norwich uea creative writing

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Creative Writing

Maybe you’re a novelist.

You sit, for hours every day, pouring over your laptop screen, your keyboard struggling to keep up with the velocity of your fingers. It’s your second instalment of a seven-book series, and your fans are waiting eagerly. It’s three am. You’ve been writing for weeks.

Or perhaps you’re a poet.

After your lectures, you sit leisurely in a café, tea at the ready, articulating your weekly musings. The spine of the notebook groans, you’ve written so much, it can hold no more. The paper awaits your contemplations, your handwriting speeds up.

You could be a scriptwriter. A short-story enthusiast. You might be a writer of haikus, on bits of napkin, or letters to your granny in the highlands – or perhaps you’ve only ever written inside birthday cards. Even if you’ve only ever considered putting pen to paper, we’re asking you: do you want to write?

UEA’s Creative Writing Society is proud to exist in one of the UK’s most vibrant scenes for writing and literature. The city of Norwich is brimming with writers’ events: poetry open mics, famous authors, independent publishing houses, and we’re right in the heart of it!

Of course, we don’t just sit silently and scribble. Most of our writing workshops round off with a drink in the union bar or café, and we also collaborate with other societies, like Litsoc, Eggbox Publishing and Headucate.

But most we’re famous at UEA for our open mics, when three or four times a semester, we head out to a venue in town. Members bring friends and flatmates, grab a drink, and then get behind a mic to read, shout, sing, whisper, perform, pour water over their heads (yes, we had that once) by way of sharing their work! It’s always an amazing variation of talent, and an inspiration to see what you come up with.

If any of this has roused your interest, please get in touch with us! We're always more than happy to meet new members...

CWS Committee 2023/2024

President: Michael Baker

Vice President: Helena Keys

Social Secretary & Treasurer: Lily Glenn

Welfare: Nathan Rodney-Jones

Equality & Diversity: Klara Sher

Health & Safety Officer: Eli Wilkinson

Union Representative: Ann Johansen

• International

BA (Hons) Drama and Creative Writing

Key Details

Why you should choose us

In the UK for Drama, Dance and Cinematics

The Complete University Guide 2024

In the UK for Creative Writing

The Guardian University Guide 2023

For graduate prospects in Drama,Dance and Cinematics

Course Overview

This unique degree unites UEA’s strengths in creative writing and in drama to give you an exhilarating immersion in writing and performance. 

You will have the opportunity to study all kinds of creative writing, with a particular focus on writing for theatre, cinema, television, and radio. Alongside, you'll be exploring the contemporary practice, criticism, and history of dramatic writing and performance. Your writing will be enriched by an awareness of theatrical and literary traditions from around the globe. 

You’ll take practical drama modules, and you’ll have full access to our professionally equipped 200-seat Drama Studio. This comprehensive grounding in acting, directing, and all other aspects of stagecraft will enable you to graduate as a writer with an instinctive feel for the world of theatre and performing arts.  

Our BA Drama and Creative Writing is ranked 6th for Creative Writing by  'The Guardian University Guide 2023'.

You'll gain a thorough grounding in writing for stage and screen, which will be complemented by opportunities to develop your skills in non-dramatic writing, too. Your stage and screen writing will be improved by getting to grips with the ins-and-outs of theatrical performance, while you become better able to analyse dramatic language by writing it yourself. 

At the heart of your degree are scriptwriting masterclasses with practising writers, where you’ll discover the formats, conventions, and techniques of writing for different   dramatic genres and media. You’ll learn by writing scenes and short scripts, offering critiques of each other’s work, and by working closely with other Drama students. 

In your second and third years, you'll be able to develop your craft as a writer by taking workshops in prose or poetry, working closely with our world-famous creative writing colleagues.  

Throughout your degree, you will gain hands-on experience by participating in production and practical project work. You’ll have the keys to our professionally equipped 200-seat Drama Studio, giving you the chance to control everything in your own productions. You’ll also have access to performance and placement opportunities, including a creative industries internship in your second year, which involves a work placement in a drama-producing organisation or environment.  

You’ll encounter an astonishing array of drama and a wealth of performance styles, from naturalism to Noh theatre. You’ll engage with major theoretical and directorial approaches, from Aristotle to Boal, from live art to physical theatre. And you can examine the use of theatre and performance – by the state, by political activists, and by theatre and performance practitioners – to solidify or challenge structures of power. 

