Department of English,

Royal Holloway, University of London Egham Hill, Egham Surrey TW20 0EX

Telephone +44 (0)1784 443215

MA in Creative Writing Course Booklet

2017-18

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This course booklet should be read in conjunction with the Postgraduate Taught handbook which can be

found on your Departmental website http://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/english/home.aspx where it will be

possible to follow the hyperlinks to relevant webpages.

Creative Writing MA: Introduction

The Creative Writing MA course offers three pathways, all distinct but all containing

common elements. The pathways are Fiction Writing, Poetry Writing and Poetic

Practice.

The course is designed to encourage students to develop and reflect on their work as

creative writers, in the context of contemporary and well-established literatures.

Students will be expected to make the most of their existing experience, but also to

discover ways of going beyond the merely personal, and writing with an engaged

sense of society. At the same time as they learn to stretch their imaginations, they will

also be encouraged to develop their technical and analytic skills, and in the process, to

sharpen their self-criticism of their writing practice.

The programme offers three distinct routes towards the completion of the MA in

Creative Writing. Established and emerging contemporary genres of the novel and

poetry are explored in our Fiction and Poetry workshops which are guided by peer

critique and the professional expertise of our course leaders. Our Poetic Practice

pathway foregrounds the reading and writing of contemporary experimental practices

in poetry, contemporary theory and visual media. On this course students will study

contemporary experimental writing practice in the UK and North America and will

develop their own practice alongside a reading of these contexts. They will explore

poetic production on and off the page in a range of fields – including contemporary

avant-garde poetries, bookarts, visual poetries, sound and electronic media – as well

as installation, performance and site-specific writing.

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It is not possible for students to switch from one pathway to another in mid-course, or

to mix and match. Each strand of the Creative Writing MA may be done full-time or

part-time.

All Creative Writing pathways are taught in 11 Bedford Square or in Senate House, in

the heart of London’s Bloomsbury.

Staffing Head of Department: Prof. Juliet John <Juliet.John@rhul.ac.uk>

Director of Graduate Taught Programmes: Dr. Sophie Gilmartin <sophie.gilmartin@rhul.ac.uk>

Director of Graduate Studies: Dr. Will Montgomery: <Will.Montgomery@rhul.ac.uk>

Director of the MA Creative Writing: Susanna Jones <Susanna.Jones@rhul.ac.uk>

Deputy Director MA Creative Writing: Prof. Redell Olsen <redell.olsen@rhul.ac.uk>

2017-18 MA Seminar and Workshop Leaders:

Fiction: Susanna Jones <Susanna.Jones@rhul.ac.uk>, Dr. Nikita Lalwani

<Nikita.Lalwani@rhul.ac.uk>, Prof. Lavinia Greenlaw <Lavinia.Greenlaw@rhul.ac.uk>

Poetry: Prof. Jo Shapcott <Jo.Shapcott@rhul.ac.uk> and Prof. Lavinia Greenlaw

<Lavinia.Greenlaw@rhul.ac.uk>

Poetic Practice: Prof. Redell Olsen redell.olsen@rhul.ac.uk and Prof. Robert

Hampson <r.hampson@rhul.ac.uk>

Staff are available for individual meetings throughout the year by appointment – please

send an email or speak to us directly after your seminar to arrange a time to discuss

your work or answer your questions.

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Department Administrator for the MA in Creative Writing: Lisa Dacunha: Lisa.Dacunha@rhul.ac.uk

Direct line: 3215 Outside: [+44 (0)1784 443215]

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Further details about the staff teaching on the MA Creative Writing: Susanna Jones BA (Royal Holloway), MA (Manchester) (Course Director MA CW) is

an award-winning novelist and has worked abroad, in Japan and Turkey, as an English

teacher and radio script editor. She was lecturer in Fiction Writing at the University of

Exeter from 2003-5. Susanna is the author of four novels, The Earthquake

Bird (2001), Water Lily (2003), The Missing Person's Guide to Love (2007) and When

Nights Were Cold (2012). She has also published short stories and book reviews. Her

writing has been translated into 20 languages and won awards including: The CWA

John Creasey Dagger (2001), John Llewellyn Rhys Award (2001), the Betty Trask

Award (2002) and Book of the Year (for the Hungarian translation, 2004) and Fiction

Uncovered (2012). In 2014 she was the recipient of the inaugural Jerwood Fiction

Uncovered/British Council residency in Korea. Areas of interest: The novel;

contemporary British and Japanese fiction; mystery and suspense; historical fiction;

writing and the environment.

