Internal Windows: A Reflection on my Creative Writing MA

 By Anna Walsh

I started writing poems as a creative outlet when my children were small, and I occasionally performed them at spoken word events in Leicester.  When I became Word! Poetry Slam Champion 2022, part of my prize was a paid gig at the Attenborough Centre. One of my neighbours who came to the gig is an English lecturer at the University of Leicester and she encouraged me to consider the Creative Writing MA. 

It was intense but fun to return to studying as a mature student and the first modules, on climate change and poetry, suited my experience and interests. The second-semester course on fiction was a steep learning curve, but I was keen to challenge myself and I developed a good writing routine with excellent support from tutors and classmates.  

My final MA dissertation, Internal Windows: 42 Micro Memoirs, is a collection of memories from childhood, adulthood and parenthood which vary widely in form. It was inspired by Beth Ann Fennelly’s Heating and Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs, which includes memoirs of a single sentence, others which are lists or short paragraphs with joke-like punchlines, and the titular "Heating and Cooling" which is a five-page personal essay.

I was excited to discover a new genre which suited my writing style, as I discussed in my reflective commentary:

"I experience life in fragments. Each shard is glittering, and compelling. The inputs of my surrounding environment; sounds light and smells, images, words and textures, shine unfiltered into my brain. This feature of my neurodiversity can be an asset for Creative Writing. I notice detail and am fully immersed in every experience. I find interest in the ordinary. As each location is all-consuming, moving from one room to another is like travelling between different worlds. The recent past quickly becomes a distant memory and the future is unimaginable. Life is a set of disconnected segments rather than a connected continuum. This works well for writing poetry, dense and intense around a single metaphor. Longer-form writing and narrative structure is much more challenging for me. I found that micro-memoirs suited my ability to craft short pieces which are complete in themselves." 

I had no shortage of material. It was just a case of collecting up the scattered post-it notes, the unnamed documents from the corners of my computer, the "notes to self" on my phone and some older memories from the depths of my brain.  I spent a lot of time on editing and applying my new learning to craft these pieces into effective stories in a wide variety of forms. 

Arranging the forty-two pieces in the most compelling order was an important but potentially overwhelming process. I followed my supervisor’s advice and printed them all out. I then infiltrated the Engineering block and enjoyed several hours rearranging my pages on their large, tiled landing with windows overlooking the park.

I am delighted that I will be returning to the University of Leicester in September to start my PhD as part of the EM-SLAM programme focussed on sustainability, storytelling and mental health.

Below, you can read three of the micro-memoirs from my MA Creative Writing Dissertation. 

Cheating death

I have written poems for one wedding and three funerals. My relatives message me memories and I connect them with rhyme. My dad says he’ll be sorry to miss the funeral poem I write for him, so we agree that he can have it in advance. I send him instalments, a verse for every birthday. He gets to cheat death by hearing his own eulogy and I will never have to say, "I wish I’d told him while I had the chance." 

Saturday mornings 

"Can we have icing sugar on our breakfast?," we shout towards the mounds of our sleeping parents. One of them mumbles a muffled syllable and neither of them moves. I will take that as approval. My brother is already on his way to the kitchen, jumping down the last two stairs. 

He places the pink box on the kitchen table, the cardboard flaps flipped up, and the inner packet open. We climb onto the wooden stools, dangle our legs and wait for several seconds in respect of the ritual. My brother hits the packet and a white cloud rises.  We lean right in and inhale the sweetness, coating our throats and noses with the soft powder particles.  

Once the magic has settled on the surfaces, we abandon the sticky kitchen to eat our sugar topped Weetabix in front of far too much TV. 

Years later I come across a newspaper article: a health study into the benefits of glucose for respiratory illnesses. It suggests inhalation therapy as a treatment, but they have yet to address how sugar might be inhaled. 

We are the pioneers who have the answer. Those Saturday mornings spent in research will not have been in vain. I message by brother to congratulate him.

The Tidsoptimist

Sorry I’m late I was thinking about my cheese plant.

Sorry I’m late I was working out the meaning of life.

Sorry I’m late but I genuinely believed that if I cycled fast enough, I could catch up with time. 

Professional Writing and Publishing on Creative Writing at Leicester

Over the years, we've published numerous articles on professional writing, publishing and other aspects of "employability" in relation to Creative Writing. So we thought it might be a good idea to bring some of these together. 

We embed professional writing skills at all levels (undergraduate and postgraduate) in our Creative Writing courses at Leicester. We believe it's a fundamental (and also fascinatingly varied) part of the subject. 

Below, you can find links to many of the features we've run on aspects of the professional writing world over the last few years. Some of these are general, some written by students and graduates, some by professionals beyond the university. Just click on the links to read more. 

Books by Students on Creative Writing at Leicester

Resources and Opportunities in the Media 

Some Useful Online Resources for Creative Writers 

The MA in Creative Writing: What You Can Expect

How Creative Writing Skills Can Make You A Better Copywriter, by Kristina Adams 

What Ghostwriting Taught Me, by Charis Buckingham

Five Years of Publishing Beyond the Mainstream: On Setting Up and Running Renard Press, by Will Dady

Pitch Perfect: Make Money from Your Writing, by Simon Elson

The Author as Promoter: A How-to Guide, by Charlie Hill

On Running a Literary Festival, by Charlie Hill

Reflecting: The Lessons I've Learned as a Writer, by Jenny Kane

Small Press Publishing: The Dos and Don'ts, by Isabelle Kenyon

In Conversation with Literary Journals, ed. Isabelle Kenyon and Charley Barnes

Our Future Storytellers: A Creative and Critical Writing Course, by Amirah Mohiddin

Writing for Games: Theory & Practice, by Hannah Nicklin

Multiple Middles: Storytelling in Games, by Hannah Nicklin

So You Want to Self-Publish? by Alicia Saccoh

Is An Internship for You? by Lisa Smalley

My Work Experience at Shoestring Press, by Sonia Tailor 

On Applications and Employability, by Jonathan Taylor

Creative and Critical Digressions: On the Creative Writing PhD, by Paul Taylor-McCartney