You’ll benefit from our highly regarded student run Minotaur Theatre Company, which gives you the chance to gain additional performance, technical and scriptwriting experience, as well as exciting chances to share your writing at events such as New Writing Live. Find out more about life in the School of Literature, Drama, and Creative Writing on our Instagram @uealdc. 

Placement Year and Study Abroad

You have the option to apply to study abroad for one semester of your second year. Studying abroad is a wonderfully enriching life experience – you will develop confidence and adaptability, and will have the chance to deepen your understanding of drama and writing while learning about another culture. At UEA, you will also be surrounded throughout your degree by the many students we welcome from around the world to study with us. 

For further details, visit the  Study Abroad section  of our website.  

Study and Modules

Your first-year module Scriptwriting and Performance sets up a conversation between writing, doing, and thinking, which continues throughout your degree. You’ll experiment with a wealth of new techniques in dramatic writing while also taking advantage of developmental acting exercises. In addition, you'll start to hone your creative writing across a range of literary forms in the module Creative Writing: Autumn Semester. You’ll develop your performance and technical skills further on the Applied Drama and Technical Skills module. You’ll then encounter rich traditions of dramatic writing in the Introduction to World Dramatic Literatures module, exploring how contemporary writers are reimagining or contesting older traditions. You’ll  unite theory and practice in Theatre: Theory and Performance. Your practical work on the stage culminates in the module on modern British theatre. 

Compulsory Modules

Scriptwriting and performance, introduction to world dramatic literatures, applied drama and technical skills, theatre: theory and performance, postwar british drama, creative writing: autumn semester.

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.

Teaching and Learning

Teaching  You'll begin your development as a writer in workshops focussed on scriptwriting led by a member of our world-famous creative writing team. Your Drama tutors combine a wealth of practical experience in all kinds of performance with deep academic knowledge of the history, theory, and contemporary practice of theatre. Practical workshops in technical theatre and performance will underpin your development on the stage. You'll get to grips with plays in drama seminars – where you might find yourself workshopping parts for performance in order better to understand them!

Independent Learning  You'll spend time doing everything from reading plays and writing your own scripts to rehearsing parts for the stage, at the same time as benefitting from student-run theatre company, Minotaur, where you can gain even more experience in practical performance or get a chance to turn your own original scripts into productions. 

Assessment  Our BA Literature and Drama modules do not have written exams (apart from one technical theatre test). As a Creative Writer, in the first year you'll be led through a series of writing exercises and discussions to help you produce a short, complete script. The technical theatre skills you're developing will be assessed through tasks such as making a 3D model of a set, designing a costume, or placing mics on a soundstage. Your performance work will be graded, and so will the rehearsals for your end-of-year production, capturing your development in the round. 

Feedback  You're given constant feedback on your practical work, helping you to deepen your craft as a performer. You'll receive feedback on your writing from your tutors and your peers in workshops. Feedback on assessed work will be returned within 20 working days (after it has been carefully marked and moderated). As your first year does not count toward your overall degree result, it's the perfect moment to experiment and take risks.  

In your second year, you’ll extend and refine your scriptwriting skills in the Creative Writing: Scriptwriting modules, where you learn how to write for stage/radio and film/television. Alongside this you’ll have an opportunity to tackle poetry or prose writing in a dedicated workshop, and an array of opportunities for practical dramatic work. For example, you can take an internship, engage in outreach work, take modules to build your performance skills for stage and screen, or take an innovative module on the director, the actor, and the script. You can also choose to study journalism or publishing, or choose modules in literary, film or cultural criticism.  

Optional A Modules

Shakespeare (pre-1789), feminist theatres, political theatre, experiments in performance, optional b modules, scriptwriting: tv/film, scriptwriting: screen and stage, scriptwriting: stage/radio, optional c modules, creative writing: poetry (aut), technical theatre, literature studies semester abroad (spring), creative writing: prose fiction (aut), the writing of journalism (aut), performance skills: the actor and the text, practical film making and performance, drama outreach project, optional d modules, the writing of history, the short story (aut), reading and writing contemporary poetry, romanticism 1780-1840, making it public: publishing, audience, & creative enterprise, critical theory and practice, seventeenth-century writing: renaissance and revolution (pre-1789), empire and after: globalizing english, contemporary fiction, victorian writing, medieval writing (pre-1789), literature and philosophy, european literature, reading and writing in elizabethan england (pre-1789), eighteenth-century writing (pre-1789).

