Theo Dorgan, and Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin.

The School of English hosts an annual Writer-In-Residence and holders of this prestigious post have included Mary Morrissy, Claire Keegan, Danielle McLaughlin, Thomas Morris, Eimear Ryan,Danny Denton, Cathy Sweeney and Matthew Sweeney. In addition to this, we host a reading series that has included guests such as Max Porter, Jackie Kay, Kevin Barry, Claire-Louise Bennett, Conor O’Callaghan, Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe, Nuala O’Connor, Brian Turner, John Banville, and Zadie Smith.

Finally, outside of our for-credit modules, we also run series of optional craft-specific masterclasses from writers such as Dónal Ryan, Catherine Ryan Howard, Victoria Kennefick, Olivia Fitzsimons, Sean Williams and many others.

We encourage and support a full exploration of the creative self while also maintaining a strong vocational emphasis, sustaining and supporting a life-long relationship with writing.

For full details of the non-EU application procedure visit our how to apply pages for international students.

• In UCC, we use the term programme and course interchangeably to describe what a person has registered to study in UCC and its constituent colleges, schools, and departments.
• Note that not all courses are open to international/non-EU applicants, please check the fact file above. For more information contact the International Office.

English Language Requirements

Applicants who are non-native speakers of the English language must meet the university-approved English language requirements. Visit our PG English Language Requirements page for more information.

This MA will provide an excellent foundation for a variety of writing and publishing careers, including authorship across a range of forms and styles, journalism, teaching, publishing, and arts administration.

The design of the MA fosters contacts with agents, publishers, and the professional world of the creative industries; it also produces well-crafted writing in one (or more) of the forms of creative writing.

Students experiment with, engage with, and reflect on a diversity of writing practices and establish an awareness of the role of technique and craft in their own work. They also learn how to interact with peers on an editorial level, and to understand the importance of editing and revision in the process of writing. Developing appropriate research methods and recording processes of self-reflection are also key components of the MA, encouraging students to reflect upon and discuss the conceptual challenges of the creative process, key contexts, and practical concerns. Finally, the MA fosters in its students an understanding of the practical constraints and professional opportunities of life as a writer, and a lifelong relationship with the written word.