The Publishing Project

• Credit value: 15 credits at Level 6
• Convenor: Dr Stephen Willey
• Assessment: a portfolio documenting the organisation of a live performance event, consisting of: a promotional flyer/poster; a 500-word report on a contemporary literary journal or live event; editing of a piece of fiction, non-fiction or poetry written by a fellow student; and one piece of ephemera (e.g. a photograph, note, memory or recording) documented at the event (100%)

In this module you will develop an understanding of the publishing process, the publishing industry, and the skills and knowledge you will need to pursue a career in publishing.

Indicative syllabus

• The historical and contemporary significance of the literary event and the literary publication
• The art of promotion: designing flyers; requesting submissions; new media and the internet  
• The substance of literary journals and their publishing processes, including: organisation of submissions, editorial boards, production scheduling, content and copyediting, design and layout, publicity and promotion
• The creative decisions involved in curating, promoting, staging and documenting a live literary event

By the end of this module, you will have gained:

• knowledge and understanding of the various forms and genres of creative writing and the different techniques and processes they employ
• the ability to gather, sift, select, organise and synthesise evidence and subject matter
• the ability to choose appropriate subjects and to write about them, and to edit, develop and extend a piece of work
• analytical ability, and the capacity to consider and solve complex problems orally, verbally and in practice
• skills of interpretation, self-evaluation and the communication of constructive feedback
• confidence and skill in sustaining and developing a creative project as part of an editorial board
• skills of copyediting and proofreading
• an awareness of the role and history of literary journals and their relationship to you as writers and practitioners
• an awareness of how contemporary literary journals are run and organised in the UK.