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MA English Literature

  • Year of entry
    2023/24 See 2022/23 entry
  • Course duration
    Full Time:  12 months Part Time: 24 months
  • Year of entry
    2023/24 See 2022/23 entry
  • Course duration
    Full Time:  12 months Part Time: 24 months

Our MA English Literature presents students with an exciting range of topics and periods, from the Renaissance stage to minority literatures in contemporary Britain.

Come to the University of Reading to study a master's in English, we are ranked in the top 150 universities in the world for English Language and Literature in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, 2022.

The University of Reading is 6th in the UK for research outputs in English Language and Literature (Times Higher Education analysis of the latest Research Excellence Framework 2021 – English Language and Literature, when scoring by GPA Output).

We deploy our distinctive research strengths, and our world-leading literary collections, to produce a degree that embodies the best of contemporary, critical and archival work. The department’s research widely supports all the teaching on the MA, from Medieval to Contemporary Literature, including postcolonial and world literatures and creative writing.

You have the freedom to choose your own pathway through this programme. You’ll have access to our unique archives including the Archive of British Publishing and Printing and the world’s leading Samuel Beckett collection, and correspondence and other archival materials relating to James Joyce. 

You will receive detailed one-to-one guidance on your dissertation, which might be a creative writing portfolio, an edition of a Beckett manuscript, a fin de siècle project oriented around our Wilde collections, or a theoretically informed reading of diasporic fiction.

Overview

Our MA English Literature presents students with an exciting range of topics and periods, from the Renaissance stage to minority literatures in contemporary Britain.

Come to the University of Reading to study a master's in English, we are ranked in the top 150 universities in the world for English Language and Literature in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, 2022.

The University of Reading is 6th in the UK for research outputs in English Language and Literature (Times Higher Education analysis of the latest Research Excellence Framework 2021 – English Language and Literature, when scoring by GPA Output).

We deploy our distinctive research strengths, and our world-leading literary collections, to produce a degree that embodies the best of contemporary, critical and archival work. The department’s research widely supports all the teaching on the MA, from Medieval to Contemporary Literature, including postcolonial and world literatures and creative writing.

You have the freedom to choose your own pathway through this programme. You’ll have access to our unique archives including the Archive of British Publishing and Printing and the world’s leading Samuel Beckett collection, and correspondence and other archival materials relating to James Joyce. 

You will receive detailed one-to-one guidance on your dissertation, which might be a creative writing portfolio, an edition of a Beckett manuscript, a fin de siècle project oriented around our Wilde collections, or a theoretically informed reading of diasporic fiction.

Structure

  • Autumn term
  • Spring term
  • Summer term

Core module:

  • Materiality and Textuality
    Offers students training and guidance in research methods, including using and constructing bibliographies, locating manuscripts, editorial practices, and wider debates of copyright, over editing, and the archive.

Choose one from:

  • Early Modern Literature: Texts, Contexts and Methods
    Encourages students to read widely and to develop their own interests in the field of early modern literature and drama, with appropriate historical, literary and critical contexts.
  • Modern and Contemporary Literature
    Helps students to develop their own interests within the period from literary modernism to the present day. 

Please note that all modules are subject to change. Please see our modules disclaimer for more information.

Choose two from:

  • Eighteenth and Nineteenth-Century Literature 
    Explores literature from the eighteenth century to the fin de siècle. 
  • Modern Literary Feminisms: Theories/Praxis/Texts
    Explores modern feminist thinking and writing, whilst acknowledging the critical fissures inherent in the contested term ‘feminism’. Introduces aspects of feminist theory and praxis through a range of fictional and non-fictional sources.
  • Samuel Beckett
    Provides an in-depth study of the works and intellectual contexts of Samuel Beckett. Looks at a representative selection from his drama, prose, broadcast media, poetry and criticism; encourages students to use the University's extensive Beckett manuscript holdings.
  • Diasporas of the Mind: Minority Literature in Britain
    Brings together a diverse group of contemporary literary texts and cultural histories which cross racial, ethnic and national divides in Britain. Authors are read together with an eclectic group of critical theorists and cultural historians who attempt to rethink present-day identity politics.
  • Opening Up Medieval English Texts 
    Explores literature in English in and at the end of the Middle Ages. This period sees the revival and, indeed, reinvention of English as a literary vernacular, after several generations of domination by French.
  • Project Development
    Provides students with the opportunity to develop and reshape a creative writing project in a genre of their choice, as well as the chance to give and receive feedback within a seminar group. 
  • Publishing and the Business of Books
    Explores the place of the writer within the business of modern international publishing. Looks at modern writers’ interactions with publishers, editors, agents, and translators through critical reading, seminars, and practice-based workshops in Reading’s unique archives.

Please note that all modules are subject to change. Please see our modules disclaimer for more information.

Core module:

  • Dissertation
    Guides students in the research and writing of a dissertation of up to 15,000 words.

Please note that all modules are subject to change. Please see our modules disclaimer for more information.

Fees

New UK/Republic of Ireland students: £10,500

New international students: £21,350

Tuition fee information

The fees listed are for full-time study, unless otherwise stated. Fee information will be confirmed in offer letters sent out to successful applicants. You can find further information, including information for part-time study, through our dedicated fees and funding page.

EU student fees

With effect from 1 August 2021, new EU students will pay international tuition fees. For exceptions, please read the UK government’s guidance for EU students.

Additional costs

Some courses will require additional payments for field trips and extra resources. You will also need to budget for your accommodation and living costs. See our information on living costs for more details.

Financial support for your studies

You may be eligible for a scholarship or bursary to help pay for your study. Students from the UK may also be eligible for a student loan to help cover these costs. See our fees and funding information for more information on what's available.

Careers

Our students continue on to, or return to, careers in teaching, publishing, the media, the civil service, the charity sector and advertising, as well as going on to do PhD research. Students report that their careers are supported by the skills they have acquired on the MA English Literature in terms of not only subject expertise, but also critical thinking, reading closely and with advanced understanding, and writing well.

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What I enjoyed most about studying MA English was having the opportunity to explore and develop my own interests under the guidance of some of the best mentors. Modules such as ‘Materiality and Textuality’ enabled me to dive deep into the wonderful and exciting world that is the University’s Special Collections, while ‘Literary Feminisms’ allowed me to work with inspirational, like-minded students on a group project. 

Nour Baghat, MA Alumna

Related Subjects


  • English Literature

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