Professor Lavinia Greenlaw's poetry includes The Casual Perfect (Faber 2011) and

A Double Sorrow: Troilus and Criseyde (Faber 2014). Her first novel, Mary George of

Allnorthover (Flamingo 2001), received France’s Prix du Premier Roman Etranger. Her

third, In the City of Love’s Sleep, will appear from Faber in 2018. Her two books of

creative non-fiction are The Importance of Music to Girls (Faber 2007) and Questions

of Travel: William Morris in Iceland (Notting Hill Editions 2011). Her immersive sound

work, Audio Obscura, a study of interrupted perception, won the 2011 Ted Hughes

Award. In 2016, she wrote and directed a short film, The Sea is an Edge and an

Ending, an exploration of dementia and the present tense. She taught at Goldsmiths

College before becoming Professor of Poetry at UEA. She is writing a book about

seeing and not seeing further.

Professor Robert Hampson has also had a long involvement in contemporary poetry

as both a critic and practitioner. He co-edited The New British poetries (with Peter

Barry, 1993) and Frank O’Hara Now (with Will Montgomery, 2010). His own poetry has

been published widely since the 1970s. Stride published Assembled Fugitives:

Selected Poems, 1973-1998 in 2001, and Shearsman re-published his long

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poem Seaport in 2008. His most recent poetry publication is the sequence An

Explanation of Colours, which was published by Veer in 2010. His critical

work on Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Ford is highly regarded. He has

written Joseph Conrad: Identity and Betrayal (Macmillan, 1992), Cross-Cultural

Encounters in Joseph Conrad’s Malay Fiction (Macmillan, 2000), and Conrad’s

Secrets (Palgrave 2012); the co-edited collections Ford Madox Ford: A

Reappraisal (with Tony Davenport, 2002), and Ford Madox Ford and Modernity (with

Max Saunders, 2003); and various Penguin editions.

Dr. Nikita Lalwani has published two novels, Gifted (Viking, 2007) and The

Village (Viking 2012). Gifted won the Desmond Elliot Prize for Fiction, was shortlisted

for the Costa prize, the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year and long-listed for the

Man Booker Prize. The BBC Radio 4 dramatised adaptation of Gifted won a Mental

Health Media Award and the Italian translation won an Eduardo Kihlgren prize. The

Village was a winner of the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize. She has published

essays, journalism and reviews on subjects including giftedness, asylum/immigration,

creativity, penal reform, HIV/AIDS, documentary journalism, surveillance and Indian

cinema in The Guardian (UK), The New Statesman (UK)and The Times(UK), AIDS

SUTRA ( an anthology of essays published by Random House) and Bookslam Vol. III

among other publications. In 2012 she was a judge of the books section of the Orwell

Prize for political writing. She has appeared on BBC’s Hard Talk and ITV’s politics

show The Agenda and is a trustee of human rights organisations LIBERTY. She is a

member of the Folio Academy and has contributed to live discussions and panels for

the Folio Sessions, the Royal Literary Fund and English PEN at the British Library, as

well as performing at literary festivals in the UK and internationally. In 2016 she

interviewed Zadie Smith for the London Review of Books launch of Swing Time, a

live event that garnered over ten thousand views on Facebook Live, and she also

conducted a live masterclass with comedian Stephen Merchant, co-creator of iconic

comedy dramas 'The Office' and 'Extras'. In 2017 she appeared in the flagship BBC 2

documentary 'Seven Days of Summer', discussing the partition of India in 1947.  

Professor Redell Olsen (Deputy Director MA CW) is a poet and text based artist.