Red Flags and Green Flags in Publishing, by Anna Vaught

Do Too Many Cooks Spoil the Draft? Some Reflections On Amateur Hour's Second Zine and Group Feedback, by Nina Walker

Work Experience, Copywriting and Journalism, by India Wentworth

The Civil Service Fast Stream: Career Opportunities, by Gregory Wilson

On Applications and Employability

By Jonathan Taylor

As part of the MA in Creative Writing at the University of Leicester, we run a major module on "employability" called Applications: Publishing, Teaching & Other Stories. This core module considers the vocational and professional aspects of Creative Writing, looking beyond the university workshop to the world outside. It's a crucial part of the Master's degree. I see Creative Writing as a hybrid subject, which brings together practice-based, research-based and vocational forms of knowledge. 

The module deals with three key strands in relation to employability: 

• the dissemination of Creative Writing in public and professional spheres (e.g. the publication and performance of Creative Writing);
• other diverse ways in which Creative Writers subsist in the world (e.g. through portfolio careers, made up of teaching, journalism, editing, writing for professional briefs, etc.);
• the myriad related fields to which the transferable skills that Creative Writing develops can be applied.

These three strands might also be seen as concentric circles, moving from the immediate vocational context of the dissemination of Creative Writing, to professional contexts directly related to Creative Writing, to the much wider circle of professions which draw on the writing skills students have developed. We look at major and independent publishing, the role of literary agents, literary magazines and reviewing, performance contexts and techniques, writing for briefs, and so on. The module includes workshops, seminars, talks as well as guest speakers from the professional writing world. 

I've been teaching the professional side of Creative Writing for twenty-five years now, and I've seen students go on to work in a myriad of different fields. In a literate economy, the value of writing well, reading critically, storytelling skills, imaginative use of language, communication skills can hardly be overestimated. Jobs and roles I've seen students go into after studying Creative Writing have included (among many more): novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, playwright, radio writer, speech writer, creative non-fiction writer, travel writer, memoirist, children's author, PhD student, academic, teacher (in all sorts of different contexts, and at all levels), tutor, publisher, performance poet, stand-up comedian, events manager, arts manager, festival manager, arts programme coordinator, literature development officer, public relations manager, human resources manager, advertiser, politician, journalist, literary magazine editor, commercial magazine editor, game designer, radio producer, radio presenter, voice-over artist, TV presenter, producer, web content creator, publicist, marketer, film producer,  accountant, literary agent, editor, copy editor, commissioning editor, copywriter, web designer, solicitor (through a conversion course), doctor (through a conversion course), civil servant, librarian, archivist, financial manager, administrator, counsellor, bookseller, actor, reviewer, arts organisation director ... and so on and so forth. 

Recently, though, I've been thinking a lot about "employability," and about how we should perhaps understand the term much more broadly. Given the state of the world, I've been thinking about the other invaluable (yet more intangible) roles Creative Writing graduates often take up, whether as writers or in their lives as a whole. Ideally, employability shouldn't just be a matter of "training" for particular roles in the capitalist world; it might also be about changing those roles, dreaming up new ones, maybe even dreaming of changing the world itself (however slightly). After all, Creative Writing, by definition, encourages you to re-imagine the world, or to imagine new worlds. In that regard, I think employability in Creative Writing is also about roles that have never seemed more vital in our society - such as dreamer, idealist, utopianist, magical thinker, empath, mentor, radical, creative, artist, activist, communitarian, critical thinker, social critic, optimist, pessimist, optimistic-pessimist, pessimistic-optimist, visionary, prophet, poet, storyteller, "unacknowledged legislator of the world" (as Shelley puts it). 

Spring News 2026

Our last News post was back in December. You can read it here. Lots has been happening since then in the Centre for New Writing at the University of Leicester, so here is an update on student and staff news. Thank you so much to everyone who helps make this such a vibrant community of writers. It really is a very special thing to be part of.

Firstly, congratulations to all of the MA and PhD Creative Writing students who graduated in January 2026! PhD graduate Joe Bedford was invited to speak at the ceremony. You can see his speech here. If you are interested in the MA in Creative Writing at the University of Leicester, you can read more about it here. Applications are open for Autumn entry 2026. 

From the 18th to 21st March, the University of Leicester held the 2026 Literary Leicester Festival, which, as usual, included lots of wonderful speakers, panels and events. As part of the festival, we hosted our annual Creative Writing Student Showcase. Undergraduate, postgraduate and graduate creative writers who performed at the event included Laura Besley, Nina Walker, Anupriya Sisodia, Lisa Williams, Olivia Peachey, Brandon Clune, Sophie Stockdale, Beth Gaylard, Mithila Dutta Roy, Mellissa Flowerdew-Clarke and Laurie Cusack. Thanks to everyone who made it such a lovely occasion - a brilliant celebration of everything students do. 

Our blog Everybody's Reviewing has now had over one a half million readers, and Creative Writing at Leicester has had over 800,000 readers. Thanks to everyone - our students, authors, reviewers, editors, interviewers and readers - involved. Back in January, lots of our students, graduates and staff contributed to our annual Favourite Reads of the Year article on Everybody's Reviewing. You can read it here. 

Congratulations to MA Creative Writing graduate Jess Bacon, whose book I'm Just a Girl will be published by Piatkus in June. Read more here.

In March, PhD Creative Writing graduate Joe Bedford hosted a panel for the European Network for Short Fiction Research, which also included Jonathan Taylor as one of the invited speakers. 

Congratulations to Laura Besley, PhD Creative Writing student, whose story "The Only Shade of Time is Gray" won third prize in the Henshaw Press Short Story Prize. Her story "These Days You're Kinda Okay" has been nominated for Best Small Fictions 2025 by Literary Namjooning Magazine. You can read it here. Her story "Seventeen Years from Now" has been published in Gooseberry Pie Lit Magazine here. She has written a review for Everybody's Reviewing here. 