Teaching  Your creative work will now be taken to the next level through the 'workshopping' process (pioneered in the UK by UEA), where you'll get feedback on your writing from your peers under the direction of one of our creative writing tutors, and learn the art of offering constructive critique of your peers’ writing too. You'll concentrate intensively on scriptwriting (for the stage, radio, TV, and film), and will also have the chance to get to grips with prose or poetry. You'll have a wealth of opportunities to make your own theatre with the support of our staff, experimenting with different directorial theories, developing skills in devising plays, discovering radical performance modes, or delving into political theatre (e.g. Feminist Theatres or Queer Theatre). If you choose to produce work for the screen, you'll be supported by a well-regarded independent filmmaker.  

Independent Learning  As you make theatre and performance work with greater confidence, you'll naturally work with greater independence as both a writer and a performer. This might mean deepening your collaborations with your peers or making solo projects that showcase your development as a writer.  

Assessment  Your creative writing will flourish as you produce more substantial scripts for stage, radio, or screen (c.20-30 minutes in length), and, if you wish, pieces of prose (e.g. a 1250-word short story or longer 2000-word narrative), or a portfolio of poetry. You can try your hand at devised performances and write reflective pieces to understand better your own creative processes. You might write essays on books or plays. You'll continue to be assessed on your practical drama work in all its forms, whether that's acting, directing, filmmaking, technical theatre, or on your collaborative work with an external organisation.

Feedback  Your creative work will be deepened by your immersion in the workshop environment, where you receive feedback from your peers and learn to give feedback on their work, an enormously valuable skill in many careers. Your practical work is constantly enriched by your drama tutors' feedback during rehearsals, and you'll continue to receive advice on 'formative' writing, too, from both your literature and drama tutors. 

By your third year you will have found your voice as a playwright or screenwriter. The keystone of this year is your Creative Writing Dissertation where, with one-to-one support from your supervisor, you’ll produce a substantial piece of writing, which in most cases will take the form of a script for stage, screen, or radio. Alongside this you can choose from a range of options, either throwing yourself into the third year Drama Production, pursuing an individual drama project, focusing intensively on dramatic literature (via modules on drama and literature, or contemporary drama and film), broadening out into other literary realms, taking a prose or poetry workshop, or studying creative work in the media industries.  

WRITING TELEVISION DRAMA

Creative writing dissertation (spr), creative writing dissertation (aut), creative writing: scriptwriting, drama projects, drama production (year 3), drama and literature: the question of genre, special topic in drama, the italian renaissance: translating love, death and adventure (pre-1789), literature dissertation: (pre-1789) (spr), feminist writing, shakespeare's dramatic worlds (pre-1789), the art of murder, the art of emotion: literature, writing and feeling, literature dissertation: post-1789 (aut), writing consciousness: style and modernist fiction, literature dissertation: (pre-1789) (aut), urban visions: the city in literature and visual culture, literature dissertation: post-1789 (spr), children's literature, ghosts, haunting and spectrality, the business of books (pre-1789).

Teaching  Your journey as a writer culminates in your creative writing dissertation, in which you'll work one-on-one with a member of our creative writing team as you plan, develop, and write a more extended project. You can choose to spend the whole first semester of your third year working as part of a near-professional theatre company in our Drama Production module, where you'll be led by a member of our core Drama teaching team and mentored by professionals in stage management, costume design, set building, movement, and marketing. Or, if you'd prefer, you can pursue a solo venture in our Drama Project, where you'll be supervised to create an individual performance or film of your devising.

Independent Learning  You'll spend much of your own time writing in the forms that have come to matter to you the most. You'll either collaborate with drive and passion with your peers in the third-year production or bring together everything you've learnt across the degree by working independently on a Drama Project (supervised by a member of our Drama team or a relevant industry professional). 

Assessment  In your Creative Writing Dissertation, you’ll produce a substantial piece of work that truly reflects the writer you’ve become, whether that’s a 60-page script, or a collection of stories or poems. You’ll also write a reflective self-commentary on your creative process. If you choose the intensive Drama Production module, your rehearsal and technical work will be continuously assessed by the drama tutor who's leading the whole project, and your final performance will be marked, and that mark moderated by an external examiner. You might write academic essays, reflections on your performances, or pieces of creative-critical writing, where you fuse critical with imaginative writing.

