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Our department offers a distinctively comparative approach to the study of literature; at Essex you don't just study English literature, you study world literature in English. You explore literature across time, geography, and genre, combining scholarly research with innovative, practical ways of engaging with texts.

This course is for students seeking to take their journalism experience to an advanced level and for students who have no background in journalism but are eager to supplement their academic knowledge with journalism skills. The course is open to people with degrees in other fields or with equivalent professional experience.

Our interdisciplinary MA Theatre Practice provides an opportunity for you to develop advanced knowledge of different processes of theatre-making, international performance traditions, approaches to practice-as-research (PaR), and methods of writing, directing and devising in professional contexts. You will explore a diverse range of artistic approaches, gain insights into related critical discourses and develop an in-depth understanding of the possible interrelationships between ‘practice' and ‘research' – investigating how practitioners at the cutting-edge of the performing arts make their ideas a tangible reality.

Explore and make creative connections between film analysis and film practice. Our course has a distinctive focus on international, alternative, and documentary cinemas, while also providing a solid foundation in key elements of film history and theory, including Hollywood.

Our challenging, practice-based course offers you a unique approach to the practice of writing, emphasising innovation and experimentation in your work. On our MA Creative Writing, you deepen your knowledge of literary tradition, exploring different modes and genres in order to develop your own creative and expressive written skills.

Please note MA American Literatures has been temporarily suspended for the academic year 2023-2024. Gain a rich understanding of the variety and interconnections of American writing, exploring major poetic, fictional, non-fictional and dramatic works.

Explore the relationship between literature and film in an exceptionally broad array of contemporary and historical contexts, and from a variety of different perspectives. You discover cutting-edge approaches to cinematic and literary aesthetics, adaptation, and relationships between different media, reception contexts, ethics, and interfaces between theory and practice.

With the expertise of our scholars and creative practitioners, you'll gain a distinctively unique degree which blends together the highly complementary disciplines of literature and creative writing. You will study a broad range of writing, from lyric poetry to contemporary fiction, whilst the flexible nature of our MA Literature and Creative Writing degree allows you to choose a creative-practice pathway or a theoretical pathway.

Our MA Modern and Contemporary Literature degree offers a rich and unique perspective on the remarkable literature and culture of the twentieth- and twenty-first centuries. At Essex, you won't just study the familiar canon of English literature; you will study world literature in English.

Develop as a scriptwriter by learning with professional and award-winning dramatists. On our MA Scriptwriting (Theatre and Digital Media) you produce a varied portfolio of dramatic works, culminating in a full-length original script, whether for the stage, screen, radio or television, which will enable you to hone and develop your own unique voice.