Study Creative Writing Oxford Summer Courses
Oxford has long been the inspiration of some of the world’s best known and most loved writers. From C.S. Lewis to J.R.R Tolkien and from Oscar Wilde to Percy Bysshe Shelley, all have come to the literary world from Oxford. Whether it is Lewis Carol’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland or Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, Oxford’s literary pedigree has been well established for centuries. Could there be a better place to try your hand at crafting your own literary masterpiece?
We offer a range of courses within creative writing for ages from 10 to 24 – take a look in more detail by exploring below.
Courses
At Oxford Summer Courses we are committed to the best academic experiences and to the personalised learning that has made Oxford a global academic force. So while all of our tutors are at the top of their fields depending on your age you'll be taught in slightly different ways. We use small group seminars to ensure that you get greater attention than you could elsewhere. On top of that if you're aged 16-17 or 18-24 then you'll receive weekly tutorials from leading academics mirroring the teaching method that makes Oxford a world-renowned university. Choose your Creative Writing course below:
18-24 years
- 2 and 4 weeks courses available
- Oxford/Cambridge University accommodation
- Tutorials & group seminars
- Breakfast & Dinner included
Our creative writing course for 18-24 year olds is ordinarily taught through four seminars and one tutorial per week, providing students with time to discuss their own writing in both groups and individually. In seminars you'll discuss the writing techniques of some of English literature's great authors, exploring elements such as how to hook your reader, the auditory imagination and the use of meter and rhyme within creative writing.
The topic of tutorials is decided in discussion between students and tutors, as this is an opportunity for students to develop and explore their interests with their tutor.
16-17 years
- 2 and 4 weeks courses available
- Oxford/Cambridge University accommodation
- Tutorials & group seminars
- Breakfast & Dinner included
Our tutors will introduce you to some of the techniques that many of the great literary giants have used in the past, encouraging you to write as much as possible so you return home with your own short stories or poetry. Not only that, but you will be surrounded by the colleges, buildings and landscapes that inspired some of your favourite writers - whether it is the Lamp-post from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe or the dining hall at Christ Church, used in the Harry Potter films as the Great Hall, there will doubtless be something here to inspire you.
Testimonials
Alizee Cordesse – Creative Writing student from 2015
Oxford Summer Courses was a unique experience for me: studying my favourite subject - creative writing - in the home of one of the most prestigious universities in the world is a huge opportunity. I could have seminars with a passionate tutor in a very small group (we were only two students) and we had to write a short story and a poem: difficult exercises but hugely satisfying and with so much constructive feedback and good advice from my tutor! We had also lot of freedom and could make so many discoveries: day-trips, concert, play, museums, (and punting!) and above all meeting people from all over the world. Moreover, all of the staff were so friendly and welcoming especially if we needed any help. In short, anyone who is interested in Creative Writing has to do it!
Staff
Dr Kieron Winn
Kieron Winn’s first collection of poetry, The Mortal Man, was published in 2015, and has been widely praised www.kieronwinn.com. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, where he was awarded a doctorate for a thesis on Herbert Read and T. S. Eliot. His poems have appeared in magazines including Agenda, Agni, The Dark Horse, Literary Imagination, The London Magazine, The New Criterion, New Statesman, Oxford Magazine, Poetry Review, The Rialto, The Spectator and The Times Literary Supplement. Selections of his poems have featured anthologies including Carcanet’s Oxford Poets 2007 and Waywiser’s Joining Music with Reason, and he has read his poems on BBC TV and radio. He has twice won, in 2007 and 2013, the University of Oxford’s most valuable literary award, the English Poem on a Sacred Subject Prize. He lives in Oxford, where he is a freelance teach
Henry Little
Henry Little is a prize-winning author and highly experienced teacher and tutor of English language and creative writing. Born in Oxford and educated at one of the country's leading schools, Magdalen College school, he then moved Bristol to complete a Joint Honours degree in English and Philosophy. He then received a poetry scholarship from the Arvon foundation (studying under Hugo Williams and Julia Copus) before returning to Oxford in 2011 to gain a spot on what was then the University's most competitive Master's course, the recently-founded Creative Writing MSt.
