BA (Hons) — 2027 entry English Literature and Creative Writing

What you will study

On our English and Creative Writing degree, you’ll study vital and influential works of literature, you'll read and discuss contemporary writing as well as classics in a wide range of genres.

You’ll explore canonical as well as more experimental forms, texts, and authors alongside perspectives, world views, and creative practices that have been historically silenced, marginalised, or endangered. Throughout the programme, you’ll develop sensitivity and appreciation for a diverse range of cultures and forms of artistic expressions, as well as emotional and cultural intelligence when discussing them with your peers and tutors.

The programme includes innovative modules Science-Fiction and Renaissance Lives, plus a new Creative Writing poetry module and identities module, alongside our excellent existing creative writing and period-based literary modules in Medieval, Early Modern, 19th century, Modernist and Contemporary Studies.

You’ll develop a wide range of creative writing skills and knowledge, looking at forms such as novels, short stories, poetry, plays, screenplays, graphic novels and writing for games.

You will study classic works like those of Shakespeare and George Eliot, as well as writing by contemporary authors including Kazuo Ishiguro, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Jhumpa Lahiri.

Genres you’ll study include travel writing, 19th-century theatre and fiction, science-fiction, contemporary global literatures, medieval literature, romantic literature, early modern, modernist and contemporary literatures.

Our creative writing modules will develop your understanding of the techniques used and challenges faced by the writers you study on your English literature modules. You’ll assess the potential and challenges of forms of artistic expression that are increasingly central in contemporary culture and society, such as digital storytelling, video-gaming, blogging and podcasting. Your studies will also help you find inspiration and root your own creative work in the authors and literary traditions you’ll be exploring.

Culture and arts at Surrey

As an English literature and creative writing student at Surrey, you’ll find yourself in an exciting and creatively invigorating environment.

Alongside your lectures, tutorials, seminars and workshops, you'll have a wide range of opportunities to engage with our vibrant research culture and arts activities.

Literary events on and around campus include the annual Morag Morris Poetry Lecture, the Surrey Poetry Festival and the Surrey New Writers Festival.

Literature and Languages also regularly host talks by major writers and critics, as well as literary agents, publishers and other speakers of interest.

Our current Poet in Residence for 2025 onwards is James Wilkes who offers regular writing workshops. We are in the process of appointing a new Writer in Residence, but previous writers have included the acclaimed authors Neel Mukherjee, Monika Ali and Iain Sinclair.