Taught masters

Strengthen your existing skills, develop new ones, and sharpen your focus on the aspects of literature that interest you most.

What can I study?

MSc in Creative Writing

Tailored towards your practice in either fiction or poetry, this taught Masters programme will help you develop your creative and critical skills in a supportive community of intelligent readers and acute listeners. As well as practical workshops, you’ll take creative practice seminars and option courses in literature, helping you move from theoretical considerations to practical applications. The programme culminates with the publication of ‘From Arthur’s Seat’, an anthology of student work.

Full-time, one year (all students)

Find out more and apply on the University of Edinburgh Degree Finder

MSc in Literature and Modernity: 1900 to the present

This taught Masters programme considers the ways literature since 1900 has sought to change and ‘modernise’ itself in the context of wider developments of modernity: historical, intellectual, culture, political and philosophical. It comprises core courses on modernist aesthetics and late modernism and beyond, two option courses drawn from a broad and fascinating field, and training in research methods. You will also complete a 60-credit dissertation.

Full-time, one year (all students) ꟾ part-time, two years (eligibility criteria apply)

Find out more and apply on the University of Edinburgh Degree Finder

MSc in Literature and Society: Enlightenment, Romantic & Victorian

This taught Masters programme explores the relationship between literary writing and political and social discourse in Britain and Ireland between the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688 and the end of the 19th century. It comprises core courses in Enlightenment and Romanticism (1688-1815) and Romanticism and Victorian Society (1815-1900), two option courses chosen from a wide range, and training in research methods. You will also complete a 60-credit dissertation.

Full-time, one year (all students) ꟾ part-time, two years (eligibility criteria apply)

Find out more and apply on the University of Edinburgh Degree Finder

MSc in Playwriting

This taught Masters programme is a highly practical and immersive introduction to the theatre scene in Edinburgh, Scotland and internationally. It focuses on the craft of writing for performance, and on how a script plays out in real space and time in front of an audience. You’ll be assessed through a combination of portfolio work, essays and your final dissertation - a 100 minute, full-length play (worth 60 credits). This will be written with the advice of the Programme Director - a professional playwright - and developed through intensive workshops and readings with a professional director and actors.

Full-time, one year (all students) ꟾ part-time, two years (eligibility criteria apply)

Find out more and apply on the University of Edinburgh Degree Finder

MSc in Comparative Literature

This cross-disciplinary taught Masters programme compares literary works from different languages and cultures. With expertise spanning the globe, our School can offer you courses in a wide range of literary themes, genres and historical periods, critical theory and translation, and the relationship of the written word to other arts. You will also take courses in theories and methods of literary study, and research skills and methods, and write a 60-credit dissertation.

Full-time, one year (all students) ꟾ part-time, two years (eligibility criteria apply)

Find out more and apply on the University of Edinburgh Degree Finder

MSc in Narrative Futures: Art, Data, Society

Taught at the ground-breaking Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI), this interdisciplinary MSc programme explores how narratives are being transformed in a variety of artistic domains and spheres of social life, and at the frontier of computational developments in artificial intelligence. Teaching combines hands-on creative and data skills development with research-led theoretical inquiry, and flexibility in online and on-campus study.

Full-time, one year (all students) ꟾ part-time, two/three years (eligibility criteria apply)

Find out more on the EFI website

MSc in Intermediality: Literature, Film and the Arts in Dialogue

This highly interdisciplinary taught Masters programme explores the interrelationships between different art forms and their signification. Combining core and optional courses, training in research skills, methods and problems, and a final project consisting of either a dissertation or a practice-based project with reflective essay, you will explore the interactions between media such as literature, film, photography, painting, music and theatre across different periods and cultures, from ancient Rome to contemporary China.

Full-time, one year (all students) ꟾ part-time, two years (eligibility criteria apply)

Find out more and apply on the University of Edinburgh Degree Finder

MSc in Translation Studies

With a wide range of languages offered, and the opportunity to focus on two languages in addition to English, this taught Masters programme will enhance your practical skills in and theoretical understanding of translation. You’ll take two core courses, two practical translation courses, two option courses chosen from a range of subjects, and complete a dissertation of 15,000 words. The University of Edinburgh is an official Higher Education Language Partner of the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL) and a member of the RWS Campus - Trados Academic Partner Program.

Full-time, one year (all students) ꟾ part-time, two years (eligibility criteria apply)

Find out more and apply on the University of Edinburgh Degree Finder

Entrance requirements, fees, funding and more...

You can find out about entrance requirements, start dates, fees and scholarship opportunities for all these taught masters programmes on the University of Edinburgh’s Degree Finder. Degree Finder links straight through to EUCLID, the online system for applying to postgraduate programmes at the University.

Applications to start a taught masters programme in September 2025 are now open.

Find out more on the University of Edinburgh Degree Finder

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

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