He has written and published across a range of genres, from food and wine (as a restaurant critic in London), to poetry, drama and prose. His theatrical Adaptation of Kafka's A Country Doctor was staged at Oxford's Burton Taylor Theatre in 2012. He now resides in Oxford where he balances tutoring with a move to becoming a full-time writer with the completion of his first major work.
Yolanda Barton
Yolanda Barton (M.A.; Postgraduate Certificate of Education) is a secondary school English teacher who qualified to teach in British state education in June 2016, through the University of Oxford. Previously, she took her Bachelor of Arts in English through the University of Nottingham, scoring a 2:1, and followed this with a Master of Arts in English, specialising in Norse and Viking Studies. She has previously taught English in the state system in South Korea and private schools in Taiwan, and is TESOL certified. Yolanda has worked as a proof-reader for Ulsan City Council in South Korea, where she also helped the Council compile a multilingual cookery book for the migrant spouses of locals. In the UK, she has worked as a proof-reader for the Open University, and as a moderator and contributor on an online group aiming to launch the careers of aspiring poets. She hopes to have her first novel published in the near future.
Prices and Dates
Select your Age Range
| Course Start Dates | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Courses – 10-12s | 01/07/2018 | 08/07/2018 | 15/07/2018 | 22/07/2018 | 29/07/2018 | 05/08/2018 |
| 1 Week – Wycombe Abbey | £1,495 | £1,495 | £1,495 | £1,495 | £1,495 | £1,495 |
| 2 Week – Wycombe Abbey | £2,795 | £2,795 | £2,795 | £2,795 | £2,795 | – |
| 3 Week – Wycombe Abbey | £3,995 | £3,995 | £3,995 | £3,995 | – | – |
| 4 Week – Wycombe Abbey | £5,195 | £5,195 | £5,195 | – | – | – |
| 5 Week – Wycombe Abbey | £6,295 | £6,295 | – | – | – | – |
| 6 Week – Wycombe Abbey | £7,395 | – | – | – | – | – |
Included in this price is:
- All Teaching, including small group seminars
- Accommodation
- All Meals, including lunch
- All Activities and Excursions
The price does not include flights/travel or medical insurance
| Course Start Dates | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Courses – 13-15 | 24/06/2018 | 01/07/2018 | 08/07/2018 | 15/07/2018 | 22/07/2018 | 29/07/2018 | 05/08/2018 | 12/08/2018 |
| 2 Weeks – Cambridge | FULL | £4,195 | FULL | £4,195 | £4,195 | – | – | – |
| 2 Weeks – Oxford – Standard (shared bathroom) | FULL | – | FULL | – | FULL | £4,195 | £4,195 | £4,195 |
| 2 Weeks – Oxford – En-suite (private bathroom) | FULL | FULL | FULL | – | FULL | – | – | – |
| 2 Weeks – London – Standard (shared bathroom) | – | £4,195 | – | £4,195 | – | – | – | – |
| 4 Weeks – Cambridge | FULL | £7,895 | FULL | – | – | – | – | – |
| 4 Weeks – Oxford – Standard (shared bathroom) | FULL | – | – | FULL | £7,895 | – | – | |
| 4 Weeks – Oxford – En-suite (private bathroom) | FULL | – | FULL | – | FULL | – | – | – |
| 4 Weeks – Oxford & Cambridge | FULL | – | FULL | FULL | £7,895 | – | – | – |
| 4 Weeks – London – Standard (shared bathroom) | – | £7,895 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Included in this price is:
- All Teaching, including small group seminars
- Accommodation and Breakfast, every day
- All Evening Meals, many at local restaurants along with lunch 3 times a week
- A three-course College Banquet, on Friday evening
- All Activities and Excursions
The price does not include flights/travel or medical insurance
| Course Start Dates | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Courses – 16-17 | 24/06/2018 | 01/07/2018 | 08/07/2018 | 15/07/2018 | 22/07/2018 | 29/07/2018 | 05/08/2018 | 12/08/2018 |