Film Poems (Les Figues, 2014) collects the texts for her films and performances from

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2007–2012. Her previous books include: 'Punk Faun: a bar rock pastel' (Subpress,

2012), 'Secure Portable Space' (Reality Street, 2004), 'Book of the Fur' (rem press

2000), and, in collaboration with the bookartist Susan Johanknecht, 'Here Are My

Instructions' (Gefn, 2004). Recent work is available in Infinite Difference: Other

Poetries by UK Women Poets (Shearsman, 2010) and I’ll Drown My Book: 'Conceptual

Writing by Women' (Les Figues Press, 2011). In 2017 she published two bookworks:

Smock and Mox Nox – the latter is currently included in a touring show of artist books.

From 2006 - 2010 she was the editor of How2, the international online journal for

Modernist and contemporary writing by women. The Lost Swimming Pool (2010) a

multi-media collaborative installation in film, sound, text and dance was commissioned

by the Creative Campus Initiative in a disused swimming pool on the campus at Royal

Holloway. She has published critical articles on contemporary poetry and the

relationship between contemporary poetics and the visual arts. In 2016-17 in

association with other members of staff from English and Modern Languages she led

the HARC funded project ‘Nature and Other Forms of That Matter’. Her current

research interests include: feminism, ecology, theory and the history and development

of experimental textual practice in poetry, the novel and the visual arts. She is Director

of the Poetics Research Centre at Royal Holloway redellolsen.co.uk

Professor Jo Shapcott's latest book of poems Of Mutability, was published in 2010,

shortlisted for the Forward Poetry Prize and was awarded the Costa Prize for Book of

the Year. The collection, Her Book: Poems 1988-1998 (2000), consists of a selection

of poetry from her three earlier collections: Electroplating the Baby (1988), which won

the Commonwealth Poetry Prize for Best First Collection, Phrase Book (1992), and My

Life Asleep (1998), which won the Forward Poetry Prize (Best Collection).

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Content and Structure

Term Dates can be found on the College website

http://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/aboutus/collegecalendar/home.aspx

The programme lasts 50 weeks, beginning in September (two years for part-time

students). It has six elements, and students are examined in the first five elements.

These elements are as follows:

(i) Core Course: Workshop in Fiction, Poetry or Poetic Practice

(ii) Core Course: Supplementary Discourses

(iii) Core Course: Reading as a Writer

(iv) Core Course: Creative Writing Project

(v) Core Course: Dissertation on Practice

(vi) Methods and Materials of Research.

Part-time students normally take elements (i), (ii) and (iii) in their first year, and

elements (iv) and (v) in their second year.

Aims and Objectives

The principal aim of the programme is to give students the opportunity to develop their

practice of literary composition, their creative and artistic sophistication, and their

ability to reflect critically upon their own practice. The degree aims to provide a flexible

and progressive structure in which students are able to practise the art of literary

composition, to acquire advanced familiarity and fluency in using literary techniques

for the writing of either poetry or fiction, and to acquire an understanding of and

appropriate skills relating to practice-based research. They will also develop the ability

to reflect critically on their own practice. The emphasis of the programme is on the

student developing his or her own creative writing in the context of contemporary

fiction and poetry, and developing the ability to reflect critically upon writing practice.

The Poetic Practice strand is rooted in the British and North American traditions of

'innovative' or 'experimental' writing and textual practice. The writing builds on postwar

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developments in the modernist tradition, and students are encouraged to consider

their poetry and poetics in relation to other disciplines: fine art, critical theory,

conceptual and art writing. Students are encouraged to engage with the reception and

distribution of their poetic practice through the consideration of the histories and

publications of different poetic communities, through the production of small press

editions, and through engagement with networks of distribution and performance.

The MA programme is designed for students intending to develop their own creative

writing beyond first-degree level. It is also designed for those students wishing to

proceed to MPhil or PhD.

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Outline of Programme

EN5118 Fiction Workshop:

Teaching: One three-hour workshop per week over two terms.

