MA in English - Poetry
Queen's University Belfast - Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Key Information
Campus location
Belfast, United Kingdom
Languages
English
Study format
On-Campus
Duration
1 - 3 year
Pace
Full time, Part time
Tuition fees
GBP 19,100 / per year *
Application deadline
Request info
Earliest start date
Sep 2024
* Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland: £6,980 | England, Scotland or Wales: £8,360 | EU Other and International: £19,100
Introduction
Poetry is, quite simply, the activity for which Queen’s University is best known around the world. Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney was both a student and lecturer here at Queen’s and other famous poet-alumni of the university include Ciaran Carson, Paul Muldoon and Medbh McGuckian. Heaney was a founding member of the famous ‘Belfast Group’ in the 1960s, a forum in which young poets came together with critics to discuss their work and the craft of good poetry more generally. The fruitful interaction of creative and critical activity is at the heart of what this unique MA offers.
Drawing on our long-standing reputation for producing distinguished critics and poets, this programme's creative-critical intersections make it suitable for a new generation of poets and critics alike. Students will be joining an academic environment with world-leading expertise in the critical appreciation, writing, and understanding of modern poetry.
As a student on the MA in Poetry: Creativity and Criticism, you can choose to follow either a critical or a creative pathway or a combination of the two. Students who follow a critical pathway will be joining an academic environment with a long-standing reputation for the critical appreciation, reception and understanding of modern poetry. Poets who come to develop their own creative writing have the unique opportunity of working with some of Ireland's most renowned poets.
World Class Facilities
Housed in the beautiful Lynn Building – formerly the library where Heaney, Muldoon, Carson and McGuckian read slim volumes of poetry, and Philip Larkin was a librarian – The Graduate School is a dedicated social and academic space for postgraduate students at Queen’s, offering research facilities and ongoing training in all aspects of research, essential skills, and career development. The award-winning McClay library houses Irish Special Collections, with unique resources on modern and contemporary Irish poetry, including Belfast Group worksheets and manuscripts, and extensive journal collections. The Seamus Heaney Centre has a dedicated work and social space for postgraduate students and a lively programme of activities all year round.
Internationally Renowned Experts
- Alongside the expertise and guidance you’ll receive from the MA teaching team, you will have the chance to attend workshops and one-to-one consultations with outstanding poets and writers who spend time at Queen’s each year: The Ireland Chair of Poetry, International Visiting Poetry Fellow, Seamus Heaney Centre Fellows and Ciaran Carson Fellows.
Student Experience
You will be joining an academic environment with a long-standing reputation for the writing and critical appreciation of poetry from Ireland, Britain and the United States, and will also benefit from the literary activities and resources of the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen’s – the first centre of excellence for poetry in Ireland. Poets and poetry critics in the School include Leontia Flynn, Fran Brearton, Edna Longley, Gail McConnell, Stephen Sexton and Nick Laird, along with annual visiting international poetry fellows.
Gallery
Admissions
Curriculum
Full-time students take 3 taught modules in each semester (the core ‘Reading and Writing Poetry’ module in semester 1 is a ‘double’ module), followed by the dissertation.
Part-time students take 3 modules in each year, on either a 1+2 or 2+1 model across the two semesters, and the dissertation either in the summer at the end of their second year, or from September to May in their third year.
Semester One Modules:
ENG7307: Reading and Writing Poetry. Compulsory. 40 CATS. Weekly workshop and weekly seminar.
ENG7300: Form in Poetry. Compulsory. 20 CATS. Weekly seminar.
Semester Two Modules (Indicative):
ENG7301: The Poetry Collection. Compulsory. 20 CATS.
ENG7305: Irish Poetry. Optional. 20 CATS.
ENG7094: The Poetry Workshop. Optional. 20 CATS.
ENG7375: Love Poetry. Optional. 20 CATS.
ENG7119 or ENG7199: Fulbright Special Option (tbc). 20 CATS.
The MA is awarded to students who successfully complete compulsory and optional taught modules totalling 120 CATS points and a dissertation of either a 15,000-word thesis or a 35-40 page poetry portfolio (60 CATS points ).
Exit qualifications are available: students may exit with a Postgraduate Diploma by successfully completing 120 CATS points from taught modules or a Postgraduate Certificate by successfully completing 60 CATS points from taught modules.
Compulsory Modules
- Form in Poetry
- Reading and Writing Poetry
- The Poetry Collection
Course Details
Students take three taught modules each semester (the core ‘Reading and Writing Poetry’ module in semester 1 is a double module), followed by the dissertation/portfolio. In semester 1, students explore a range of writings – both poetry and criticism – through concepts and themes such as Art, Love, Death, Animals, Nonsense, Music, Weather, and Work. Poets studied in the seminars include Yeats, Plath, Auden, Eliot, Bishop, and Heaney. Students are introduced to the form and language of poetry, as well as to the historical dimensions of, and contexts for, various poetic forms – both traditional and experimental. The writing workshops involve a detailed discussion of students’ own poetry, which they can bring to class for feedback from the tutor and other students. In semester 2, students study contemporary poetry collections, focusing on the ways in which the structure of a given poetry collection contributes to the overall meaning of the work, as well as choosing from specialist options which include Irish poetry, Love poetry, and writing workshops. The optional module list is indicative only.
Dissertation
Dissertation of up to 15,000 words or a poetry portfolio on an agreed topic for the MA.
Optional Modules
- Irish Poetry
- Love Poetry
- The Poetry Workshop
- Fulbright Scholar special option
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
Graduates of the programme have a good employment record, entering professions such as publishing, journalism, arts administration, events organisation, the media, public relations, teaching, advertising, business and industry. The programme has an excellent track record of student success in publication and of graduates continuing their studies into (funded) PhDs in modern poetry or creative writing (poetry).
Degree plus award for extra-curricular skills
In addition to your degree programme, at Queen's, you can have the opportunity to gain wider life, academic and employability skills. For example, placements, voluntary work, clubs, societies, sports and lots more. So not only do you graduate with a degree recognised from a world-leading university, you'll have practical national and international experience plus a wider exposure to life overall. We call this Degree Plus. It's what makes studying at Queen's University Belfast special.