The four-year Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Creative Writing covers all aspects of written communication, with particular emphasis on those that lie outside the purely academic and technical fields. Creative writing draws on the author’s imaginative capacity, stylistic felicity, and originality of composition, insight and expression. It encompasses a wide range of approaches, including prose fiction, poetry, drama, screenwriting, and writing for stage. Thus, an undergraduate degree in creative writing is one of the most useful programs of study that a student can contemplate, offering not only the means to explore and develop one’s expressive abilities in a variety of written forms, but also providing the means to develop advanced skills and competencies in written communication and academic research. In a digital age that is heavily reliant on effective, interesting, original and attractive writing, a BFA in Creative Writing is an exciting, relevant and vocationally desirable program: it provides a range of opportunities for artistic and intellectual growth, enhanced expressive ability, a rich variety of career development possibilities in the arts and business, and many avenues for further development in graduate study.

The BFA program examines all of the main areas of creative writing, with introductory modules on the discipline, technical requirements and analysis of creative writing, and specific modules exploring the practical aspects of composing novels, short stories, poems, scripts and screenplays. As students progress, the program makes increasing use of the workshop method of teaching, and in the final stages, there are opportunities for approved students to undertake extended independent writing projects. Students may combine the major in creative writing with other majors offered by the institution, depending on their interests; these include performing arts, liberal arts and international business, either as a double major or as minors.

The program also serves as preparation for students to participate in a variety of postgraduate programs such as the MFA in Creative Writing.

Students will study modules such as:

Academic communication
Imagination and storytelling
Anglo-Irish writers
Introduction to Creative Writing
Writing prose
Poetry now
Close reading
Shakespeare
Writing for screen
Writing for stage
Literary modernism
Writing workshops

Along with the academic knowledge students receive throughout their program, they will also acquire and develop transferable career skills from their degree discipline.

These skills include:

Skills and competencies in written communication.
Skills and competencies in academic research.
Attention to detail
Creativity
Self-management
Organisational competencies
Critical and editorial commentary