Aims and objectives: The course is designed to develop students' understanding of,

and ability in, fiction writing beyond first-degree level. Students will already have a

writing practice. The student will be expected to embark on an advanced programme

of writing and critical thinking through creative exploration and dialogue with the tutor

and other members of the group. Students will also engage with a range of

contemporary novelists as directed by the tutor. By the end of the course the student

will aim to have produced two fully realised pieces of fiction, for example two short

stories or parts of a novel. The content of the workshops will be dictated by the

presentations of written work by the members of the group, produced in consultation

with the course tutor, and by the critical dialogue that develops from the

presentations. Reading of work by contemporary novelists will also feed into

workshop discussions. All students will produce creative written work for the

workshops and a schedule will be decided at the beginning of each term.

EN5112 Poetry Workshop:

Teaching: One three-hour workshop per week over two terms.

Aims and objectives: The course aims to develop students' understanding of, and

ability in, contemporary poetry beyond first-degree level. Students will already have a

writing practice. The student will be expected to embark on an advanced programme

of writing and critical thinking through creative exploration and dialogue with the tutor

and other members of the group. Students will also engage with a range of

contemporary poets as directed by the tutor. By the end of the course the student will

aim to have produced two portfolios of poetry of 12 pages each. The content of the

workshops will be dictated by the presentations of written work by the members of

group, produced in consultation with the course tutor, and by the critical dialogue that

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develops from the presentations. Reading of contemporary poetry will also feed into

workshop discussions. All students will produce creative written work for each

seminar. It is expected that seminars will sometimes focus on an individual piece of

work and at other times on a range of work by different members of group.

EN5901 Poetic Practice:

Teaching: One three-hour seminar/ workshop each week in terms one and two

Aims and objectives: The principal aim of the course is to enable students to develop

(and reflect on) their own practice in the context of an understanding of contemporary

experimental practice in poetry from the UK and North America, and to consider how

contemporary poetry and poetics intersect with fields such as conceptual art writing,

sound art, live art, digital poetics, book arts, installed texts and site responsive writing.

The focus of the course is on particular poetic practices that have emerged in the last

fifty years in the UK, USA and Canada: the course involves an engagement with the

poetic practices and poetics evolving within this particular paradigm. The course aims

to encourage individual exploration in the range of contemporary poetic practice: it

aims to develop advanced skills in the reading and writing of poetic practice, to

develop a critical and theoretical language to discuss this practice, to introduce

students to the possibilities of the use of a variety of form and methodologies as part of

their poetic practice and to recognise this in the work of other practitioners. The

emphasis of the course is on the student’s development of their own poetic practice in

the context of contemporary UK and North American experimental and research-based

innovative writing and in relation to current theoretical explorations of poetic practice in

other fields. The course is designed for students intending to develop both their

knowledge of contemporary practice and their own poetic practice beyond first-degree

level.

EN5114 Supplementary Discourses:

Teaching: Teaching: One one-and-a-half hour seminar each week in Term 1.

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Aims and objectives: The course aims to provide students with appropriate critical

and theoretical skills for discussing their creative literary pieces of work in the

workshops. At MA level students will need to demonstrate familiarity with a technical

vocabulary (critical and theoretical) and it is one of the expectations of students at

this advanced level. The course also aims to prepare students for the practical work

project and dissertation. By the end of the course students will have acquired a range

of critical concepts and vocabulary, acquired a range of critical and theoretical

approaches to prose and poetry and acquired the necessary skills to undertake a

sophisticated reflection on the practical work project in their dissertation.

EN5116 Reading as a Writer:

Teaching: One one-and-a-half hour seminar each week in Term 2.

Aims and objectives: The principle aim of the course is to enable students to read as

a writer in order to inform their own literary composition. The course draws on the

theoretical reading of EN5114 Supplementary Discourses. By the end of the course

students will be able to draw on the critical and theoretical approaches acquired in

EN5114; will be able to read from the perspective of a writer rather than as a critic;

and will be able to relate their reading to their own developing practice as a writer.

EN5113: Creative Writing Project: Aims and objectives: The principle aim of the Creative Writing Project is to

enable students to undertake a substantial writing project. They should draw on

and develop the skills and their knowledge of critical and creative contexts

acquired in the first two terms and seek to demonstrate their independence, self-

direction and originality in their approach to its completion. The work will reflect the

student’s own concerns as they have developed out of an engagement with the

taught modules of the course. The form and content of the work produced should

demonstrate an understanding of the student’s own practice in relation to existing

audiences and publication contexts.

