COURSE CURRICULUM

The MA in Modern and Contemporary Writing is a one-year full-time or two-year part-time course that explores the dynamic interplay between modernist innovations and contemporary literary practices. In the autumn semester, students are introduced to foundational texts of modernism by writers like Joyce, Woolf, and Eliot, alongside discussions on their lasting influence on critical and creative writing today. The module “Living Modernism” examines both early 20th-century experimentation and its legacy through a broad reading list that includes canonical texts, poetry, and global responses to modernism’s political, ethical, and aesthetic concerns. Students also study emerging trends in contemporary writing through the module “New Reading: Trends in Contemporary Writing,” which focuses on hybrid forms, genre reinvention, digital-age narratives, and rewriting of the literary canon through feminist, queer, and decolonial lenses. In the spring semester, students can tailor their study by selecting from a range of specialist modules, such as those focused on postmodernism or creative-critical writing. These modules allow students to trace the roots of postmodernist literature back to modernist and pre-modernist authors and to engage with forms like auto-commentary, conceptual criticism, and confessional essays. There are also opportunities to study parody, imitation, and other pre-modern critical techniques. An additional optional module can be selected from a broad interdisciplinary range, including creative writing, film, translation, and literary theory. A dedicated research and methodology seminar prepares students for the final stage of the course: a 12,000-word dissertation on a self-chosen topic, developed with faculty guidance and submitted at the start of September. The program is designed for students interested in both critical theory and creative writing, offering a rich engagement with literature from the early 20th century to the present.