Tracey Foster, MA Creative Writing graduate, has written a review of Muse by Ruth Millington for Everybody's Reviewing here. 

Congratulations to Cathy Galvin, PhD Creative Writing student, whose debut poetry collection, Ethnology: A Love Song for Connemara, has been published by Bloodaxe. She has been giving readings across the UK and Ireland, including at the Emerald Centre in Leicester. You can read more about Ethnology here. 

Congratulations to Beth Gaylard, who has now completed her PhD in Creative Writing in March.

Congratulations to PhD graduate Tim Hannigan, whose new book The Pathless Land: Finding a Way Across Ireland will be published by Apollo in August this year. Read more here. 

Congratulations to PhD Creative Writing student Kathy Hoyle who won second prize in the Hammond House Literary Awards Short Story category for her story, "Leporidae." Her story "Humbug Shark" has been nominated for Best Short Fictions 2025 by Does It Have Pockets?. You can read it here. Her story "Auld Gallowa" has been longlisted for the Bedford Short Story Competition.  

Congratulations to Mathew Lopez-Bland, who completed his PhD in Creative Writing in March. 

Iain Minney, MA Creative Writing student, has written a review for Everybody's Reviewing of The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn. You can read it here. 

Kimaya Tushar Patil, MA Creative Writing graduate, has written a review of The Cruel Prince by Holly Black for Everybody's Reviewing here. 

Karen Powell-Curtis, PhD Creative Writing graduate, has written a review of Have they marked you with arrows? by Jayne Stanton for Everybody's Reviewing here. 

Congratulations to Cathi Rae, PhD Creative Writing graduate, whose new poetry collection, Writing Elegies for Dead Men I Didn't Meet, has recently been published by Coalville CAN Publishing. You can read more about the collection here. You can read a review of the book on Everybody's Reviewing here. She has also written three articles on "Poetry for Everyone" for Writing Magazine. You can see more details here. 

Mithila Dutta Roy has reviewed Kit de Waal's Supporting Cast for Everybody's Reviewing here. 

Anupriya Sisodia, MA Creative Writing student, has been undertaking work experience as editor for Everybody's Reviewing. She has written a review for the site here. 

Jonathan Taylor's second novel Melissa, published in 2015, has been named as one of Stoke-on-Trent's "100 Books," a list of one hundred books from the Potteries to celebrate a hundred years of the city. He has written reviews for The Morning Star, which you can read here, here and here. His story "Cassie and the Green Knight," commissioned by the West Midlands Readers' Network, is in the anthology 5 Stories. With Karen Stevens, he has also been co-editing a book of essays, Creative Writing and the Critical Commentary, which will be published by Bloomsbury in June 2026. 

Congratulations to PhD Creative Writing graduate Paul Taylor-McCartney whose historical fantasy epic, the 5-book Broken Pentacle series, is going to be published by Blue Poppy Publishing. The second of the series, Guardians of the Pentacle, will be published in November this year. You can read about the first book here. His book, Cornwall Uncharted: Mapping Cornwall's Queer History of Concealment, Culture and Creativity, will be published by the History Press in June this year. Paul has also written reviews of The Language of Now by Anne Caldwell and The Subtle Art of Short Fiction, ed. Isabelle Kenyon, both for Everybody's Reviewing here and here. 

Harry Whitehead will be reading and speaking at Oundle Lit Fest on the evening of Friday 17th April, and Wirksworth Book Festival on the afternoon of Saturday 25th April. He'll be talking about his novel White Road, which you can read more about here. 

Congratulations to Lisa Williams, MA Creative Writing graduate, whose novella provisionally entitled The Longest Day will be published by Road Song Books later this year. Lisa has also written a review for Everybody's Reviewing which you can read here. 

The MA in Creative Writing at the University of Leicester: What You Can Expect

Our acclaimed MA in Creative Writing is open to applications here. We think it's important to be up-front about what support you and your writing will receive if you embark on the course. So here (below) we've set out as clearly as possible what you can expect from the course, whether you take it full-time or part-time. We believe passionately that Creative Writing can be taught - that it's almost entirely a learnt skill - and that all students who finish this course are, almost inevitably, better writers as a result of the intense study provided by a Master's degree. 

Please do let us know if you have any questions about the MA, by emailing jt265@le.ac.uk. 

What you can expect on the MA in Creative Writing at Leicester:

• Four taught 30-credit semester-long modules: EN 7040 Research Methods in Creative Writing, EN 7041 Styles, EN 7042 Applications, EN 7043 Substances 
• An individually-supervised Dissertation in Creative Writing, from May to September (EN 7044)
• One two-hour workshop per week (usually ten weeks) per 30-credit semester-long taught module (so you have one two-hour workshop per week if you are part-time, two two-hour workshops per week if you are full-time)
• In-depth introductions to two particular forms (e.g. poetry and prose fiction)
• In-depth introductions to two particular themes (these vary year on year, but have included subjects such as Space, Memory, Time, Climate Change, Place, Creative Reading, etc.)
• Workshops on research skills (which might include subjects like using oral histories, archival research, interdisciplinary research, etc.)
• Workshops on aspects of the professional writing world (such as publishing, performance, teaching, etc.)
• Thorough feedback on summative assignments (i.e. formal assessments)
• A supervisor for your Dissertation over Summer, who provides individual supervision and feedback on draft sections
• A personal tutor who oversees your progress, and whom you meet at least twice a semester for an individual tutorial
• Office hours or pre-arranged appointments, in which you can drop in to see tutors (either in person or electronically)
• Detailed handouts, resources and learning materials shared on Blackboard (the virtual learning environment)
• Online electronic reading lists for every module
• Continuous email support

And, on top of these formal aspects of the course, you can also normally expect additional support and resources, such as:

• On-going feedback on formative work-in-progress from peers and staff
• Guest lectures and masterclasses by authors, publishers, editors, agents from outside the university (obviously depending on budget and availability)
• Attendance at other events hosted by the Centre for New Writing, the School of Arts, Media and Communication and the annual Literary Leicester Festival 
• Voluntary attendance at any of the undergraduate lectures in Creative Writing
• Access to online resources, including the Creative Writing at Leicester University Facebook group (on which we post opportunities, jobs, events, news, articles), Everybody’s Reviewing, and the Creative Writing at Leicester blog
• Opportunities to gain experience of participating in a major literary festival (i.e. Literary Leicester)
• Performance opportunities (e.g. at Literary Leicester)
• Postgraduate Creative Writing research seminars
• Connections with professional writing and publishing networks
• Electronic forums on which you can share work with other students
• Advice on publishing, teaching, careers, etc. 
• Participation in a vibrant community of Creative Writing students, graduates, local and national authors.