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EN5117: Dissertation on Practice: Aims and objectives: The principle aim of the Dissertation on Practice is to

enable students to demonstrate their ability to reflect critically and theoretically on

their own practice and to locate their practice in relation to contemporary writing

practices. Students will be encouraged to engage with the relevant critical /

historical / theoretical contexts for the work produced in EN5113. They should

draw on and develop skills acquired in the first two terms. Work should be

presented in accordance with the academic conventions of essay writing and

follow the MHRA style guide (See Postgraduate Taught handbook).

Element (vi) is designed to inform students about Library and computing

resources and to introduce a variety of the skills required for graduate work. A

summer programme of seminars in the third term highlights specific research skills

that support the completion of EN5113 and EN5117.

Assessment Regulations for students entering in 2017/18

Element (i) is examined by two pieces of work. Each piece of work will be either 5,000

words of fiction for the fiction workshop or 12 pages for the poetry workshop.

Element (ii) and (iii) Supplementary Discourses and Reading as a Writer are examined

by essays of 3,000 - 4,000 words for each course: Element (iv) will be a creative

writing project of either 15,000 words of prose or 24 pages of poetry, and element (v)

will be a dissertation of 8,000 -10,000 words: a critical and theoretical exploration of a

topic relevant to students’ own work and may include a reflection on the student’s own

practice. Element (vi) is not formally examined, but students are assessed on their

knowledge of research methods as part of all other assessments, particularly the

dissertation. Students should submit two copies of all written work as well as

submitting online via Turnitin.

(a) Either two pieces of fiction of 5,000 each or two portfolios of

poetry or textual equivalent of 12 pages, each carrying equal

weighting; (40 credits)

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(b) Two essays of 3,000 - 4,000 words each of equal weighting,

one each for elements (ii) and (iii); (20 credits each = 40 credits)

(c) Project: A substantial piece of creative work of either 15,000

words of prose or 24 pages of poetry or textual equivalent;

this may develop work initiated in the workshops but cannot

include work already submitted for (a) (60 credits)

(d) Dissertation: 8,000 -10,000 words (excluding bibliography,

appendices, etc.), critical and theoretical exploration of a topic

relevant to their own work; (40 credits)

Portfolios

Full-time students: The first piece of fiction or portfolio of poetry will be submitted for

feedback at the beginning of the Spring term, and the second piece of work will be

submitted for formal assessment, along with a revised first portfolio, on the first day of

the Summer term.

Part-time students: The first piece of fiction or portfolio of poetry will be submitted for

feedback on the last day of the Spring term, and the second piece of work will be

submitted for formal assessment, along with a revised first portfolio, at the end of

week 50, in early September at the end of their first year.

Feedback will be given on the first submission, including a provisional indication of the

level of performance (i.e. pass/fail). The first portfolio must be resubmitted at the

same time as the second portfolio for formal assessment.

Essays

Full-time students: The essay for the core courses Supplementary Discourses will be

submitted for formative assessment on the first day of the Spring term; the essay for

Reading as a Writer will be submitted for summative assessment on the first day of

the Summer term.

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Part-time students: The essay for the core course Supplementary Discourses and will

be submitted for formative assessment on the last day of the Spring term; the essay

for Reading as a Writer will be submitted for summative assessment at the end of

week 50, in early September at the end of their first year.

Feedback will be given on the first essay (Supplementary Discourses), including a

provisional indication of the level of performance (i.e. pass/fail). NB: The first essay

(Supplementary Discourses) must be re-submitted at the same time as the second

essay (Reading as a Writer) for summative assessment.

Creative Writing Project and Dissertation

Full-time students: The Creative Writing Project will be submitted at the end of week

50, together with the Dissertation.

Part-time students: Students will submit their Creative Writing Project and the

Dissertation at the end of week 50 in their second year.

