With so many Masters Degrees on offer (85, last time I heard - there were only something like 24 5 years ago)would WW have a corner for people's experience and views of these as we do for agents and publishers?

It's surprised me how many writers are at least thinking about doing one, what with all the part-time and distance options. Not everyone wants to work that way, but my experience of the MPHil at Glamorgan has been for the most part incredibly positive (and not only because of my Bridport Prize - that was a by-product!) I also hear things - good, bad and ugly - about other Masters degrees on the grapevine, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

Best
Emma

This is certainly a topic that interests me. I would really like to do a MA in creative writing (to counterbalance my unfortunate MA in ...international politics, ugh) - but I feel I am just swimming in information and not able to get a real handle on any of these programmes.

And as Emma has pointed out, there are so many types - distance learning, residential, etc, etc, etc. I wonder how well a distance learning course would work - maybe you would want to have personal interaction with tutors and other students? (Or maybe not?)

Ani

I've heard very good things about the CW MA at Warwick Uni, which is supposedly very focused on taking the style you already have and getting down and dirty with the hard practicalities of writing, focusing on tecnique. This recommendation came from my old English professor, who was trying to get me to join the program before the debts forced me into the arms of the corporate beast. Still, maybe one day!

Dave

Yes, I've heard good things of Warwick, also Goldsmith's, and London Metropolitan, and the new one at Aberyswyth is apparently looking promising. On the downside, I've not heard much good of UEA lately, and a lot of bad, considering its prestige.

EmmaD, good thread, I think we're looking at shining the spotlight on courses generally, not just MA's, so we will be asking for feedback just as we do with publishers and agents.

Have heard Bath is pretty good... and such a gorgeous city. And if it all gets a bit too twee, there's always Bristol just down the road. Some good writers I know have taught at Bath.

Anna, yes, I've heard Bath is good, though it looks very big compared to my MPhil. Phillip Gross was there before he joined us at Glamorgan this Autumn, driving over the Severn Bridge every morning! I do think courses in general might bear discussion in an organised way - perhaps a forum specifically for them as we have for, say, competitions? Then people wondering whether to go for one, and where, could browse through and build up a bit of a picture of the possibilities and risks.

Perhaps finding the right Masters is just a larger-scale version of a general problem: how do you know a course is going to be worth the commitment of time and money? I know of a couple of people who felt they'd been actively damaged as writers by their MA - an extremely long-standing one which should have known better - which is much worse than being cross with a £50 a term evening class because doesn't stretch you enough.

Cheers
Emma

I think it's a really good idea to put the spotlight on courses in general.

I finished a distance learning MA at Lancaster last year (I'm surprised no one has mentioned Lancaster so far on this thread!!!). My first year was a bit patchy(this was as much to do with me as the course itself), but after some changes the second year was much better and I'm really glad I did it. In fact, my comments about the course are on the Lancaster website, if anyone wants to have a look! http://www.lancs.ac.uk/depts/cw/students.htm

Catherine

Yes, I should have mentioned that I very nearly went for the Lancaster MA too: obviously it would have been a good choice, and I know my tutor on the Glamorgan MPhil thinks well of it. In the end, I went for Glamorgan because it has some real workshops (as opposed to email workshops, as I think Lancaster had when I looked at it) - 4 in each of 2 years - and it's been great.

(And also an unworthy reason - sibling rivalry. My younger sister's in the middle of a PhD and my older sister already has one. Having children, I couldn't cope with such a long course, but I got as close as I could...)

Emma

The distance learning MA at Lancaster has online conferences and e-mail tutorials, but there is also am introductory weekend and a week long summer school where you get to meet your colleagues and do some real-life workshops. I actually really liked doing most of it online, though. Lancaster was the only distance learning MA available back when I applied, though! They certainly are sprouting up now, aren't they?!

Cath

Yes, we had a summer school too, at Ty Newydd. Important for work, and huge fun: I haven't drunk so much or laughed so much for years! In between workshops it was compeletely flexible: as much phone and email contact with one's tutor as suited you both, as there are only eight students in each year, and eight tutors.
Emma

That does sound impressive!!!

Catherine,

I'd be interested in hearing more about your programme, if you don't mind...

Ani

I, likewise, would like to know more about the MA distance writing courses. How many of you out there have done such courses? (with either Lancaster, Glamorgan, MMU or others that sprung up that I don't know about). I would like to learn as much as poss. before applying. I am interested in learning about structure and plotting and interested in crime fiction.
Cheers!

Magg - there are full directories of post-grad courses you can wade through in libraries, I know, but I haven't found a comprehensive online source of that info yet. Once you've worked out which universities do CW, their websites seem to have pretty full prospectuses online, so you can do some homework before you email or phone. My experience of doing that, both for the MPhil and for the PhD I'm now going for after all, is that the lecturers are friendly and helpful towards a general enquiry, specially if it's by email. The only really terse answer I got was from Andrew Motion at Royal Holloway. It helps if you've got a bit of an idea of what you want to do, which you obviously have, though I think they might shy away from crime fiction unless you could show that you were thinking about it in fairly literary terms. They all make much of having agents and publishers visiting, but I would be worried about an MA that didn't start from the assumption that you were learning to write to the highest literary standard you could, and the hell with market considerations.

As far as distance learning goes, you probably do need to be more self-propelling as a writer than for the normal set-up. I don't think there are that many courses apart from Glamorgan and Lancaster - another WWer may know otherwise - but any part-time MA will probably only want you one day a week, which makes quite a lot of places getable-to, unless you live in the Shetlands - maybe you do! And I know plenty of writers who say they do better with that frequent input and support. The OU is also doing undergraduate-level modules now, which would be a more flexible kind of commitment.

Good luck with it! My MPhil's one of the best decisions I made, despite the cost and the considerable domestic difficulties it caused!

Emma

Emma,

Thanks for the quick response. Note that I've sent you an 'email' through the private post.
Yes, I have received responses from the main three that deal with distance learning and it was only one that said that 'there is nothing in the course to prevent me from writing crime'. City University has said they deal with all genre but they don't do distance and I've just found out that Leeds Uni will start a distance course in 2006.
My fear is being accepted on a course and not being taken seriously, although I do want to present my writing to the highest 'literary' standards, if that's possible.

Cheers!