Feedback  For your Creative Writing Dissertation, you'll work one-on-one with a member of our creative team, receiving regular feedback on your progress. As well as constant advice on your practical drama work as it develops, you'll receive full written feedback on your work in either the Drama Production or Drama Project modules, as well as regular feedback on formative written work for all your modules. 

Entry Requirements

A Level – BBB

BTEC L3 Extended Diploma – DDM

UEA are committed to ensuring that Higher Education is accessible to all, regardless of their background or experiences. One of the ways we do this is through our contextual admissions schemes .  

Applications from students whose first language is not English are welcome. We require evidence of proficiency in English (including writing, speaking, listening and reading):  

IELTS: 6.5 overall (minimum 5.5 in all components) for year 1 entry 

We also accept a number of other English language tests. Review  our English Language Equivalencies  for a list of example qualifications that we may accept to meet this requirement.

If you do not yet meet the English language requirements for this course, INTO UEA offer a variety of English language programmes which are designed to help you develop the English skills necessary for successful undergraduate study:  

Pre-sessional English at INTO UEA   

Academic English at INTO UEA   

Additional Information or Requirements

UEA are committed to ensuring that Higher Education is accessible to all, regardless of their background or experiences. One of the ways we do this is through our contextual admissions schemes.  

If you do not have an A-Level or equivalent qualification in one of the subjects listed above,  once you have submitted your UCAS form we may then contact you to ask you to submit a short analysis of a passage of a literary text in support of your application.

We welcome and value a wide range of alternative qualifications.  If you have a qualification which is not listed here, please contact us via Admissions Enquiries .

If you do not meet the academic requirements for direct entry, you may be interested in one of our   Foundation Year programmes

Important note

Once enrolled onto your course at UEA, your progression and continuation (which may include your eligibility for study abroad, overseas experience, placement or year in industry opportunities) is contingent on meeting the assessment requirements which are relevant to the course on which you are enrolled.

International Requirements 

We accept many international qualifications for entry to this course. View our International Students pages for specific information about your country.

Fees and Funding

Tuition Fees  

View our information for Tuition Fees.  

Scholarships and Bursaries 

We are committed to ensuring that costs do not act as a barrier to those aspiring to come to a world leading university and have developed a funding package to reward those with excellent qualifications and assist those from lower income backgrounds. View our range of Scholarships for eligibility, details of how to apply and closing dates. 

Course Related Costs

View our information about Additional Course Fees.  

How to Apply

Apply for this course through the  Universities and Colleges Admissions Services (UCAS ), using UCAS Hub. 

UCAS Hub is a secure online application system that allows you to apply for full-time undergraduate courses at universities and colleges in the United Kingdom.

Your application does not have to be completed all at once.  Register or sign in to UCAS  to get started. 

Once you submit your completed application, UCAS will process it and send it to your chosen universities and colleges. 

The Institution code for the University of East Anglia is  E14. 

View our guide to applying through UCAS for useful tips, key dates and further information:  

How to apply through UCAS  

Employability

After the course.

Some graduates go into careers in film, drama, radio, and scriptwriting, as writers, developers, agents, casting directors, or artistic directors of their own companies. Recent graduates from our drama degrees include the actor Matt Smith (famous for his portrayal of Doctor Who and his leading role in The Crown), the presenter of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, Greg James, and the playwright Tom Morton-Smith (whose 2015 play Oppenheimer was performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company). For others, this degree is a stepping-stone towards careers in the arts, media, publishing, politics, charities, and NGOs, teaching, and the commercial sector.  Our Careers Service is here to support you in launching your career by advising with CV writing, internships, and much more. Every year we run an event, Working with Words, which gives current students the chance to meet and hear from successful UEA alumni from across the creative industries.   UEA also has its own in-house student publishing project, Egg Box, along with many other exciting initiatives that give you opportunities to turn your love of writing and performance into a foundation for your future career. 

A degree at UEA will prepare you for a wide variety of careers. We've been ranked 1st for Job Prospects by StudentCrowd in 2022.

Examples of careers you could enter include:  

Scriptwriting  

Theatre and film  

Journalism  

Media  

Teaching  

Publishing  

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MA Creative Writing Prose Fiction

University of east anglia uea, different course options.

• Key information

Course Summary

Tuition fees, entry requirements, university information, similar courses at this uni, key information data source : idp connect, qualification type.

MA - Master of Arts

Subject areas

Narrative Prose Writing

Course type

Our course will transform you as a writer, giving you a surer sense of the technical and emotional complexes that underpin any act of writing.