Creative Writing Project

The Creative Writing Project arises out of work developed in the workshops. For those

students writing fiction, this will mean further new chapters of the novel or a portfolio

of short stories; for those students writing a volume of poetry, this will consist of

twenty-four pages of new poetry. For students on the poetic practice pathway this will

consist of twenty-four pages of new poetry or textual equivalent (digital, bookworks

and other formats of submission are acceptable but should be agreed in advance with

the student’s supervisor). It all cases this should be new work not included in

previous portfolios. The aim is that students will have written a substantial manuscript,

either a major part of a novel, a volume-length collection of poems / text based poetic

work, or a volume-length collection of short stories by the end of the degree

programme.

An important dimension of the MA is to give students the opportunity to begin serious

work on a major project that would prepare them for the submission of this work to a

publisher or the basis for an application for a practice-based research of a PhD as

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applicable to the individual student. The Creative Writing Project is a crucial element

in this preparation. It will be researched and written mainly in the third term and

during the summer vacation. It may grow out of or develop from work undertaken in

the workshops; for example, a student writing a novel might present one chapter in

the first term, a second chapter in the second term, and then subsequent chapters for

the Creative Writing Project.

Dissertation on Practice

An important dimension of the MA is to give students the opportunity to begin serious

work on a major project that would prepare them for the practice-based research of a

PhD. The Dissertation on Practice is a crucial element in this preparation. It will be

researched and written mainly in the third term and during the summer vacation. All

students will be supervised for their Dissertation by a member of staff teaching on the

programme. The supervisions will be assigned at the beginning of the third term.

Where expertise from academic staff in the English Department Students may be

required, a student may also be allocated an academic advisor based on campus in

Egham.

Creative Writing Project and Dissertation on Practice Deadlines

Please refer to the Postgraduate Taught handbook for the Dissertation Schedule and

final submission dates. The supervisions will be assigned at the beginning of the third

term. In total you can expect to receive 5 – 6 hours of supervision in total for your

dissertation and project and these will normally take place during the Summer term.

The dates and times for these will be established and mutually agreed with your

supervisor (or supervisors) at the start of your project. Please respect this timetable

that you have agreed. Although they may comment on extracts from the drafts of your

work (approx. 2000 - 3000 words) supervisors are not expected to comment on the

whole submission and certainly not to proof read it for you. It is your responsibility to

attend and produce work for these supervisions at regular intervals and if you cancel

them – especially at short notice - it may not be possible to rearrange a new time. See

the PGT handbook on the timetable for submitting an agreed title for your

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dissertation (June).

Submission

For each of the course elements you will need to submit: Two hard copies, each of

which should be anonymous throughout and also upload this submission to turnitin by

the date and time specified. A cover sheet with your student number and candidate

number should be attached to your submission. Each submission should be soft-

bound (e.g. wire comb or other secure binding). Please see the PGT handbook for

further details on presentation.

MARKING CRITERIA

Please refer the main handbook for the marking criteria for essays and the dissertation (section 6.14) and important regulations on the style and formatting of written work. For practical work (creative portfolios and the Creative Writing

Project), see below.

2017-18

The  full  time  students  will  be  submitting  on  Monday  21st  May  by  12.30pm  (turnitin  by  noon)  and  by  Friday  1st  Sept  by  12.30pm  (tunitin  by  noon).   The  submission  date  for  part  time  students  will  be  Friday  1st  Sept  by  12.30pm  (tunitin  by  noon).    

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Marking Criteria for Practical Work

The following is intended as a guide to the qualities typically exhibited by work

assigned a mark or grade within one of the bands set out below. Its purpose is to

outline the basic criteria employed the examiners in assessing essays and

dissertations, and so give students both a clearer idea of what is expected of them

and a means of measuring their progress. It should not be regarded as a complete or

inflexible list of the qualities work is required to display in order to be placed in a given

band.

The marking scheme sets the Pass mark at 50% and the mark for a Distinction at

70%. For full details of criteria used to determine awards of Pass, Merit and

Distinction, see below:

High Distinction 85-100% To award a high distinction, examiners will be looking for:

conformity with the requirements of the assignment (i.e. length, format, etc.)

publishable quality. situates itself confidently alongside other work in a similar form/style. formal elements such as rhythm, tone, structure, viewpoint,

characterisation, dialogue, medium and form deployed with sophistication, control and complexity.

work that contains insights of originality, or presents familiar sights in a fresh manner.

takes bold or innovative risks in form and/or content and succeeds. work that engages its reader at a complex, demanding and sophisticated

level and demonstrates an overall understanding of the audience for this work.

