Literary and Creative Studies
School of Music, English and Theatre
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MA Black British Literature
MA Creative & Life Writing
MA Creative Writing and Education
Learning
Our teaching staff of celebrated writers and scholars and are ready to support you and your work.
We are novelists, poets, dramaturgs and cutting-edge researchers working across:
- Gender studies
- Environmental humanities
- Caribbean literature and drama
- Linguistics
- Shakespeare studies
- Pan-African performance rituals
- American studies
- Translation studies
- Postcolonial studies
- Decadence
- Trauma studies
- Critical theory
- Life writing
- Romantic and Victorian literature
We challenge you to read literature, drama and critical writing in all their cultural, artistic, and political contexts.
Our perspective is global: you can travel across histories, cultures and languages, and explore evolving genres such as as epic, tragedy and the novel, and a range of forms including indigenous performance traditions, contemporary writing for the stage and socially-engaged practice.
The Writers’ Centre hosts regular talks from upcoming and established authors and poets such as Joe Dunthorne, Nick Makoha, Eley Williams, Rebecca Watson, Evie Wyld, and Daljit Nagra.
Events centred around the Goldsmiths Prize, the distinguished annual literary prize founded by Goldsmiths, include the recent The Future of the Novel, readings from shortlisted authors, and an annual lecture (to be given in 2025 by Geoff Dyer).
We are home to the African Theatre Association and its bi-annual journal, African Performance Review, and host the Association’s annual conference.
The Centre for Caribbean and Diaspora Studies has brought members of the public into Goldsmiths and has taken Centre staff out into the local, national and international communities. Public events have included Abolition Songs and its Legacies and Imoinda Speaks: Authorising the enslaved Black Woman After Aphra Behn.
Many of our graduates are now leading writers and editors in their field. Professions include publishing, journalism, public relations, teaching, advertising, theatre producing and programming, the civil service, human resources, and the creative economy.
Our recent graduates now work as publishing assistants, writers, theatre producers, English tutors, youth engagement officers, facilitators, theatre critics and marketing executives. Their employers include DAZED, Hackney Citizen, Citywire, Battersea Arts Centre, Radio 1 and Theatre Royal Haymarket.
At Goldsmiths, you’ll immerse yourself in a subject you love within a welcoming and creative campus community.
Based in South East London, our vibrant setting connects you directly to the capital’s business, technology, and cultural networks. Your learning goes far beyond the classroom through partnerships, guest lectures, and real-world industry experience.
You’ll be supported by inspiring academics, dedicated staff, and fellow students who are passionate about making a difference. And because we’re in London – ranked the world’s number one student city (QS Best Student Cities 2025) – you’ll benefit from our close links with some of the capital’s leading creative and cultural organisations.
Discover the campus for yourself with our Virtual Tour.
You'll have access to specialist software, online learning platforms, and dedicated support for developing digital and entrepreneurial skills. Campus-wide services, including the Library, Careers Service, and Goldsmiths’ Digital Studios, provide additional training and resources for content production and communication.
Teaching
Our teaching staff of celebrated writers and scholars and are ready to support you and your work.
We are novelists, poets, dramaturgs and cutting-edge researchers working across:
- Gender studies
- Environmental humanities
- Caribbean literature and drama
- Linguistics
- Shakespeare studies
- Pan-African performance rituals
- American studies
- Translation studies
- Postcolonial studies
- Decadence
- Trauma studies
- Critical theory
- Life writing
- Romantic and Victorian literature
We challenge you to read literature, drama and critical writing in all their cultural, artistic, and political contexts.
Our perspective is global: you can travel across histories, cultures and languages, and explore evolving genres such as as epic, tragedy and the novel, and a range of forms including indigenous performance traditions, contemporary writing for the stage and socially-engaged practice.
Events and guest speakers
The Writers’ Centre hosts regular talks from upcoming and established authors and poets such as Joe Dunthorne, Nick Makoha, Eley Williams, Rebecca Watson, Evie Wyld, and Daljit Nagra.
Events centred around the Goldsmiths Prize, the distinguished annual literary prize founded by Goldsmiths, include the recent The Future of the Novel, readings from shortlisted authors, and an annual lecture (to be given in 2025 by Geoff Dyer).
We are home to the African Theatre Association and its bi-annual journal, African Performance Review, and host the Association’s annual conference.
The Centre for Caribbean and Diaspora Studies has brought members of the public into Goldsmiths and has taken Centre staff out into the local, national and international communities. Public events have included Abolition Songs and its Legacies and Imoinda Speaks: Authorising the enslaved Black Woman After Aphra Behn.
Career development
Many of our graduates are now leading writers and editors in their field. Professions include publishing, journalism, public relations, teaching, advertising, theatre producing and programming, the civil service, human resources, and the creative economy.
Our recent graduates now work as publishing assistants, writers, theatre producers, English tutors, youth engagement officers, facilitators, theatre critics and marketing executives. Their employers include DAZED, Hackney Citizen, Citywire, Battersea Arts Centre, Radio 1 and Theatre Royal Haymarket.
Study with us
At Goldsmiths, you’ll immerse yourself in a subject you love within a welcoming and creative campus community.
Based in South East London, our vibrant setting connects you directly to the capital’s business, technology, and cultural networks. Your learning goes far beyond the classroom through partnerships, guest lectures, and real-world industry experience.
You’ll be supported by inspiring academics, dedicated staff, and fellow students who are passionate about making a difference. And because we’re in London – ranked the world’s number one student city (QS Best Student Cities 2025) – you’ll benefit from our close links with some of the capital’s leading creative and cultural organisations.
Discover the campus for yourself with our Virtual Tour.
Facilities
You'll have access to specialist software, online learning platforms, and dedicated support for developing digital and entrepreneurial skills. Campus-wide services, including the Library, Careers Service, and Goldsmiths’ Digital Studios, provide additional training and resources for content production and communication.
Research
Literary and Creative Studies draws on research synergies between a number of different but inter-related specialisms.
We interrogate the writing of the past and present and support the literature of the future.
The school includes nationally and internationally acclaimed poets, novelists and essayists for whom creative practice is research and scholars of literature across cultures, disciplines and eras.
We are home to The Goldsmiths Writers' Centre, which encourages new writing and stimulates debate.
Research in English and Creative Writing
Our specialisms
- Creative Writing
- Nineteenth-Century Literature
- Decadence Studies
- American Literary and Cultural Studies
- Contemporary Literary Studies
- Caribbean and Diasporic Literatures
- Black British Literature Shakespeare
- Early Modern Studies
- Philosophy and Critical Theory
Meet the academics, practice tutors and researchers in the school of Music, English and Theatre.