You’ll study the craft of prose fiction with an internationally excellent cohort of other writers, and you’ll be taught by an outstanding and committed faculty – which includes Andrew Cowan, Naomi Wood and Tessa McWatt, to name a few – alongside internationally recognised visiting writers – recent examples include Tsitsi Dangarembga, Margaret Atwood, Ali Smith, Caryl Phillips and Preti Taneja.

We will challenge you to explore your notions about writing and being a writer, provoking you into play, experimentation and risk, with the intention of making you the best writer you can be.

After this intensive year, you’ll leave the course confident of technique and craft, as well as your own voice. It’s no wonder that our students’ success is unparalleled, with many of our graduates going on to publish their own work – with others moving into publishing, journalism or teaching.

The MA Prose Fiction at UEA is the oldest and most prestigious Creative Writing programme in the UK. Solely focused on the writing of fiction, we take a rigorous and creative approach to enable you to develop your ideas, voice, technique and craft.

You’ll experience an intensive immersion in the study of writing prose fiction. You will take core creative modules but can also choose from a wide range of critical modules, and benefit from our proven strengths in modernism and creative-critical studies, among others.

Graduates of our MA Creative Writing Prose Fiction have enjoyed extraordinary success in terms of publications and prizes. Our alumni include Nobel Laureate Sir Kazuo Ishiguro, Baileys Women’s Prize-winner Naomi Alderman, Emma Healey and Tash Aw. The continuing success of our graduates means we are fortunate in being able to attract the best writers from around the world – writers like you.

While you are at UEA, the focus will very much be on exploring your creative potential, in a highly supportive and well-resourced environment.

In 2011, UEA’s Creative Writing programme was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in recognition of our continuing excellence in delivering innovative courses at a world-class level.

UK fees Course fees for UK students

For this course (per year)

International fees Course fees for EU and international students

Bachelors (Hons) degree - 2.1 or equivalent preferred in any subject. Candidates are required to submit a portfolio of writing for assessment of between 3000 and 5000 words with their application. This could be part of a novel in progress or a piece or pieces of short fiction.

The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a world-renowned university known for its high standard across both taught and research postgraduate courses. Based in Norwich, in the county of Norfolk, the university has an excellent international reputation for the high standard of its research output. UEA is home to over 17,000 students, of which around 25% are postgraduate students. UEA is part of one of the biggest research communities in Europe... more

MA Creative Writing (Non-Fiction)

Full time | 1 year | 23-SEP-24

MA Creative Writing Crime Fiction (Part Time)

Part time | 2 years | 23-SEP-24

MA Creative Writing (Non-Fiction) (Part time)

Our history

The UEA Literary Festival was founded in 1991, and in the decades since it has made a significant contribution to Norwich’s cultural life, attracting world-class writers and thinkers, and over 6,000 book-lovers each year.

That first festival featured the powerhouse line-up of Arthur Miller, P. D. James, Doris Lessing, Salman Rushdie and Ruth Rendell. Today, over 500 established and emerging writers have followed in their footsteps to inform and inspire our audiences, including alumni from the world-renowned UEA Creative Writing programme.

A festival fit for Norwich

We are immensely proud to be part of the thriving literary landscape of the region, facilitating events that are open to all. In 2012, UEA supported the bid to make Norwich England’s first UNESCO City of Literature, joining cities such as Edinburgh, Melbourne, Iowa City, Dublin and Reykjavik, as part of a prestigious international network.

In 2020, we embarked on a new chapter as UEA Live.

A literary legacy to be proud of. A bright future to inspire.

UEA Live has local roots and global reach, aiming to inspire and empower audiences with a bold, ambitious, and engaging event experience that’s open to all. We’re expansive and inclusive – sharing candid, colourful conversations with writers on a wide array of topics and inviting speakers of all genders, ethnicities, and backgrounds.

• We create events that bring people together (virtually or in person) to learn, to laugh, and to look at the world differently.
• We give bright and brilliant speakers the opportunity to have varied and exciting conversations and reflect on what it means to live in the world today.
• We champion the best of British and international publishing along with home-grown authors whose talent was nurtured at UEA.
• We celebrate our region’s rich literary heritage, promoting authors with close ties to Norwich and supporting the great writers and thinkers of tomorrow.

If you have a query which you cannot find the answer to on our website, please feel free to contact us.