| 2 Weeks – Cambridge | – | £4,195 | £4,195 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2 Weeks – Oxford – Standard (shared bathroom) | FULL | £4,195 | FULL | – | £4,195 | £4,195 | £4,195 | £4,195 |
| 2 Weeks – Oxford – En-suite (private bathroom) | – | – | FULL | £4,395 | – | – | – | – |
| 2 Weeks – Oxford Christ Church – En-suite (private bathroom) | – | FULL | – | FULL | – | – | – | – |
| 2 Weeks – London – Standard (shared bathroom) | – | £4,195 | – | £4,195 | – | – | – | – |
| 4 Weeks – Cambridge | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 4 Weeks – Oxford – Standard (shared bathroom) | FULL | £7,895 | FULL | – | £7,895 | £7,895 | – | – |
| 4 Weeks – Oxford Christ Church – En-suite (private bathroom) | – | FULL | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 4 Weeks – Oxford & Cambridge | FULL | – | FULL | – | – | – | – | – |
| 4 Weeks – London – Standard (shared bathroom) | – | £7,895 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Included in this price is:
- All Teaching, including tutorials and small group seminars
- Accommodation and Breakfast, every day
- All Evening Meals, many at local restaurants
- A three-course College Banquet, on Friday evening
- All Activities and Excursions
The price does not include flights/travel or medical insurance
| Course Start Dates | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Courses – 18-24 | 24/06/2018 | 01/07/2018 | 08/07/2018 | 15/07/2018 | 22/07/2018 | 29/07/2018 | 05/08/2018 | 12/08/2018 |
| 2 Weeks – Cambridge | – | FULL | £4,195 | £4,195 | £4,195 | – | – | – |
| 2 Weeks – Oxford – Standard (shared bathroom) | FULL | £4,195 | FULL | – | £4,195 | £4,195 | £4,195 | £4,195 |
| 2 Weeks – Oxford – En-suite (private bathroom) | FULL | – | £4,395 | £4,395 | FULL | – | – | – |
| 2 Weeks – Oxford Christ Church – En-suite (private bathroom) | – | FULL | – | FULL | – | – | – | – |
| 2 Weeks – Oxford Christ Church – Standard (shared bathroom) | – | – | – | – | – | £4,195 | – | – |
| 4 Weeks – Cambridge | – | FULL | £7,895 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 4 Weeks – Oxford – Standard (shared bathroom) | FULL | £7,895 | FULL | – | £7,895 | £7,895 | – | – |
| 4 Weeks – Oxford – En-suite (private bathroom) | FULL | – | FULL | – | – | – | – | – |
| 4 Weeks – Oxford Christ Church – En-suite (private bathroom) | – | FULL | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 4 Weeks – Oxford & Cambridge | FULL | – | FULL | FULL | £7,895 | – | – | – |
Included in this price is:
- All Teaching, including tutorials and small group seminars
- Accommodation and Breakfast, every day
- All Evening Meals, many at local restaurants
- A three-course College Banquet, on Friday evening
- All Activities and Excursions
The price does not include flights/travel or medical insurance
Christ Church, the most magnificent college in Oxford was re-founded by King Henry VIII in the 16th century, it has educated 13 British Prime Ministers and was the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland but today it offers our students modern en-suite rooms in a grand setting.
If you stay at Christ Church this summer on either the 2nd or 16th July you’ll have:
- A superior quality en-suite room
- Breakfast in the same dining hall Harry Potter was filmed in each morning
- A special 4 course banquet each Friday in Christ Church’s magnificent banqueting hall
- A graduation ceremony in the Old Library which houses numerous historical artefacts including Cardinal Wolsey’s 16th century hat
If you are looking for a unique experience this grand setting offers our students a chance to live and study in a historical environment that has played host to inquiring minds for nearly 500 years.