BA Honours Creative Writing at University of the Witwatersrand

Programme overview

Follow your passion for creative writing and explore a range of genres and aesthetic approaches. Our Honours degree comprises several foundational courses as well as multiple electives, offered by both the Creative Writing Department and other Departments within the School of Literature,Language & Media and the creative arts. Our diverse course options attend closely to questions of form and aesthetics and provide practical skills, while engaging the historical and critical contexts of literary work.

Faculty: Humanities | Department: Literature, Language and Media | Duration: 1 - 2 years | Study mode: full-time | Location: Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

What you will study

The Honours degree has five components. Two compulsory courses Working Concepts in Creative Writing (core course) A Long Essay Two additional writing courses One literature course from any of the departments in the School of Literature, Language and Media It is compulsory to do TWO writing courses and ONE literature course in either semester. With the approval of the Honours coordinator, students

Career pathways

Students will develop critical reading and writing skills that may be used in a variety of careers and professions, such as journalism, theatre writing and script writing. Graduates may also go on to become writers of fiction, nonfiction and poetry.

Official programme page

Application information

Entry requirements

To be admitted to the degree programme, you will need: A BA degree in literature, languages or a cognate discipline, with a minimum of 65% average in the final year, or 65% average across literary, writing and cognate course praxis. A portfolio of creative writing – to be submitted by 15 September to: Phillippa Yaa de Villiers: [email protected] along with a detailed CV and covering letter.* The portfolio should comprise twenty pages (1.5 spacing, 12 pt) of any combination of the following: Part of a creative prose manuscript (fiction or nonfiction). A selection of short stories. A selection of creative nonfiction essays. A selection of poems** *The covering letter should explain your reasons for applying to this programme, the extent of your own reading of creative work, and what you hope to achieve in this course. **Students wishing to take the poetry course as one of the

Tuition is charged per module, so the total depends on the modules you register for each year. Current fees are listed in the official fee schedule.

Postgraduate applications are made online at www.wits.ac.za/applications; the closing date for each programme is listed in its course finder entry. The application fee is R200 (not payable by current Wits students applying online), paid via the Self-Service Portal or by EFT to the Wits University Application Fees account at FNB.

Apply through the official page: https://www.wits.ac.za/applications

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