All about the MA in Creative Writing Dissertation at the University of Leicester

Towards the end of the MA in Creative Writing at the University of Leicester, students concentrate on an individual extended writing project, the Dissertation in Creative Writing. The Dissertation is the students' opportunity to concentrate on a pet major project (e.g. a collection of stories, a poetry collection, a script, an extended extract from a novel, etc.), and develop it with the help of an individual supervisor. This is the students' chance to write what they always wanted to!

The Dissertation usually runs from May to mid-September, after the four taught MA modules have been completed. The Dissertation consists of three stages:

1. In May, students attend the annual Creative Writing Dissertation Day, where they get to share ideas with each other and tutors. Following this, student submit a short proposal about their intended project.

2. Students are then allotted an individual supervisor, who meets with them regularly over Summer, providing feedback and advice on the work in progress. 

3. Students submit their Creative Writing Dissertation in mid-September. 

Over the last few years, we've featured a number of our MA Creative Writing students who have written about their Dissertation experience, so to give a flavour of the (huge) range of different creative possibilities in this respect, we've collected some of these articles (below). There's lots of great writing and research advice here, and some fantastic projects. Do take a look!

If you're interested in either the part-time or full-time MA course in Creative Writing, and would like more information, please do email Jonathan Taylor on jt265@le.ac.uk. You can apply here.

Some Articles by Students about the MA Creative Writing Dissertation on Creative Writing at Leicester. 

Anna O'Sullivan, My MA Creative Dissertation

Mandy Jarvis, Moving on Up: My Creative Writing Dissertation

Tracey Foster, Deep Diving the YA Market: My Creative Writing Dissertation

Kate Durban, The Creative Writing Dissertation

Danni Devenney, Girls Who Play Sports 

Thilsana Gias, Researching and Writing a Historical Dissertation

Rosie Anderson, Managing a Creative Writing Dissertation

Millie Henson, The Call of the Wild in Children's Literature

Tionee Joseph, Mastering the Dissertation

Books by Students on Creative Writing at Leicester

Over the last few years, BA, MA and PhD students and graduates in Creative Writing at the University of Leicester have had amazing success publishing their books and chapbooks - including novels, short story collections, flash collections, novellas-in-flash, poetry collections, memoirs and works of creative non-fiction. We've featured lots of these on this blog, so we thought it might be a good time to collect some of them together, as a way of celebrating these authors' successes - congratulations to all once again!

You can find out more about our BA in English with Creative Writing here, our BA in Journalism with Creative Writing here, our acclaimed MA in Creative Writing here, and our PhD in Creative Writing here. 

Here (below) you can find links to just some of the books we've featured on this blog by Leicester University BA, MA and PhD students and graduates in Creative Writing over the last few years.

Joe Bedford, A Bad Decade for Good People (novel)

Laura Besley, The Almost Mothers (flash fiction collection)

Laura Besley, Un(Natural) Elements (micro-fiction collection)

Constantine, Alien Boy (children's novel for reluctant readers)

Constantine, And things begin to change ... and other stories (short story collection)

Constantine, Jötunheim (children's novel)

Constantine, Tales of the Charnwood (short story collection)

Constantine, Tiya and the Minotaur (children's novel)

Constantine, The Cats of Charnwood Forest (children's novel)

Laurie Cusack, The Mad Road (short story collection)

Kassie Duke, Word Bath (poetry collection)

Cathy Galvin, Ethnology: A Love Song for Connemara (poetry collection)

Cathy Galvin, Walking the Coventry Ring Road with Lady Godiva (poetry collection)

Tim Hannigan, The Granite Kingdom: A Cornish Journey (travel writing)

Talia Hibbert, Get a Life, Chloe Brown (novel)

Kathy Hoyle, Chasing the Dragon (novella-in-flash)

Sabyn Javeri (ed.), Ways of Being: Creative Non-Fiction by Pakistani Women (edited anthology)

Kevan Manwaring, Writing Ecofiction (textbook)

Cathi Rae, Just This Side of Seaworthy and Other Poems and Rock, Paper, Scissors and Other Poems (poetry collections)

Cathi Rae, Your Cleaner Hates You and Other Poems (poetry collection)

Cathi Rae, Writing Elegies for Dead Men I Didn't Meet (poetry collection)

Anita Sivakumaran, Cold Sun (novel)

Hannah Stevens, In Their Absence (short story collection) 

Paul Taylor-McCartney, Sisters of the Pentacle (YA novel)

Rory Waterman, Come Here to this Gate (poetry collection)

Rory Waterman, Sweet Nothings (poetry collection)

David Wharton, Finer Things (novel)

All about the MA in Creative Writing at the University of Leicester

This blog has recently passed 700,000 readers! Thanks to everyone - students, graduates, authors, editors, readers - concerned. Over the last few years, we've published over 640 articles by over 450 authors. 

The blog was originally set up in conjunction with our acclaimed MA in Creative Writing at the University of Leicester. So it seems like a good occasion to bring together some of the articles about the MA here (below). 

