Moodle

The study and practice of creative non-fiction will give BA Creative Writing students the opportunity to explore aspects of creativity in writing which go beyond the boundaries of the work done in LT209 Creative Writing: Theory and Practice, into areas like the essay, psycho-geography, documentary, (auto)biography and the interview. The creative aspects of other kinds of writing can widen the writer's scope and sense of possibility, making writing a more connected activity, both to the self and to the public world. Creative Non-Fiction is a subject gaining in popularity, both here and in the US, because of its sense of engagement and experiment.

Much non-fiction in poetry, creative prose writing of all kinds, documentary and features for broadcast media are at least equal in significance, in publishing terms, to fictional writing. The course will also explore the boundaries between fiction and non-fiction, which has always been a fertile area of creativity, from Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year to today's 'misery memoir'. Engaging with creative non-fiction will also help students understand the use of research and attention to factual and sensory detail, all of which are transferable skills, which can enhance creative work more generally. The voices, formal opportunities and approaches explored will increase all creative writers' repertoire, resources and skill level.

Module Supervisor's Research into Subject Area

James Canton has written widely in creative non-fiction forms and taught on the MA in Wild Writing at the University of Essex since its inception in 2009, exploring the fascinating ties between the literature and landscape of East Anglia. He has worked on Radio 4 exploring the writing and landscapes of Essex such as for 'Something Understood' on John Clare and Epping Forest (August 2014) and 'Open Country' on Tollesbury Wick and literary Essex (November 2015). His book Out of Essex: Re-Imagining a Literary Landscape (2013) is inspired by rural wanderings in the county. His latest work Ancient Wonderings: Journeys into Prehistoric Britain was published by Collins in 2017.

Chris McCully has published many book-length works of non-fiction including textbooks, fishing and travel guides and at least one memoir. His most recent book-length work of non-fiction is an account of living, working and observing the natural world in the Netherlands (Outside, 2011). He is currently working on a collection of essays which explore travel, place and cultural memory (From the Last Sane Places on Earth, in progress) and on the angling, ecology and history of the Stour valley (Stour Diaries, in progress). He has also written well over hundred feature articles, most of which have appeared in the angling journals, and continues to write essays and reviews for literary journals.