Creative Writing and Criminology

Creative writing and criminology is an unusual but genuinely compelling combination. Both disciplines attend closely to human behaviour in extreme circumstances: creative writing through narrative, character, and voice; criminology through the analysis of crime, justice, and social harm. Together they develop a set of skills that are remarkably complementary, sharpening your ability to observe, interpret, and communicate the full complexity of human experience.

At Liverpool Hope University, this four-year, full-time programme opens with a foundation year before moving into the joint degree, and Liverpool itself, a city with a rich literary culture and distinctive storytelling traditions, provides an evocative setting for the study of both subjects.

In the creative writing strand you will study fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, and scriptwriting, learning the craft of different forms and developing your own voice through workshops led by writers who are embedded in the local and national literary community. In the criminology strand you will examine theories of crime and deviance, the workings of the criminal justice system, victimology, and the social contexts that shape offending and responses to it. The programme includes a sandwich placement year, allowing you to gain extended professional experience in a relevant field, as well as a year abroad and work placement opportunities embedded throughout the degree.

The careers this combination supports are broader than might be expected. Graduates move into journalism, documentary work, the criminal justice sector, victim support, community arts, publishing, social research, and policy roles, as well as teaching and postgraduate study in either discipline. The skills of close observation, critical analysis, and clear, compelling communication that the degree develops are valued across a wide range of professional contexts.

For those who want to write meaningfully about the world and understand it more clearly, this programme offers an imaginative and rigorous route forward.