The MA in Creative Writing is now open for applications to start in Autumn 2026. The course is available full-time (12 months) or part-time (24 months). You can find basic information and the online application form here. If you'd like to discuss the MA further, you can email the course director Jonathan Taylor on jt265@le.ac.uk and he can send you lots of detailed information about it. The MA is open to students from diverse academic and writerly backgrounds: you don't necessarily have to have a first degree. All applications are judged individually, on their own writerly merits. Do get in touch if you have any queries!

Here are some articles on the blog about aspects of the MA in Creative Writing at Leicester:

What Is an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Leicester?

Ten Things Worth Knowing about the MA in Creative Writing at Leicester

The MA in Creative Writing: Some Advice from Past Students

An MA in Creative Writing: Is It for You?, By Kathy Hoyle

Why Do a Creative Writing MA?, By Kit de Waal 

Doing a Part-Time MA in Creative Writing, By Karen Rust

I'm a Master's Graduate!, By Jessica Bacon

"The Armour of Fiction Versus the Sword of Reality": My Creative Writing Dissertation

By Kimaya Tushar Patil

Hi! I'm Kimaya, I'm 22, and I've recently been awarded my MA in Creative Writing from the University of Leicester. I'm originally from the city of Pune, in India, and I graduated from Fergusson College with a BA in English Literature in 2024 (2:1).

My final dissertation for the MA was a prose-based Creative Writing project which highlighted the political turmoil we face in a society that manipulates information to control and divide its citizens, and how we, as recently inducted adults, learn to navigate this chaos on finding ourselves in such an uncertain environment. For my dissertation, I submitted the first six chapters of the first book of what I have planned to be a trilogy.

My undergraduate project had to be done in a group and was purely research based (we applied Allen Tate's "Theory of Tension" to Dante's Inferno), so I was glad to have free rein this time around, as my Master's dissertation allowed me to combine research with my original work. 

The themes of my work were inspired by the current world events unfolding in the previous and ongoing decade. We have been through so much as a society; battling precarious geo-political conflicts, global pandemics, and corrupt leaderships. And yet, in spite of all the chaos, we are trying to not only persevere, but to find ourselves as we enter a new stage of life. My submission focused on the themes of 1) individual morality vs. social indoctrination, 2) identity and belonging, and 3) the construction of a false reality through propaganda and class division. 

As for the genre, while never having worked with fantasy before, it was the only one that felt right to be able to bear the weight of the themes being explored. It gave me the chance to probe further into these issues. My book would be classified in terms of the newly popular "New Adult" category, in the genre of political-fantasy with a romantasy sub-plot. The "New Adult" category is fairly recent development, and usually falls between the "Young Adult" and "Adult" categories, aiming for audiences between 18-25 years of age. 

The first book follows 22-year-old Oriana Seravelle, as she navigates her life as a new adult. As the adoptive daughter of the decorated army General of Elydris, Oriana has big shoes to fill. Between training and honing her ability to wield shadows, and her ageing father retiring soon, she is trying her best to be worthy of his legacy. Just when her father agrees to let her take on some more serious responsibilities, she comes across a mysterious stranger who threatens to turn her world upside down. 

During my dissertation I found myself struggling with scene edits, as well as stylistic edits. With scenes, I often struggled to maintain the delicate balance between mystery and revelation. I also often spent too much time focusing on minute details of particular scenes. I have learned, though, that it is best to know just enough about a scene to make sure it can be converted into a rough draft. That way there is at least something to edit later. 

Here are a few general tips for writing at university I feel I've picked up along the way:

• Write whatever you can. It doesn't matter if it is 50 words or 500. It does not necessarily have to be a perfect draft.
• Perfect drafts are a MYTH. And imposter syndrome is real, although it is good to remind yourself that you have your own unique timeline to accomplish your goals!
• Go through your curriculum well before your classes begin and email your tutors in case of any queries. (They are always happy to help you!)
• While navigating the busy schedule of a post-graduate degree, organisation is key! (Don't be shy to use that note-taking app, and the scheduling calendar. They are lifesavers).

Below, you can read a short excerpt from my MA Creative Writing Dissertation.

 

From Chapter Two

The moon is high by the time I make my way across the town and to the outskirts near the cliffs. The Fortress is a daunting structure in the distance. Its security is second best, only to its geographical advantage, which makes it inescapable, by foot or by water. Hewn from stone, the structure is deeper than it is taller, overlooking the steep drop to the jagged shoreline and deep waters below. 

Shadows dance along the walls as I climb the steps to the entrance. The two stationed guards exchange skeptical looks, but let me pass after handing me the roster of the cells. The darkness seems to close in the deeper I go, the dampness of mildew coating my senses in an invisible cloak. The sound of my boots is the loud compared to the occasional groan or yell coming from a distance. It takes my eyes a minute to adjust to the light that flickers from the carved hollow quartz stones, placed upon unevenly distanced sconces. I make sure to double-check every name and locking mechanism on each of the holding cells as I move deeper into the fortress. 

About forty cells in, the Fortress goes quiet; too quiet. I move cautiously, drawing a blade from its sheath, and take a left at the upcoming junction. I see something move in the shadows out of the corner of my eye. I turn around to find hollow darkness, but I sense someone standing in the shadows. There is more than one person here. Not guards. 

Christmas News 2025

Our last News post was back in August. You can read it here. Since then, lots has been happening in the Centre for New Writing at the University of Leicester, so here is an update on student and staff news. Congratulations and thanks to everyone who helps make this such a vibrant community of writers. It really is a very special thing to be part of. And wishing everyone a very happy Christmas and New Year!

General News

Congratulations to all the MA Creative Writing students who successfully completed their course in September - a huge achievement!

We've held various guest lectures and public workshop over the last three months. These include a visit from Mr Shay, Leicester's first ever Poet Laureate (you can read more about his role here), a masterclass by Prof Kit de Waal ("Research Tips for Writers"), and a talk by Marco Volpe from Creative Computing on "Computational Storytelling." 