[email protected]

UEA Live Public Events & Engagement University of East Anglia Norwich Research Park NR4 7TJ

+44(0) 1603 592130

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• Home »
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find your perfect postgrad program Search our Database of 30,000 Courses

University of east anglia uea: creative writing (non-fiction).

Literary non-fiction is changing in exciting ways, and this is your chance to be a part of it.

Our best modern writers have been experimenting with new forms and subjects. Nature-writing, the personal essay, biography, food journalism, art criticism and memoir are all part of the intellectually stimulating emerging mix.

If you want to develop your own non-fiction writing in any of these genres or one of your own, this MA programme is for you. You’ll study on one of the only dedicated non-fiction MA courses in the UK at the country’s leading university for the teaching of creative writing. This enables you to graduate with the best grounding possible for a successful and fulfilling literary career.

About This Course

This is one of very few courses in the UK that gives you the opportunity to concentrate exclusively on writing non-fiction. Our students come from extremely varied backgrounds, and in the past have included barristers, a zoologist, actors, doctors, teachers, a Master of Wine and an asparagus farmer!

The age range is diverse, too: from people in their early twenties to those in their sixties and seventies. Students come from all parts of the globe, but all are united in their desire and commitment to writing non-fiction. The diversity of students and the range of their interests is one of the great strengths of the course, as is its collegiate atmosphere: you’ll learn as much constructively critiquing your peers’ writing as you will writing your own pieces.

Some people come with a project in mind, others have no specific idea about what they want to write. Either approach is fine – the course gives you the opportunity to develop an existing project and to experiment with different subjects and voices. Your time at UEA offers you a unique opportunity to focus on your writing in a stimulating and supportive environment.

We encourage you to take advantage of UEA’s and Norwich’s vibrant literary culture. You will also have the opportunity to meet some of the UK’s leading agents and publishers.

We publish an anthology of our students’ writing each year and distribute it to a key list of editors, agents and critics.

Course details are subject to change. You should always confirm the details on the provider's website: www.uea.ac.uk

Full-Time, 1 years starts Sep 2024

Part-Time, 2 years starts Sep 2024

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Looking to get in touch with a member of our team? Email [email protected] or call (+44)01603 877177 and we’ll direct you to the right place.

Senior management

Peggy Hughes, Chief Executive

Peggy is NCW’s Chief Executive, following roles in the organisation as Executive Director (2022-23) and Head of Programmes (2017-2022). She is on the board of Age UK Norwich and Open Book Reading, and is former Chair of Literature Alliance Scotland, Scotland’s largest network of literary organisations. She is from Northern Ireland, and before moving to Norwich worked in literature in Scotland. Peggy was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2023, an honour bestowed on individuals who have made a significant contribution to the advancement of literature in the UK.

Operations & Commercial

Amanda Salmon, Head of Operations & Commercial

Amanda is Head of Operations and Commercial. Amanda has re-joined the National Centre for Writing having previously worked for the organisation as General Manager. Prior to this, Amanda was General Manager for Dragon Hall under the Norfolk and Norwich Heritage Trust. She has a background in commercial events management, business development and general management in both the private and charity sectors. She loves to read, spending time outdoors with her family, and has joined a ‘Back to Netball’ team.

Christina Gardener, Events Manager

Christina is a seasoned Events Manager specialising in events in unique heritage venues, she coordinates all weddings and commercial events at Dragon Hall. Christina honed her skills with leading cultural institutions, including the Design Museum, the Science Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, and most recently, the Sainsbury Centre. Christina holds an MA in Arts & Museum Management and is passionate about the sustainability of the arts. She is a massive foodie and mixology enthusiast. Her many interests include swing dancing, travelling, reading, board gaming, and boating on the Norfolk Broads.

Freya Gallagher-Jones, Operations & Commercial Officer

Fresh from her BA in English Literature, Freya has been with NCW since 2015, when she started as a Weston Jerwood Creative Bursary placement. She is now Operations and Commercial Officer facilitating the operational delivery of NCW’s events at Dragon Hall, venue hire, building management and human resources. Freya is a self-confessed musicophile and has her fingers in a few creative pies, side hustling in illustration, craft and most recently metalworking.

