English Literature

English literature is one of the oldest and most continuously relevant of the humanities, concerned with how stories, poems, plays and essays capture and shape human experience across time and across cultures. To study literature is to develop the ability to read carefully and critically, to understand how language works, and to engage with ideas about identity, power, ethics, history and beauty as they have been explored by writers across centuries. It is also a discipline that takes seriously the power of storytelling to influence public opinion and to illuminate the social, political and environmental challenges that define any era.

At Hull, this three-year full-time programme gives you the opportunity to explore English literature in depth, developing your skills as a reader, thinker and writer. You will engage with a wide range of texts and genres, from medieval writing through to contemporary fiction and poetry, and you will learn to bring a range of critical approaches to what you read, drawing on literary theory, historical context and comparative perspectives. Writing skills are central to the degree, and you will develop your ability to construct sustained, well-argued essays and to express complex ideas with clarity and precision.

Hull's literary heritage, which includes Philip Larkin as the university's former librarian, gives the place a particular connection to literary culture that is more than merely symbolic. The programme is designed to develop graduates who can think independently, write persuasively and engage seriously with ideas.

Graduates of English literature programmes are employed across an exceptionally wide range of fields. Publishing, journalism, copywriting, public relations, marketing, education, the civil service, law, arts administration and the cultural sector are all destinations that value the reading, writing and analytical skills the degree develops. Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in literature, creative writing or related fields.