In December, we held a Christmas Creative Writing Research Seminar, open to all, in which PhD students Kathy Hoyle and Beth Gaylard gave excellent talks about their research. There were also some mince pies.  

Our review blog, Everybody's Reviewing, has now had well over one million readers. Thank to you everyone - our reviewers, interviewers, authors, editors and readers - involved. This blog, Creative Writing at Leicester, has now had well over half a million readers. Again, thanks to everyone involved!

Student and Staff News

Congratulations to PhD Creative Writing student Laura Besley whose story "Like a memory, or maybe only a dream" has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and whose story "We cannot know the dreams of absent fathers" won third prize in the Leicester Writes Short Story Prize 2025! Read more here and here, respectively. Laura's story "Love (A Journey)" has been published by Fictive Dream here. Laura's story "These Days, You're Kinda Okay" is published in Literary Namjooning here. 

Congratulations to MA Creative Writing graduate Constantine on the publication of his new book of short stories, Tales of the Charnwood. You can read more here. 

The Mad Road by PhD Creative Writing graduate Laurie Cusack has been reviewed in The Letter Press Project here. Laurie drafted The Mad Road as part of his PhD at Leicester. 

Congratulations to MA Creative Writing graduate Sam Dawson, whose story "Since the Fish Started Screaming" was shortlisted for the Aurora Short Fiction Prize 2025. Read more here. Sam's story "Dolly" was also longlisted for the Leicester Writes Short Story Prize. 

Congratulations to Kit de Waal, Professor of Creative Writing, who has been appointed a Fellow of the Society of Authors. Read more here. 

New Walk Editions, which is co-edited by Honorary Fellow in Creative Writing Nick Everett, has recently published two new pamphlets: The Morlocks by Mark Ford, and  À la Carte by Sean O'Brien. Read more on the publisher's website here. 

Tracey Foster, MA Creative Writing graduate, has had three of her haiku published in Madswirl Magazine here. Tracey's haiku "Gallery" is published on the Haiku Foundation website. 

Congratulations to PhD Creative Writing student Cathy Galvin, whose poetry collection Ethnology: A Love Song to Connemara will be published by Bloodaxe in February 2026. See more here. 

Congratulations to Kathy Hoyle, PhD Creative Writing student, whose story has been shortlisted for the Hammond House 2025 Literary Prize. You can see the shortlist here. 

As part of the University's Ukrainian Culture Week, final-year Creative Writing student Oleksandra Korshunova gave two excellent and moving poetry readings in the David Wilson Library. She read from and talked about contemporary Ukrainian poetry, and finished with a poem of her own. She performed the poems in both English and Ukrainian. You can read more about the Ukrainian Culture Week here.  

Congratulations to PhD Creative Writing student Mathew Lopez-Bland, who passed his viva in November!

Karen Powell-Curtis, PhD Creative Writing graduate, has written reviews for Everybody's Reviewing of Mary Bailey's Poems of a Nottingham Lace-Runner here, and Familiar Phantoms by Sue Forrester here. 

Congratulations to PhD Creative Writing student Rob Reeves, who passed his viva in November!

Congratulations to MA Creative Writing student Mithila Dutta Roy, whose story "A Father and a Tide" has been longlisted for the World History Encyclopedia Ink of Ages Fiction Prize. Read more here.  

Congratulations to PhD Creative Writing student Jane Simmons, who passed her viva in November!

Hannah Stevens, PhD Creative Writing graduate, has had her story "A Micro-Second of Silence" published by Fictive Dream here. 

Jonathan Taylor, Associate Professor of Creative Writing, has been co-editing, with Karen Stevens, a book of essays called Creative Writing and the Critical Commentary: Reflection, Influence and Process, which will be published in 2026. His short essays "The Role of Comedy in Short Fiction" and "On Relatability" have been published, respectively, in The Subtle Art of Short Fiction, ed. Isabelle Kenyon (Fly on the Wall Press), and Antae: A Journal of Creative Writing (read it here). He has written three reviews for The Morning Star here, here and here. He has given various readings and talks, including the Christmas address to the Arnold Bennett Society.   

Congratulations to Paul Taylor-McCartney, PhD Creative Writing graduate, whose first non-fiction book, Cornwall Uncharted: Mapping Cornwall’s Queer History of Concealment, Culture and Creativity, will be published by the History Press in June 2026, to coincide with National Pride Month. You can read more about Paul's work on his website here. Paul has written a review of White Road by Harry Whitehead for Everybody's Reviewing here. 

Associate Professor of Creative Writing Harry Whitehead's novel White Road was published in September and he embarked on a book tour, taking in several book festivals and other events from Scotland to Kent. The tour continues into 2026 (see more news and reviews here).  

Lisa Williams, MA Creative Writing graduate, has a story ("Hope") in a new anthology called Pocket Full of Posies: Shadow Children, edited by Parth Sarathi Chakraborty and Rasiika Sen. Read more about the anthology here. Lisa has written reviews for Everybody's Reviewing of FantasticLand by Mike Bockoven here and The Names by Florence Knapp here.  

Lee Wright, PhD Creative Writing student, has written a review for Everybody's Reviewing of Common by Nikolai Duffy here. 

Ten Things Worth Knowing about the MA in Creative Writing at the University of Leicester

Here are a few things you might want to know about our acclaimed MA in Creative Writing at the University of Leicester: 

1. You can find information about the course and apply for it online here. If you want more detailed information, or to talk about the course, email Jonathan Taylor on jt265@le.ac.uk. We're happy to answer any questions you might have! As regards entrance requirements, we ask for EITHER a first degree in a relevant subject OR significant writing experience (which we can discuss in advance). We have students from a huge range of different academic and literary backgrounds. You don't need to have studied Creative Writing as a university subject prior to applying. Mature students are very welcome.

