School of Society and Culture

PhD Creative Writing

Duration

Full time: 2-4 years
Part time: 4-8 years
Course type

Full-time, Part-time route available
Study location Plymouth
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Our PhD Creative Writing programme is one of the longest running in the UK, with a history reaching back to the late 1990s. We offer a rich and warm postgraduate culture, based on creative fellowship and scholarly interaction.

Our postgraduate research students are active in our English and Creative Writing Research Seminar Series and, in addition to Arts and Humanities disciplines, can engage with a wide variety of research institutes, including our Marine Institute, Sustainable Earth Institute, and Plymouth Institute for Health Research.
Our postgraduate students have had books published in all forms and received many recognitions of excellence, including being shortlisted for or winning: The Forward First Book Prize for Poetry, the Bristol Short Story Prize, the international Scott prize for Short Fiction, the Edge Hill Reader’s Short Story Prize, the Manchester Metropolitan Novella Prize, and £10,000 Ballymaloe poetry prize.
Our award-winning writers include Miriam Darlington (author of Owl Sense, and Nature Notebook columnist for The Times), and Anthony Caleshu (winner of the Boston Review Poetry Prize, author of five books of poetry including Xenia etc., and founding editor of Periplum press).
  • Contact Professor Anthony Caleshu for an informal conversation about pursuing your PhD Creative Writing

    • Course details

    • Overview

    • This full time or part time doctoral programme is suitable for people who have a particular research question or topic in mind, and wish to explore this through independent study in order to produce an original contribution to the subject. If you aspire to a research career this is the most appropriate research degree to undertake.
      You will be guided by a small supervisory team of academic experts under the direction of a Director of Studies.
      You will be expected to fully engage with skills development and training and to present your research in a range of scholarly contexts.
      Your PhD will be assessed via submission of either a written thesis (approximately 80,000 words), or one that combines critical writing with artistic, creative and/or professional practice, and a viva voce (an oral examination).
      For full details of what doing a PhD entails at the University of Plymouth, please visit our Postgraduate research degrees pages.

    Entry requirements
    Masters degree or equivalent from a UK higher education institution in a relevant subject.
    Applicants normally have to supply a research proposal, personal statement, and occasionally evidence that they are prepared to undertake the proposed project. This may include a portfolio, or a sample of critical writing, depending on their area of study.
    Other UK or overseas qualifications may also be accepted – with academic reference
    For more general guidelines and application requirements, please visit the research degrees applicants page.

    Fees, costs and funding
    Please visit tuition fees for postgraduate research for information about fees. This course is in Band 2 for fees purposes.
    If you are a full time student, you will pay full time fees for three years. If you have not submitted your thesis by the end of this period, then you may pay for an optional one year writing up period.
    If you are a part time student, you will pay part time fees for four years. If you have not submitted your thesis by the end of this period, then you may pay for an optional 'writing up' period of up to two years.
    You are responsible for meeting all of the costs related to your own research project, beyond the resources available in the department.
    Please visit our postgraduate research money matters page to find out more about issues related to fees, funding, loans and paying for your programme of study.

    How to apply

    Apply online

    In addition to completing the online application form (which includes space for a personal statement), you must also upload a research project proposal of no more than 1000 words in total. Your research proposal should outline your general topic, your key aims and the research question/problem you are addressing, your proposed methodology, key definitions/thinkers/discourses/practitioners you are drawing upon and an explanation of why this topic is significant or important.
    Your personal statement should briefly explain why you have chosen to apply to our programme and what you feel you can offer our research community.
    You will also need to submit a sample of your critical writing (3000 words maximum) and, if relevant, evidence of your ability to undertake the practice-led research you are proposing (e.g. a DVD, portfolio, links to website, reviews, catalogue, etc.). It should take no longer than 30 minutes to view all the visual material that you provide.
    Submitting your application
    Complete your application and upload supporting documents to the Doctoral College by completing our online application form.
    Questions on the application process?
    We're here to help. Please contact the Doctoral College team and we'll be happy to assist you.
    You can view or download our postgraduate research admissions policy .
    If you have a disability and would like further information on the support available, please visit our Disability Services website .
    Support is also available to overseas students applying to the University from our International Office .
    Find more information about how to apply for a research degree .

    Government loans available

    £27,000 Government loans for postgraduate research study, including: PhD, EdD.
    More information on the gov.uk website.

    Let me tell you a story

    In 2024, Rob Parsons OBE completed a PhD in Creative Writing at Plymouth, culminating in a remarkable memoir titled A Knock at the Door. Published by HarperCollins, the book tells the true story of a homeless man who walked into Rob’s home – and became part of the family for over forty-five years.
    Deeply personal and profoundly moving, A Knock at the Door has received widespread acclaim since its publication in November 2024.
    Rob Parsons
    Jamie Edgecombe won the Manchester Metropolitan University Novella Prize for The Art of Kozu – the first part of which was based on his MA Creative Writing dissertation, and which he completed while working on his PhD.
    His PhD elaborated on his MA interests and included a novel set in post-War and contemporary Japan and an accompanying dissertation on ekphrastic fiction (writing which is concerned with ‘narrating’ the visual arts).

    Professor Anthony Caleshu talks about his writing, editing and research of contemporary poetry, as well as his teaching of creative writing in this short video.

    Large pile of books

    English and creative writing research

    Our staff have published extensively and internationally across a diverse range of fields in literary criticism and creative writing.
    We are part of a thriving community of researchers covering arts and humanities disciplines, supported by the University's The Bridge.

