UEA is recognised today as the home of Creative Writing across the globe. We innovated the teaching of the subject in Europe more than 50 years ago and have since trained countless award-winning writers, including Booker Prize winners (Ian McEwan and Anne Enright) and a Nobel Laureate for Literature (Kazuo Ishiguro).  

Participants join the wider Summer University at UEA's campus in Norwich, the City of Stories, to learn from experts in their fields, immersing in a world of storytelling. At the heart of this Summer School will be writing in and about place: exploring how Norfolk’s coastlines, countryside, waterways, towns and communities inspire stories, while opening up questions of belonging, ownership, access, power and environmental change. Through writing and close attention to the places around us, participants will discover how landscape can become a powerful source of creative inspiration and confidence for finding stories in place. 

Students will partake in a rich programme of seminars, lectures and workshops led by a diverse team of leading academics, published authors, and specialists in fiction, non-fiction and place-based writing, as well as inspiring site visits and self-directed writing sessions. Potential activities include a visit to Norwich Research Park, creative and performance workshops, translation/adaptation activities, nature writing in the Norfolk Broads, and a seminar and walk exploring W.G. Sebald’s The Rings of Saturn and the relationship between narrative, memory and place. 

Previous seminars and lectures have covered topics such as “Writing Inspired By Place,” “A Career in Writing,” and “Fiction in the age of AI.” UEA’s Summer Institute will culminate in a collaborative final creative project/performance, bringing together the different forms of narrative explored throughout the programme and allowing students to reflect on how narrative operates across academic disciplines and everyday life.