Students will develop critical reading and writing skills that may be used in a variety of careers and professions, such as journalism, theatre writing and script writing. Graduates may also go on to become writers of fiction, non-fiction and poetry.

Semester 1

• Core Course: Working Concepts in Creative Writing (compulsory)
• Long essay (compulsory, submit at the end of the year)
• Writing for Performance
• The ABC of Travel Writing
• The Story of Money
• Various literature courses (compulsory to do ONE literature course in either semester)

Semester 2

• Creative Writing for Journalists
• Feature Writing
• Writing: Theory and Praxis
• Writing IVB: Writing for Performance
• Writing Immersion: Special Topic in Creative Writing
• Writing Poetry
• Selected Topic in Journalism: Narrative Non-Fiction in South Africa
• Image and Text
• Literature for Writers
• Various literature courses (compulsory to do ONE literature course in either semester)

To be admitted to the degree programme, you will need:

• A BA degree in literature, languages or a cognate discipline, with a minimum of 65% average in the final year, or 65% average across literary, writing and cognate course praxis.
• A portfolio of unpublished creative writing – to be submitted by 15 September to: phillippa.devilliers@wits.ac.za along with a detailed CV and covering letter.

All applicants should submit a portfolio of creative work to Phillippa Yaa de Villiers: phillippa.devilliers@wits.ac.za, comprising twenty pages (1.5 spacing, 12 pt) of any combination of the following:

• Part of an unpublished creative prose manuscript (fiction or non-fiction).
• A selection of short stories.
• A selection of creative non-fiction essays.
• A selection of poems.

• Students wishing to take the poetry course MUST submit at least twelve poems as well as eight or more pages of prose. Students who will not be doing the poetry course may submit poetry in their portfolio, but at least fifteen pages of the portfolio must be prose.
• The portfolio should be accompanied by a covering letter explaining your reasons for applying to this programme, the extent of your own reading of creative work, and what you hope to achieve in this course.
• DO NOT submit academic essays written for your degree courses. DO NOT submit newspaper articles, press releases or public relations biographies.
• The portfolio should demonstrate a high degree of writing competency, a commitment to wide and varied reading and an interest in using language creatively.

Click here to see the current average tuition fees. The Fees site also provides information about the payment of fees and closing dates for fees payments. Once you have applied you will be able to access the fees estimator on the student self-service portal.

For information about postgraduate funding opportunities, including the postgraduate merit award, click here. Please also check your School website for bursary opportunities. NRF bursaries: The National Research Foundation (NRF) offers a wide range of opportunities in terms of bursaries and fellowships to students pursuing postgraduate studies. External bursaries portal: The Bursaries South Africa website provides a comprehensive list of bursaries in South Africa.