MA Creative Writing in University College Dublin, Ireland

MA Creative Writing in University College Dublin

UCD offers two graduate courses in creative writing, an MA and MFA. The MA programme includes lectures, seminars, workshops and supervision meetings, providing committed students with the support they need to produce a major piece of writing by the end of the course. 

The MA in Creative Writing  builds on the well established commitment of the UCD School of English, Drama and Film to fostering and supporting new writing. The university has long been associated with some of Ireland’s greatest writers, including James Joyce, Flann O’Brien, Mary Lavin, Anthony Cronin, John McGahern, Neil Jordan, Conor McPherson, Marina Carr, Colm Tóibín, Emma Donoghue, Maeve Binchy and many others. The distinguished playwright, Frank McGuinness, is Professor of Creative Writing for the College of Arts and Humanities, and internationally acclaimed novelist, Colm Tóibín,  is Adjunct Professor.

• Provides opportunities to explore and develop your own creative writing skills supervised by experienced published staff of international reputation.
• Actively fosters the development of students' capacity to edit their own work.
• Ensures that the art of writing is informed by contemporary theory and practice.
• Offers courses incorporating the manuscripts of works of leading writers held in Special Collections and courses which explore material in the National Folklore Collection in UCD, one of the richest archives of oral tradition in the world.

Many graduates of the MA in Creative Writing establish successful writing careers. Graduate of the programme Colin Barrett won the Guardian First Fiction Prize with Young Skins then went on to win both the Frank O'Conner International short story award and the Rooney Prize for Literature. Other graduates go into the publishing industry, while some go on to do an MFA in Creative Writing.