Accessibility statement

Ekphrasis - CED00055C

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  • Department: Centre for Lifelong Learning
  • Module co-ordinator: Dr. Lucy Cheseldine
  • Credit value: 10 credits
  • Credit level: C
  • Academic year of delivery: 2022-23

Module summary

Through Ekphrasis (which is loosely translated as ‘the dramatic description of a visual work of art’) this module uses artistic, historic, and domestic culture as a means of kick-starting the creative writing process. Participants will partake in a series of classroom-based sessions which will foster the written and spoken word as well as encourage interaction with material objects. They will also have the option to carry out independent visits to local galleries and museums for research and inspiration. Throughout the module, creative writing techniques will be taught against a rich literary background of published writers which students will read closely and seek to draw ideas, craft, and motivation from. Thus in thought and practice, the aim of this module is to explore how other art forms and the object world relate to writing itself.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Summer Term 2022-23

Module aims

  • To introduce students to a range of writing forms through engagement with a variety of arts.
  • To facilitate an understanding of the main characteristics of the various forms.
  • To encourage appreciation and enthusiasm for the written and the spoken word.
  • To encourage students to write creatively and appropriately within the forms.
  • To begin to develop students’ abilities in using language precisely in their imaginative writing.
  • To begin to develop students’ abilities to critically evaluate their own writing and that of their fellow students.
  • To begin to develop students’ confidence in their writing abilities.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module the student should:

  • Begin to understand a range of techniques and conventions found in the various forms of imaginative writing.
  • Have improved their writing abilities with regard to clarity and precision.
  • Be able to use the appropriate, relevant narrative or poetic techniques within the field they are writing in.
  • Have developed more confidence in their writing abilities.

Indicative assessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Essay/Coursework		 N/A 100

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Essay/Coursework		 N/A 100

Module feedback

The tutor will give regular individual verbal and written feedback throughout the module on work submitted.

The assessment feedback is as per the university’s guidelines with regard to timings.

Indicative reading

Cheeke, S Writing for Art: The aesthetics of ekphrasis (Manchester University Press, 2008)

Heffernan, JAW Museum of Words: The Poetics of Ekphrasis from Homer to Ashbery (Chicago, 2004)

Bell, J & Magrs P The Creative Writing Coursebook (Macmillan, 2001)

Byatt, A S The Oxford Book of English Short Stories (Oxford, 1999, 2002)


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University constantly explores ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary. In some instances it may be appropriate for the University to notify and consult with affected students about module changes in accordance with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.