2. As a creatively and intellectually challenging course, the MA will encourage you to experiment across forms and genres. It covers all the major forms, including prose fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry and script-writing. There are dedicated strands on fiction and poetry, so everyone will write some fiction and poetry during the MA. This is because you learn about key aspects of craft by experimenting in these forms which apply across all kinds of writing. There are also thematised strands, which cross between forms and genres (see below). Within certain parameters, you can choose what form you want to submit for assignments. So the MA aims to strike a balance between encouraging you to experiment, on the one hand, and allowing you (gradually) to specialise, on the other. Students on the MA have written poetry, short fiction, longer-form fiction, prose poetry, screenplays, radio dramas, theatre scripts, memoir, creative non-fiction, fantasy, science fiction, romantic comedies, stand-up ... and lots more. 

3. The MA deals with all aspects of this fascinating subject, moving between craft-based skills, research and academic skills and vocationality. Of course, in practice these things overlap, but the modules are designed to cover different key aspects of the subject: EN 7040 Research Methods in Creative Writing with the academic and research-based elements of Creative Writing (e.g. where ideas might come from, etc.); EN 7042 Applications with the professional and vocational aspects of the subject (e.g. publishing, performance, editing); EN 7041 Styles and EN 7043 Substances with the craft and workshop-based aspects (including writing poetry and prose fiction, alongside trans-generic themes, such as "Memory," "Time," "Life / Climate / Writing," "Space" - the themes vary each year); and finally the module EN 7044 Dissertation in Creative Writing gives you the time and space to specialise in your own chosen area. 

4. If you are doing the full-time course, you will take two modules per semester, and then the final dissertation from May to mid-September. If you are take the part-time route, you will do one module per semester over two years, and then the dissertation in the second year, ending mid-September. You can see term dates here. 

5. All MA Creative Writing students are provided with a personal tutor and, for the final Dissertation in Creative Writing, an individual supervisor who will guide you through the process and meet with you regularly. 

6. You receive detailed and helpful feedback on your work throughout the course from both tutors and fellow students. The MA is a supportive community of writers. 

7. Seminars generally consist of various elements, including discussion of specific themes and reading, writing exercises, feedback and workshopping. 

8. The very basic contact time is 2 hours a week during term time for each module. This means that, if you are full-time, basic contact time is 4 hours a week, if part-time, 2 hours per week. On top of this, there are all sorts of other things going on round the course, including guest lectures by visiting writers and writing professionals, performances, readings, Literary Leicester Festival, and so on. You will also meet regularly with your personal tutor. 

9. On the MA, you will be part of a vibrant wider community of writers and the Centre for New Writing at the University of Leicester. This community includes undergraduate and postgraduate students, graduates, staff, along with writers and writing professionals from across the UK and beyond. We run two blogs - Creative Writing at Leicester and our popular book review blog Everybody's Reviewing. Students regularly contribute to both. You can also join our big Facebook group, Creative Writing at Leicester University, which features news, writing opportunities, jobs, and calls for submissions. For a sense of some of the fantastic things our students and graduates have achieved, have a look at our regular News posts on this blog. 

10. The MA is taught by experienced writers and academics, including Kit de Waal, Zalfa Feghali, Felicity James, Jonathan Taylor and Harry Whitehead. Every year, we also programme a series of guest speakers from the professional writing world, who come in to talk about their own experiences in (for instance) publishing, writing, teaching, journalism, agency, etc.

Do let us know if you want to know more! Email jt265@le.ac.uk if you have any questions. 

Summer News 2025

Our last News post was back in April. You can read it here. Since then, lots has been happening in the Centre for New Writing in the University of Leicester, so here is an update on student and staff news. Congratulations and thanks to everyone who helps make this such a vibrant place to be!

 

General News from the Centre for New Writing

Above all, we're sad to announce that Nick Everett, Associate Professor of American Literature and Creative Writing, has now taken early retirement from the University. Nick has worked at the University of Leicester for thirty-four years. He has been the cornerstone of Creative Writing, and its founder as a subject here. He introduced the original MA options in Creative Writing, undergraduate modules, and the PhD programme. His contribution to the University and to students over the years has been immeasurable. It goes without saying that he will be hugely missed by students, graduates and staff alike. He will continue as an Honorary Fellow at the University. He will also be continuing his work as co-editor of the hugely successful New Walk Editions. Thank you for everything, Nick!

Our acclaimed MA in Creative Writing is still open for late applications for October 2025. You can find information and apply here. For more detailed information, or to talk about the course, email Jonathan Taylor on jt265@le.ac.uk. 

This blog, Creative Writing at Leicester, has recently passed 450,000 readers, while our review blog, Everybody's Reviewing, has now had over 700,000 readers. Thank you to everyone - reviewers, readers, editors, authors, interviewers, interviewees - involved!

The Centre for New Writing, in conjunction with Everybody's Reviewing, recently ran its first ever student Book Review Competition. The competition was open to all undergraduate and postgraduate students in the School of Arts, Media & Communication at the University of Leicester. Congratulations to all the winning entries, from Lee Wright (1st prize), Mellissa Flowerdew-Clarke (runner-up), Iain Minney (runner-up), Wiktoria Borkowska (honourable mention), Kathy Hoyle (honourable mention), and Kimaya Patil (honourable mention). You can read more about the competition here. 

Student and Staff News

Congratulations to PhD Creative Writing student Joe Bedford, who passed his viva in June! Joe has also had a short story published in issue 3 of Ragaire Magazine, available here.  

Congratulations to PhD Creative Writing student Laura Besley, whose new collection, sum of her PARTS, has just been published by V. Press. You can read more about it here. Laura's story "The Tilting World of Lotte Janssen" won Morgen Bailey's May 50-Word Short Story Competition, and her story "Playing at Dinner for Two" won the April Competition. You can read the stories here and here. Her story, "It's All So Unexpected," won second prize in the 500 Flash Fiction competition. You can read it here. Laura was also shortlisted for the prestigious Scratch Books Short Story Competition. You can read her story, "Every Winter Solstice," here. 

Congratulations to Constantine, MA Creative Writing graduate, whose new book, Alien Boy: Wasteland (sequel to Alien Boy) has been published by Coalville CAN Community Publishing. Read more here. 