Holly Ainley, Head of Programmes & Creative Engagement

Holly leads NCW’s programme team, overseeing the strategic direction and delivery of our artistic and creative engagement programmes in Norwich and beyond. She believes passionately in the transformative capacities of writing and translation and their power to connect and enable individuals and communities. Holly’s career in literature is rooted in the book trade; prior to joining NCW she was Book Buyer/Manager at Jarrolds where she also ran the literary events programme for the store. She is a trained editor, having commissioned literary fiction for The Borough Press at HarperCollins and worked at independent publishers Myriad Editions and Nine Arches Press. She also has experience as a literary scout for multiple overseas publishers, is a regular bookseller for the Charleston Literary Festival in Sussex and ran BBC Radio Norfolk’s mid-morning book club for five years.

Kate Griffin, Associate Programme Director

As Associate Programme Director, Kate Griffin focuses on international literature, translation and residencies. She previously worked for the British Centre for Literary Translation, Arts Council England, British Council Russia and as a freelancer for organisations including PEN International, Wasafiri and And Other Stories. Her photography blog is kategriffin.org .

Hannah Garrard, Programme Manager, Learning & Participation

Hannah develops creative engagement programmes for children, young people and communities, offering a way into the literary arts for everyone. She has worked as an educator in many different spaces including a school library on a Liberian refugee camp, in a South Korean high school and in many corners of Norfolk as a youth worker for the young person’s charity, MAP. She is passionate about collectives, creative spaces and of course, books. Hannah is also a UEA Creative Writing MA alumna.

Rebecca DeWald, Emerging Translator Mentorships Programme Manager

At NCW, Rebecca looks after emerging literary translators and their mentors from her home in Glasgow. She is a bilingual emerging literary translator herself and an experienced academic, non-fiction and commercial translator (German, French, Spanish) with a PhD in Translation Studies. She is the current co-chair of the Translators Association Committee (Society of Authors), coordinates the monthly Translators’ Stammtisch and Translation Theory Lab at the Goethe-Institut Glasgow and co-runs Kalewater Cottage Creative Retreat in the Scottish Borders. Rebecca enjoys swimming and gardening, and sharing her sewing and knitting projects @sewexpensive.

Victoria Maitland, Programme Officer

Victoria Maitland is a Programme Officer. A lifelong Norwich resident, she graduated from UEA in 2015, taught creative writing in Leeway Women’s Refuge, and worked as a copywriter before joining NCW in 2017. She loves cycling and can occasionally be found talking about books on the internet.

Ellie Reeves, Programme Officer

Ellie Reeves supports administration and logistics for the Programme team. Since graduating from the University of East Anglia, she has held roles in copywriting and event management. She is a current member of Young Norfolk Arts Trust and joined NCW after working for Norfolk & Norwich Festival. With a keen interest in poetry and live performance, she co-founded the arts review blog, rrramble. You can typically find her with a coffee in hand.

Communications & Development

Paula Sanchez, Head of Communications & Development

Paula Sanchez has been passionate about levelling up the playing field her whole life and has spent the last 25 years helping different people and organisations make great things happen in communities with artists and other creative practitioners; from community radio and art in public spaces to festivals and young people’s creative development.

Originally from Essex, then growing up in California, Paula is alumni of University of East Anglia with a masters from Norwich University of the Arts. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and member of the Institute of Leadership and Management. She focuses her leadership in increasing the demonstrable value of the arts, social change and being a champion for how culture, creativity and art shapes and defines us as individuals, teaches us about ourselves and connects us as communities.

Before joining National Centre for Writing, Paula was Development Director at Norwich Theatre and Norfolk & Norwich Festival, and Head of Partnerships and Development for Out Loud Music and Sound City Ipswich. She spends as much time as she can on the Norfolk coast in an old camper van full of sand, packed with body and paddle boards, wetsuits and a flask of something. Two sons, two Bengal cats and an Instagram fanatic.

Steph McKenna, Senior Communications & Marketing Manager

Steph is the Senior Communications & Marketing Manager, leading on our box office, PR, design and the promotion of our festivals and events. A graduate of the University of East Anglia, she has previously held communications roles in the NHS and local government. She participated in the Collaboration: Place: Change programme as an Emerging Leader.

As well as co-hosting The Writing Life podcast, Steph co-hosts a pop culture podcast in her spare time and guests regularly on film podcasts. She is a writer and editor, currently working on a zine series featuring writing and drawing by women, non-binary folx and trans men.

Dan Scales, Development Manager

Dan works to secure financial support for the organisation’s projects and programmes, helping NCW increase its impact for writers, participants and communities, and fulfil its ambitions for Dragon Hall. Prior to joining NCW, Dan worked in development, fundraising and heritage roles across organisations including the De La Warr Pavilion (a combined arts centre in Sussex), Toynbee Hall, and Prostate Cancer Research. He is a current Trustee of Bexhill Museum. Outside of work, he can be found on the cricket pitch or enjoying live music in Norwich and beyond.

