Media and Creative Writing

Media and creative writing is a combination that develops two distinct but related sets of skills: the critical and analytical understanding of how media works in society, and the craft of making original written work. Media studies examines how digital and traditional media produce, distribute and frame information and entertainment, what effects these processes have on culture and politics, and how media industries and technologies are changing. Creative writing develops your ability to use language with precision, imagination and purpose, across forms including fiction, poetry, non-fiction and screenwriting.

At Bangor University, this three-year full-time programme includes a foundation year, a sandwich year, a work placement and a year abroad. The foundation year provides the academic grounding needed before progressing to degree-level work. The sandwich and placement elements give you professional experience in media organisations, creative writing contexts, publishing, journalism or related settings.

The year abroad allows you to experience different media cultures and to write from a different place, both of which tend to enrich and sharpen creative work.

You will study media theory, digital media, journalism, the cultural industries, content production and the social impact of media, alongside workshops in different forms of creative writing, from narrative fiction and poetry to scripts and creative non-fiction. Critical and creative skills are developed in parallel, each enriching the other.

Graduates go on to careers in journalism, content creation, digital media, publishing, scriptwriting, broadcasting, public relations, education and arts administration. The ability to analyse and produce media content, combined with strong writing skills, is valued across many sectors. Some go on to postgraduate study in creative writing, media, journalism or communications.