MA Poetic Practice

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Click to view main RHUL course catalogue entry for MA in Poetic Practice.|

The MA in Poetic Practice is a unique, practice-based course that draws upon the Department of English’s expertise in contemporary experimental poetry and writing within an expanded field of creative practice.

MAPoeticPracticeImageStudents will be immersed in poetry and poetic production for the 21st Century. You will cultivate your own creative practice within the context of current experimental poetic practice and related developments in visual and performing arts, new media and contemporary theory. You will study innovative poetries by writers from the UK and North America and consider how contemporary poetry and poetics intersect with such fields as conceptual art writing, sound art, live art, digital poetics, book arts, video art, installed texts and writing in relation to site. You will produce your own writing and gain skills in writing for a range of contemporary contexts and environments. In addition, all students undertake a practical work project and a dissertation which contextualises their own practice. 

All teaching takes place at our Bedford Square site in central London where, in addition to seminar rooms, there is a dedicated MA Poetic Practice room fully equipped with computers and dedicated audio-visual equipment for the development of new work.  Students are encouraged to attend the TALKS lecture series hosted by Professor Robert Hampson in conjunction with the Centre for Contemporary Poetics Research at Birkbeck.   Students are also encouraged to attend and often invited to present at the monthly POLYply| performance series, which is programmed by staff who teach on the MA.

Course Directors

Dr. Redell Olsen (redell.olsenrhul.ac.uk|)
Prof. Robert Hampson (r.hampsonrhul.ac.uk|)

Contact for More Information

Marina Mohideen-Moore
Postgraduate Programmes Administrator
Lisa.Dacunharhul.ac.uk|

Telephone: +44 (0)1784 443214/5
Fax: +44 (0)1784 276246

EN5901 - Poetic Practice

This taught course unit involves the study of contemporary UK and North American experimental poetic practice and foregrounds the development of the student's own poetic practice in response to this context.

EN5902 - Contemporary Technologies of Writing

This taught course unit involves the study and practice of contemporary poetry and writing in an expanded field, with students cultivating their own creative practice in relation to developments in the visual arts, new media, sound art, site-related work and performance.

EN5903 - Practical Work Project

This independent-study course unit involves the support and development of students’ own poetic practice leading to a large-scale, independent project responding creatively to relevant critical, theoretical and contextual research in the field of poetic practice.

EN5904 - Dissertation

The dissertation consists of critical reflection on the practice of the Final Work Project, situating the project theoretically and historically in relation to contemporary poetic practice as well as the wider contexts studied on the course.

EN5001 - Methods and Materials of Research

Methods and Materials of Research: This course unit is designed to introduce some of the key skills required for graduate work as well as to inform students about library and computing resources. This work is examined by a Pass/Fail examination.
Schedule

Teaching is mainly by weekly two-hour seminars during the first and second terms. Seminars are currently timetabled 5:00pm till 7:00pm on Tuesday and Wednesday to permit part-time students in employment to attend. Students develop a practical work project during the remaining part of the programme. Teaching is in central London.

As part of the course, students also attend the Department's research seminars as well as the TALKS series organised by Professor Hampson and the POLYply| event series organised by members of the Poetics Research Group| seminars at the CES, IUSS and other central London locations. 

A minimum of a 2:1 UK honours degree in Single Honours English, Fine Art, History of Art or Combined Honours English or overseas equivalent. 

Students should possess a familiarity with at least some of the following areas: contemporary literature and theory, the visual arts and theory, the practices of literary study.  All applicants will be requested to submit a portfolio of their creative work.  Overseas applicants will be interviewed by email: a portfolio of creative work will be required with the application.

Candidates with professional qualifications and relevant experience in an associated area or with relevant publications will be considered. Non-standard applicants are considered on their merits, but ability to follow the course depends on a degree of familiarity with contemporary literature and with the practices of literary study.

Course Teachers

Past students

Students from the MA Poetic Practice have been highly successful in gaining recognition for the work that they have produced on the course. They include:

Each student is examined in elements (1), (2), (3), and (4) of the programme. Element (5) is not examined. There are no traditional examination papers. Instead, each course in elements (1) and (2) is examined by a portfolio of work, which comprises four projects and relevant methodologies. In addition, students are required to write a dissertation of 12,000-15,000 words (excluding bibliography and appendices) on an approved topic related their practice and its contextualisation, to be submitted at the end of the year's study. Part-time students submit the dissertation at the end of their second year.

 
 
 

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