Creative Writing and Criminology BA (Hons) (with Foundation Year)

CREATIVE WRITING

Liverpool is a city of poets and storytellers so the perfect location to study creative writing. Merseyside has a distinctive literary culture and at Liverpool Hope you are taught by writers, poets and academics with strong connections to the local writing community and international recognition for their work.

Creative Writing at Liverpool Hope will give you the chance to experience the joys of crafting the written word. The degree focuses on developing you as a writer of poetry and prose (fiction and creative nonfiction), across the broad field of literature (poems, short stories, novels, reflective and critical essays). Professional writing - reviews, blogs and articles for different kinds of media, including how to operate in today’s marketplaces - is also studied. Our focus on creativity and employability means you will be able to produce engaging, innovative and marketable texts.

By studying Creative Writing, you will be empowered with an enhanced command of your craft, increased confidence in expressing your thoughts and emotions, an understanding of the values that inform your writing practice, and the technical skillset to deliver your work to various audiences. Your writing will be enhanced by studying under leading published writers and academics, and you will develop a range of workplace skills to prepare for fulfilling careers.

The degree will often challenge you and ask you to reach beyond your own experience and interests into those of contemporary and historical communities. Using these as creative stimuli, you will be required to reflect upon social contexts, power, and how truth and justice can be communicated or miscommunicated through creative writing. By the end of the degree, you should have a wide appreciation of forms, genres and applications. Included in the degree are field trips which provide material for writing exercises as well as widening your student experience.

Lecturers are all practising writers, poets and academics and will include you in their working lives as writers whether this is book launches, public readings and festivals or writing workshops in the community. You will have the opportunity to read your work at open mics on campus and in the city, present at city cultural events or publish in the two literary magazines run by Liverpool Hope students and postgraduates.

Hear from one of our Creative Writing students.

CRIMINOLOGY

Crime and society's response are key issues today. Criminology looks at why crime happens, its effects, and how we can prevent it. At Liverpool Hope University, you'll explore how crime is defined. You'll learn who makes these decisions and why people commit crimes. You'll also study what happens in the criminal justice system.

You’ll also learn about important institutions like the police, courts, prisons, probation services, and government bodies such as the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office. The degree prompts you to think about big questions. Is criminal behavior learned or inherited? Why are some actions criminalized and others not? Does punishment really reduce crime?

Criminology at Liverpool Hope is a respected course taught by experienced staff. They are dedicated to helping you excel in a vibrant learning environment. The course focuses on justice—its delivery, access, and fairness—reflecting the university’s commitment to social justice locally and globally.