    Select current and recent PhDs

    Nnamdi Oguike – PhD Creative Writing
    ‘Title TBC: Writing a novel set in Nigeria, researching memory and oral traditions’
    2023 – Present
    Director of Studies: Professor David Sergeant
    Rachel Gippetti
    ‘Title TBC: Writing a book of poetry, researching genetics and Jewishness’
    2023 – Preseent
    Director of Studies: Professor Anthony Caleshu
    Kate Glew – PhD Creative Writing (Doctoral Teaching Assistant)
    "The Smithfield Heretics"
    Awarded 2023
    Director of Studies: Professor Angela Smith
    Russell Evans – PhD Creative Writing
    "Diagrams of Disturbance: conceptual diagrams and the production of a personal diagram poetry"
    Awarded 2022
    Director of Studies: Professor Anthony Caleshu
    Rosemarie Corlett – PhD Creative Writing
    "Scars the Shape of Wings: Flightlessness, Superstition and Violence in the Story of the Great Auk"
    Awarded 2022
    Director of Studies: Dr Miriam Darlington
    Ed Whitfield – PhD Creative Writing
    "Safe Space: A novel and critical study into the participatory culture in fandom and a historiographic approach to the fragmentation of popular culture in select novels by Kurt Vonnegut and Thomas Pynchon"
    Awarded 2025
    Director of Studies: Professor Anthony Caleshu
    Christopher Cook – PhD on the Basis of Prior Published Works in Interdisciplinary Art and Design
    2021–present
    Director of Studies: Professor Anthony Caleshu
    Robert Parsons – PhD Creative Writing
    "The Backward School: A memoir and critical dissertation on the care system in contemporary creative non-fiction"
    2021–present
    Director of Studies: Professor Anthony Caleshu
    Emma George – PhD Creative Writing
    "Stampy, Bringing the World of Philately into Disrepute: a memoir and critical dissertation on familial transgression in contemporary creative non-fiction"
    2021–present
    Director of Studies: Dr Miriam Darlington
    Olivia Templeton – PhD Creative Writing
    "The Amateur Detective: a novel and a critical dissertation on gender, class and websleuths in contemporary crime fiction"
    2021–present
    Director of Studies: Dr David Sergeant
    Tracey Guiry – PhD Creative Writing
    "Time-travellers and Storytellers: Dementia in Children’s Literature"
    Awarded 2021
    Director of Studies: Professor Angela Smith
    Sam Kemp – PhD Creative Writing
    "A Book of Poems, and a Dissertation on Contemporary Radical Landscape Poetry"
    Awarded 2021
    Director of Studies: Professor Anthony Caleshu
    Chris Savery – PhD Creative Writing
    "1588: A playscript, and critical dissertation on contemporary historical verse plays"
    2020–present
    Director of Studies: Dr Peter Hinds
    Jamie Edgecombe – PhD Creative Writing
    "Bone Painting, a novel, and a Dissertation on Ekphrastic Possibilities in Modern Japanese Fiction"
    Awarded 2020
    Director of Studies: Professor Anthony Caleshu
    Peter Hitchens – PhD Creative Writing
    "Daniel: A novel and critical dissertation on boyhood and the care system in contemporary fiction"
    2019–present
    Director of Studies: Professor Anthony Caleshu
    Ivan Pope – PhD Creative Writing
    "My Auschwitz State of Mind: a memoir with dissertation on the production of a text from fragments"
    Awarded 2023
    Director of Studies: Dr Phil Smith
    Ellie Walsh – PhD Creative Writing
    "Birds with Wolf Hearts, a Collection of Poetry, and a Critical Introduction to Contemporary Nepalese Women's Poetry"
    Awarded 2019
    Director of Studies: Professor Anthony Caleshu
    Eloise Wales – PhD Creative Writing
    "Free-Dive: An Autoethnographic Study of the Watery World, and a Critical Dissertation about its Composition in the Context of New Nature Writing and the Work of Kathleen Jamie and Kyo Maclear"
    2016–present
    Director of Studies: Professor Anthony Caleshu
    Helen Chamberlain – PhD Creative Writing
    "Three Novellas, and a Dissertation on Early Modern American Fiction"
    2015–present
    Director of Studies: Professor Anthony Caleshu
    Tom Vowler – PhD Creative Writing
    "That Dark Remembered Day: A Novel, and Dissertation on Trauma in Contemporary Fiction"
    Awarded 2016
    Director of Studies: Professor Anthony Caleshu
    Peter Gillies – PhD Creative Writing
    "Poems to the Sea and Painterly Poetics: Charles Olson, Robert Creeley, and Cole Swensen"
    Awarded 2016
    Director of Studies: Professor Anthony Caleshu
    Jonathan Wooding – PhD Creative Writing
    "An Atheist’s Prayer-Book: A Book of Poetry and a Critical Study on Geoffrey Hill and Religious Influence"
    Awarded 2015
    Director of Studies: Professor Anthony Caleshu
    Nicola Johnson – PhD Creative Writing
    "Earhart County, a Novel, and a Dissertation on ‘The Making of a Wondertale’."
    Awarded 2012
    Director of Studies: Professor Anthony Caleshu
    Maria Capelo – PhD Creative Writing
    "All Over the Place: A Novel, Followed by Critical Commentary on my Creative Work and Paul Auster’s Fiction"
    Awarded 2011
    Director of Studies: Professor Anthony Caleshu
    Lucy Durneen – PhD Creative Writing
    "Everything Beautiful is Far Away, a novel with a critical dissertation"
    Awarded 2011
    Director of Studies: Professor Angela Smith

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    Plymouth's creative writing experience

    New to creative writing or looking to expand your talents?
    No matter the level of study you want to pursue – undergraduate, masters, PhD – the creative writing experience at Plymouth allows you to explore every possible aspect of writing.
    Ready your writing for submission to the world. Discover your voice and refine your craft with our thrilling series of study opportunities.
    Writing in a notepad on the cliffs overlooking a beach
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