Congratulations to MA Creative Writing graduate Sam Dawson whose story "Set in Stone" was published in the inaugural issue of The Bournemouth Journal. His story "Statues" has also been published by Crow & Cross Keys. You can read it here. He originally drafted both stories during his MA. 

Congratulations to Kit de Waal, Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Leicester, on the publication of her new novel, The Best of Everything. You can read more about the novel here. Kit was Chair of Judges for The Women's Prize for Fiction 2025. There is a video of the awards here, and more information on The Women's Prize website here. She was on BBC R4 Bookclub talking about My Name is Leon - available on BBC Sounds here. Kit has also become Ambassador of the charity Bookbanks. You can find more information on the charity's website here.

New Walk Editions, which is co-edited by Nick Everett, Associate Professor of American Literature and Creative Writing, published two new pamphlets in June: D. A. Prince’s Continuous Present and Richie McCaffery’s Skail. You can see more details on New Walk Editions' website here.

Congratulations to MA Creative Writing graduate Tracey Foster, who is guest poet on Mad Swirl here. Tracey has written a review for Everybody's Reviewing of Spring Cannot Be Cancelled, by Martin Gayford, here.

Congratulations to new PhD Creative Writing student Cathy Galvin, whose poetry collection Ethnology will be published by Bloodaxe Books in 2026. You can read more here. 

Congratulations to PhD Creative Writing student Beth Gaylard, who passed her PhD viva in June!

Congratulations to PhD Creative Writing student Kathy Hoyle, whose story "A Diner Full of Nothing'" is published by FlashFood here. 

Sabyn Javeri, PhD Creative Writing graduate, gave a public talk at Newcastle City Library with the NMC (North Modern and Contemporary Network), on the personal challenges of writing, on Thursday 3rd July.

Creative Writing student Grace Klemperer won both this year's G. S. Fraser Prize (for best undergraduate poetry submission) and the John Coleman Prize (for best undergraduate non-poetry submission). Honourable mentions for the G. S. Fraser Prize were given to Mahnoor Raja and Keeley Zappia. An honourable for the John Coleman Prize was given to Sarah Moritz. Congratulations to all!

The Strange History of Samuel Pepys's Diary by Kate Loveman, Professor of Early Modern Literature and Culture, was recently published by Cambridge University Press. You can read more about it here. 

Congratulations to Creative Writing student Dave Marston, whose poem "They" is published in a new anthology Salt in the Wound, published by Underland Review. You can read more here. 

Amirah Mohiddin, PhD Creative Writing graduate, has written a review of Birdy Arbuthnot's Year of "Yes" by Joanna Nadin for Everybody's Reviewing here. 

Sally Shaw, MA Creative Writing graduate, has written a review of The Two Keisukes by Brian Howell for Everybody's Reviewing here. 

PhD Creative Writing graduate, Hannah Stevens, has been interviewed about her writing for Pukaar Magazine. You can read the article here. 

Congratulations to Karen Stevens, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Chichester University and also our External Examiner for the MA in Creative Writing (2020-2024), whose short story collection, Brilliant Blue, has been published by Barbican Press. You can read more about it here. 

Shauna Strathmann and Anna Walsh, MA Creative Writing students, recently performed at Leicester Quaker Meeting House as part of a series of "Green Talks." The event, which took place in June, was entitled "Changeable" and involved a poetry reading and discussion about Creative Writing and the climate crisis. 

Jonathan Taylor, Associate Professor of Creative Writing, won the Arnold Bennett Prize for his book of short stories, Scablands and Other Stories, in May. The prize is awarded bi-annually by the Arnold Bennett Society to the author of a book with connections to North Staffordshire. Jonathan's memoir, A Physical Education, was also longlisted for the award. You can read more about the award here and on the Society's website here. Jonathan's article, "Arnold Bennett, Stoke and Me," is on Chainlink Magazine here. In July, Jonathan was writer in residence for the day in Trentham Library, Stoke-on-Trent, as part of a project to mark 100 years of Stoke-on-Trent as a city. You can read more about the project here. Jonathan has also written reviews for The Times Literary Supplement here and The Morning Star here. His story "Bubble Man" was published in The Morning Star, and you can read it here. 

Paul Taylor-McCartney, PhD Creative Writing graduate, has written a review of Brilliant Blue by Karen Stevens, for Everybody's Reviewing here. He also reviewed raw content by Naomi Booth here. A short fiction title, "Twelve Stories for Twelve Sections," that Paul commissioned, co-edited, published and launched as a collaboration between Hermitage Press and Cornwall National Landscape was a first place winner at the prestigious Holyer an Gof Publishers’ Awards in July. Paul has also been busy promoting his children's novel, Sisters of the Pentacle, at various bookshops and retailers around Cornwall, having completed a draft of the second book in the series.

Nina Walker, PhD student, has written a review of sum of her PARTS by Laura Besley for Everybody's Reviewing here. 

Harry Whitehead, Associate Professor of Creative Writing, recently returned from a month's artist residency with the Ladakh Arts and Media Organisation (LAMO) in Ladakh, India. He was there to research and write his next novel, about a film crew coming unstuck while shooting a tyre advert in the Himalayas. While he was in Ladakh, he also gave a series of workshops and talks about Creative Writing. Harry's new novel, White Road, will be published in September by Claret Press. He will be launching the novel at the University of Leicester on Wednesday 1 October, 5.30pm-6.30pm, in the David Wilson Library. All are welcome, and details are here. Harry also wrote a review of Syllables of the Briny World by Georgina Key for Everybody's Reviewing here. 

Harry with the LAMO team in Ladakh, India

Congratulations to MA Creative Writing graduate Lisa Williams, whose story, "Dad's Shed," was published in the new issue of Blink Ink Magazine. 

As well as winning first prize in our book review competition (see above), PhD Creative Writing student Lee Wright has written a review of On Writers and Writing by Henry James for Everybody's Reviewing here.