Distinction 70-85% To award a distinction, examiners will be looking for:

conformity with the requirements of the assignment (i.e. length, format, etc.)

potentially publishable work a clear relation to other work in the same form, style or genre. formal elements such as rhythm, tone, structure, viewpoint,

characterisation, dialogue, medium and form deployed with some degree

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of mastery, control and complexity. work that contains insights of originality or presents familiar sights in a

fresh manner. bold, innovative risks in form and/or content which succeed to a

significant degree. a substantial engagement with the reader and understanding of potential

audience for this work.

Merit 60-69% To award a merit, examiners will be looking for:

conformity with the requirements of the assignment (i.e. length, format, etc)

formal elements such as rhythm, tone, structure, viewpoint, characterisation, dialogue, materiality deployed with control and competence, sometimes at the level of a distinction.

work has some relation to work in the same style or genre. some degree of originality risks with form and/or content that may not be wholly successful or which

are limited in scope. work that attempts to engage with the reader and is largely successful,

though this may be inconsistent

Pass 50-59% To award a pass mark, examiners will be looking for:

conformity with the requirements of the assignment (i.e. length, format, etc)

deployment of formal elements such as rhythm, tone, structure, viewpoint, characterisation, dialogue, materiality with hesitancy or inconsistency.

signs that the writer is not familiar with much or other work in the same form or style.

an understanding of the conventions and demands of the form and genre, though it may lack originality and tend toward the routine or derivative.

awareness of the need to engage with the reader, though this may not be successfully achieved.

work that is of an acceptable postgraduate standard

Marginal Fail 40-49% Examiners will award a marginal fail if they find:

non-conformity with some of the requirements of the assignment poorly developed work a poor grasp of formal elements such as rhythm, tone, structure,

viewpoint, characterisation, dialogue, materiality. little evidence of originality work contains errors and confusions work that does not attempt to engage with its reader. Audience is not

considered with sufficient depth or subtlety.

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work that is slightly below an acceptable postgraduate standard

Fail 0-39% Examiners will award a failing mark if they find:

non-conformity with the requirements of the assignment no grasp or a very poor grasp of formal elements such as rhythm, tone,

structure, viewpoint, characterisation, dialogue, materiality. no evidence of originality incomplete or incoherent work substantial errors and confusions no attempt to engage with the reader. Audience considered inadequately

or not at all. work that is clearly below an acceptable postgraduate standard

Word Limits Work which exceeds the upper word limit set will be penalised as follows:

(a) for work which exceeds the upper word limit by up to 10%, the mark will be reduced by ten percent of the mark initially awarded; (b) for work which exceeds the upper word limit by more than 10% but less than 20%, the mark will be reduced by twenty percent of the mark initially awarded; (c) for work which exceeds the upper word limit by more than 20%, the mark will be reduced by thirty percent of the mark initially awarded.

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Marking criteria for dissertations and academic work

These are general criteria which apply to all work completed during the course. More specific criteria for individual assignments may also be supplied.

High Distinction 85-100% To award a high distinction, examiners will be looking for:

conformity with the requirements of the assignment (i.e. word-length, format, etc.)

publishable quality the ability to plan, organise and execute a project

independently to the highest professional standards exceptional standards of accuracy, expression, and presentation the highest professional levels of fluency, clarity, and academic style an outstanding ability to analyse and evaluate primary and

secondary sources critically and to formulate questions which lead to original lines of enquiry

exceptional creativity, originality and independence of thought

Distinction 70-85% To award a distinction, examiners will be looking for:

conformity with the requirements of the assignment (i.e. word-length, format, etc.)

