English and Creative Writing

The English and Creative Writing major rests on the idea of the importance of literature and writing as vibrant and evolving cultural practices.

You will focus on the global significance of text as a literary form, broadly understood to include all its variants - from the short story to the sonnet, from the blog to the bildungsroman, and from pastoral to performance poetry.

Understanding the intimate relationship between the literary and the creative, you’ll get to study English literature while developing knowledge and skill in critical and creative reflection and writing practice. Therefore, you will be required to read, view, listen and write critically, professionally and creatively in response to a wide range of written, visual and other texts.

3 reasons to study English and Creative Writing at Murdoch

1. Attend regular student forums to share and receive feedback from your peers and teachers on your creative and critical work-in-progress.
2. Study at a university rated five-star for student support and both undergraduate and postgraduate level by the Good Universities Guide 2026.
3. Showcase your creative work through local, national or even global competitions. Our students have had their writing published and gone on to work in writing and publishing fields.

What you’ll learn

Build the knowledge and skills you need to meet your career or study goals. In this major you will:

• Build an extensive knowledge of a broad range of texts – literary, public, performative – from the Renaissance to the present day.
• Work to identify how texts function aesthetically, socially and politically in everyday life and as culturally specific forms of creative fiction and non-fiction writing and literature.

Your future career

When you graduate you could become an author or editor and will be well prepared for employment in advertising, design, teaching, public administration, journalism, publishing, computer arts, and many fields of business. Careers could include:

• Copywriter
• Editor
• Journalist
• Arts Administrator
• Professional Writer

The industries you could work in include the arts, publishing, communications, government or even working for yourself as a freelancer.