Research in English and creative writing

Creativity, innovation and exploration in the beautiful South West

The English and Creative Writing department is home to a thriving and diverse research culture. Our work spans creative writing, cultural history and literary studies, combining excellence in established areas of research with the exploration of cutting-edge concerns.
Recent points of focus for the department have included literatures of place, memory, and identity; the environment and the Anthropocene; poetry and poetic practice; archival literary and historical study. Members of the department have worked with partner organisations and communities to bring about change in areas ranging from mental health, to an understanding of our colonial past, to our responses to the climate emergency.
We support a large and vibrant postgraduate community, with a portfolio of MAs and a ResM/PhD programme. Our postgraduate students benefit from targeted skills and career development training, situated within a dynamic, multidisciplinary environment. 
English and Creative Writing at Plymouth was first in the South West for its 4/3* star research outputs and impact in REF2021, signifying 'world-leading' or 'internationally excellent' work.

Research highlights

Poetry and our relationship with the sea Poetry and our relationship with the sea
 "We can no longer assume that the oceans are timeless and eternal. Human activities have changed the sea and we need to find new ways of imagining, conceptualising and interacting with them." Dr Mandy Bloomfield

Imagining the future in a time of climate emergency Imagining the future in a time of climate emergency
 Dr David Sergeant, Associate Professor of Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Literature, talks about his research into how fiction has developed

Creative connections with nature Creative connections with nature
 Nature connections: relational engagement with nature through (co) creative practice

Mayflower 400 Mayflower 400
 Dr Kathryn Napier Gray, Decolonising cultural heritage and transforming narratives of remembering

Environmental Cultures Environmental Cultures
 Bringing together a critical mass of researchers and practitioners at Plymouth whose work recognises how the arts, culture and the humanities are inextricably bound up with environmental challenges.

Plymouth and the Poetry of the Sea Plymouth and the Poetry of the Sea
 Professor of Poetry and Creative Writing, Anthony walks (and swims) in the Plymouth Hoe in this short video about poetry and Plymouth’s sea-faring history.

Our researchers

<p>Writing in a notepad on the cliffs overlooking a beach</p>

Digital research repository