Creative Writing, Major (0005)

  • Western Sydney University Major Code: 0005

Previous Code: M1113.1

Available to students in other Western Sydney University Programs:  Yes.  Check that your program has the available credit points required to complete the subjects in this field of study. Any requisite requirements must also be met. Consult your Program Advisor for further advice.

The Creative Writing major provides students the opportunity to produce their own creative writing and to edit and publish their work. Students study with professional authors, editors and publishers from the Writing and Society Research Centre and staff from the School of Humanities and Communication Arts. In addition, students have the opportunity to study contemporary approaches to language and literary studies, including literary criticism and theory, linguistic analysis, genre and textual study, and to read and examine a wide selection of modern and classic literatures. Career prospects include publishing, editing, teaching, writing and advertising.

Location

Campus Mode Advice
Parramatta Campus - Victoria Road Internal EnquiriesHCA@westernsydney.edu.au

Major Structure

Students must successfully complete 80 credit points as follows.

Please note all Bachelor of Arts students including Pathways to Teaching, Dean’s Scholars and double degrees must complete the structure under the heading Bachelor of Arts.

Please note all Bachelor of Creative Industries students including double degrees must complete the structure under the heading Bachelor of Creative Industries.

This major is available to students in other Western Sydney University programs. If the major is available on your campus, the program structure allows space for enrolment in the major and pre-requisite requirements can be met, please follow the structure under the heading Bachelor of Arts. Consult your Program Advisor for further advice.

Note: Not all subjects will be offered each year. Subjects will be offered on a rotational basis.

Bachelor of Arts Students

Subject Title Credit Points
Compulsory Subjects
COMM 1009Creative Writing: Practical Skills and Knowledge10
COMM 1010Creative Writing: The Imaginative Life10
LANG 2056Writing Industries10
COMM 3043Writing Portfolio10
Total Credit Points40

Bachelor of Creative Industries Students

Creative Industries students must complete their Introduction to major subject as part of the core requirements of the program, prior to enrolling in this major.

Subject Title Credit Points
COMM 1010Creative Writing: The Imaginative Life10

Creative Industry students must complete the three compulsory subjects below and must complete five subjects from the Level 2 / Level 3 subject pool with a minimum of 2 subjects at Level 3. See below.

Subject Title Credit Points
Compulsory Subjects
COMM 1009Creative Writing: Practical Skills and Knowledge10
LANG 2056Writing Industries10
COMM 3043Writing Portfolio10
Total Credit Points30

Pool Subjects

Bachelor of Arts students must complete four subjects from the list below, with a minimum of two subjects at Level 3. Bachelor of Creative Industries students must complete five subjects from the list below, with a minimum of two subjects at Level 3.

Note: Not all subjects will be offered each year. Subjects will be offered on a rotational basis.

Level 2 Subject Pool

Subject Title Credit Points
COMM 2016Experimental Writing and Electronic Publication10
LANG 2033Literature and Decolonisation10
LANG 2050Medieval and Early Modern Literature10
LANG 2036Modern Australian Poetry and Poetics10
HUMN 2044Representing Everyday Life in Literary and Visual Cultures10
LANG 2039Sexual/Textual Politics in Victorian Women's Writing10
LANG 2044The Gothic10
LANG 2048Working Grammar10
LANG 2051Writing and Reading Sci-Fi and Fantasy10
COMM 2043Writing Fiction10

Level 3 Subject Pool (choose at least two)

Subject Title Credit Points
LANG 300119th Century American Literature10
LANG 300220th Century American Literature10
COMM 3005Australian Textual Studies10
LANG 3019Children's and Young Adult Fiction10
LANG 3018Children's Literature: Image and Text10
LANG 3100Comedy and Tragedy: Dramas of Death and Rebirth10
LANG 3069Contemporary Irish Writing10
LANG 3027Creative Non-Fiction10
COMM 3013Creative Writing Project10
LANG 3028Crime Fiction10
LANG 3033Film and Drama10
LANG 3050Introduction to Stylistics10
LANG 3059Law, Literature and Culture10
LANG 3061Literary Animals10
CART 3001Modernism10
LANG 3066Postcolonial Literatures: Partition, Dependence and Exile10
LANG 3068Race in Literature10
CULT 3020Representing Crime10
LANG 3072Short Fiction in the Americas10
LANG 3086The Novel10
LANG 3087Women's Writing10
LANG 3089World Literature in Translation10
LANG 3091Writing and Society10
COMM 3041Writing For Performance10
COMM 3042Writing Poetry10

Equivalent Subjects

The subjects listed below count towards completion of this Major for students who passed these subjects in 2019 or earlier.

LANG 3064 - Literatures of Decolonisation, no longer offered
BEHV 3013 - Humanities Internship, no longer offered as part of this major
PERF 2024 - The Musical, no longer offered
LANG 2042 - Studies in Postcolonial Literature, replaced by LANG 3066 Postcolonial Literatures: Partition, Dependence and Exile
LANG 3092 - The Space of Literature, no longer offered
LANG 3088 - Women, Travel and Empire, no longer offered
LANG 3090 - Writing and Reading Sci Fi and Fantasy, replaced by LANG 2051 Writing and Reading Sci-Fi and Fantasy

The subject listed below counts towards completion of this Major for students who passed this subject in 2021 or earlier.

COMM 2014 - Editing and Publishing, replaced by LANG 2056 Writing Industries

Note: the Level 3 subject BEHV 3013 Humanities Internship cannot count towards completion of SM1129 English Teaching Specialisation (Birth-5/Birth-12) or M1126 Education Studies Major - Primary English Teaching Specialisation for students enrolled in programs 1708 Bachelor of Arts (Pathway to Teaching Birth - 5/Birth - 12), 1651 Bachelor of Arts (Pathway to Teaching Primary), 1822 Bachelor of Arts (Pathway to Teaching Primary) Dean's Scholars, 6017 Diploma in Arts/Bachelor of Arts (Pathway to Teaching Birth-5/Birth-12), 6019 Diploma in Arts/Bachelor of Arts (Pathway to Teaching Primary), as this would not satisfy the professional accreditation requirements for NESA.