Caitlin Evans, Communications Assistant

Caitlin is the Communications Assistant, co-ordinating our social media, podcast, email communications, and website updates. She worked in customer service roles before joining NCW in 2022 under the Kickstart Scheme. Outside of work, she enjoys live music, photography and binge-watching 90s television shows.

Ruby Pinner, Communications & Participation Assistant

Ruby is the Communications & Participation Assistant, working in a dual-aspect role which provides administrative support for both the communications and programme team. Since graduating from University of East Anglia with a BA in Scriptwriting & Performance she has worked in areas of Communications, Volunteer Coordination, Event Facilitation and Box Office for various arts and music organisations including Norfolk & Norwich Festival, Norwich Arts Centre, First Light Festival and Norwich Theatre. She loves cats, books, beach walks and herbal tea.

Norwich UNESCO City of Literature

Alice Kent, UNESCO City of Literature Manager (Norwich)

Alice works on a part-time basis to help shape conversations around Norwich as a UNESCO City of Literature; working towards a shared city-strategy. If you love Norwich and are interested in how books, reading and writing can help shape positive change in the city, then drop her a message. Alice also works part-time as Head of Communications for a think-tank – the Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre – which is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, to improve data to support the inclusive and sustainable growth of the creative industries across the UK. She’s also a non-fiction (and occasionally when it doesn’t go to plan) a fiction writer, who has been longlisted twice for The Observer / Burgess Prize for Arts Journalism, and has had two pieces published in Hinterland the journal for creative non-fiction published by UEA.  She edited the book Walking Norwich: The Real and Imagined City and interviewed Carole Angier, W.G Sebald’s first biographer, for The Writing Life podcast. She studied politics and philosophy at Birmingham University and European Journalism at Cardiff University.

David Barrass, Head of Finance

David has been the Head of Finance for nearly three years. He has over 13 years experience in the charity and arts sectors having been the Head of Finance at Cambridge Arts Theatre for 10 years.  David’s interests outside of work involve being outside whether it be walking, allotmenteering, gardening or wildlife/birdwatching.

Maggie Ludlow, Senior Finance Officer

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Norwich, Norfolk, UK

Creative Writing at the UEA?

I was just wondering if anybody here has attended (or knows somebody who has) the UEA's MA/MFA program for Creative Writing? I've been extended an offer to join the prose course and have heard nothing but good things about it, but it would be lovely to speak with somebody who's experienced the program firsthand—particularly if that person is or was an international student (I'm from around New Orleans myself), but really I'd be thrilled to speak with anyone at all. If anybody is open to DM, I'd be sincerely grateful.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide, and I hope you enjoy a pleasant day.

A medium-sized city (population 230,000) in the East of England, Norwich is a place where ideas and the written word have flourished for over 900 years. The city’s literary heritage includes the first book to be published in English by a woman: Revelations of Divine Love written by Julian of Norwich in the fourteenth century which still resonates to this day. In more recent times, Britain’s first MA in Creative Writing was founded at the University of East Anglia (UEA). Writers of world standing – including Ian McEwan and Kazuo Ishiguro – emerged from this programme. It is now widely regarded as one of the most influential courses for new writing.  In 1989 W. G. “Max” Sebald, perhaps one of the most original writers of the twentieth century, founded the British Centre for Literary Translation at UEA. This centre drives collaboration between writers and translators from across the world and has served as a model for new translation centres in Poland, India, China and Egypt.

The creative sector is integral to Norwich. Residents spend more per head on culture than anywhere else in the UK. For five consecutive years, The Millennium Library has issued the highest number of books of any library in the country. Norwich also boasts the oldest city arts festival in the UK and each year the Norfolk and Norwich Festival attracts thousands of visitors with its cutting-edge programme.

Writers Centre Norwich – which led the UNESCO City of Literature bid – was established in 2003 as a ground breaking collaboration between UEA, Arts Council England, Norwich City Council and Norfolk County Council. In 2015 the Writers’ Centre is moving to the magnificent Dragon Hall, a Grade 1 listed medieval trading hall. With ambitious plans to establish this as a national centre for writing, the reputation of Norwich as a world-leader for literary innovation is set to grow further still.

10 dingen die je moet weten over Norwich