potentially publishable ideas, arguments, or discoveries the ability to plan, organise and execute a project

independently to a professional standard excellent standards of accuracy, expression, and presentation fluency, clarity, and mastery of academic style the ability to analyse and evaluate primary and secondary sources

critically and to formulate questions which lead to original lines of enquiry

creativity, originality and independence of thought

Merit 60-69% To award a merit, examiners will be looking for:

conformity with the requirements of the assignment (i.e. word length, format, etc)

evidence of the potential to undertake original research given appropriate

guidance and support high standards of accuracy, expression and presentation skilful handling of academic style some ability to analyse and evaluate primary and secondary sources critically some creativity, originality and independence of thought some work that is approaching the level of a distinction

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Pass 50-59% To award a pass mark, examiners will be looking for:

conformity with the requirements of the assignment (i.e. word length, format, etc)

the ability to engage in research involving a moderate degree of originality

a competent standard of organisation, expression and accuracy competence in the handling of academic style sound knowledge and understanding of key sources of information the ability to construct coherent and relevant answer to questions work that is at a basic postgraduate level

Marginal Fail 40-49% Examiners will award a marginal fail if they find:

non-conformity with some of the requirements of the assignment insufficient knowledge and comprehension of essential sources of information poorly developed argumentation poor levels of clarity and accuracy in written presentation occasional errors and confusions little evidence of independent thought work that is slightly below an acceptable postgraduate standard

Fail 0-39% Examiners will award a failing mark if they find:

non-conformity with the requirements of the assignment work that is not recognisable as academic writing confused, fragmentary, or only rudimentary knowledge and

comprehension of essential sources of information incomplete or incoherent argumentation a lack of clarity and accuracy in written presentation substantial errors and confusions no evidence of independent thought

work that is clearly below an acceptable postgraduate standard

If in doubt please discuss the formatting and presentation of any non-standard work with your supervisor or course tutor. Please read the PGT course handbook for further information about general the administration, structures and procedures of the MA programmes at Royal Holloway or contact the Departmental Administrator directly: lisa.dacunha@rhul.ac.uk

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Timetable 2017/18 The attached timetable is provisional and will be finalised at the beginning of the term. Fiction students, please note that your classes may be on Mondays or Tuesdays. While will try to accommodate requests for one day or the other, this may not always be possible. Autumn Term

Monday Workshop Supplementary Discourses (EN5114)

Poetic Practice (EN5901) 11-2pm – BSQ0-05 3-4.30pm – BSQ0-05

Fiction Group 1 (EN5118) 2-5pm – BSQ1-03 5.30-7pm – BSQ1-03

Fiction Group 2 (EN5118) 2-5pm – BSQ2-05 5.30-7pm – BSQ0-03

Tuesday Workshop Supplementary Discourses (EN5114)

Poetry (EN5112) 2-5pm - BSQ1-03 5.30-7pm – BSQ0-05

Fiction Group 3 (EN5118) 2-5pm – BSQ2-05 5.30-7pm – BSQ2-05

Spring Term

Monday Workshop Reading as a Writer – EN5116

Poetic Practice – (EN5901)

11-2pm – BSQ0-05 3-4.30pm – BSQ0-05

Poetry - (EN5112) 2-5pm – BSQ0-03 5.30-7pm – BSQ1-03 Fiction Group 1 – (EN5118)

2-5pm – BSQ1-03 5.30-7pm – BSQ0-03

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Tuesday Workshop Reading as a Writer – EN5116

Fiction Group 2 (EN5118)

2-5pm – BSQ1-03 5.30-7pm – BSQ0-05

Fiction Group 3 (EN5118)

11-2pm – BSQ1-01 3-4.30pm – BSQ1-01

Summer Term Dissertation/Project supervision. There are no formal classes in the summer term but we have a programme of visiting speakers and masterclasses. These will almost always be on Monday or Tuesday afternoons. If you have any questions please contact: Lisa.Dacunha@rhul.ac.uk

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Disclaimer

This document was published in September 2017 and was correct at that time. The Department* reserves the right to modify any statement if necessary, make variations to the content or methods of delivery of programmes of study, to discontinue programmes, or merge or combine programmes if such actions are reasonably considered to be necessary by the College. Every effort will be made to keep disruption to a minimum, and to give as much notice as possible.