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ENG-20112 - Module Specification
School of Humanities
Faculty of Business, Law, Humanities & Social Sciences

For academic year: 2026/27 Last Updated: 17 March 2026

ENG-20112 - Local Literature in Action
Coordinator: Ceri Morgan Room: CBB0.055 Tel: +44 1782 7 34076
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 5
Credits: 15
Study Hours: 150
School Office: 01782 733147

Programme/Approved Electives for 2026/27

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2026/27

This module reflects on what writing can do in the world. It develops your place-writing skills, supporting you to create vivid settings that are closer to home (Stoke or elsewhere). It thinks about form, genre, and voice (regional/global Englishes). Building on writing’s capacity to shape and reshape people’s lived experiences of cities, towns and regions, the module includes practical training to equip you with the skills to conceive and plan your own ways of working with communities outside university.    

Aims
To equip students with an understanding of local literature.
To introduce students to practical, real-world applications of English Studies (literature and Creative Writing).
To give students an opportunity to conceive and devise a real-world public engagement activity in English literary studies or creative writing.
To introduce students to key issues, theoretical approaches, ethical requirements, and best practice relevant to arts-based public engagement and participatory research.
To develop critical, analytical and problem based learning skills, including: independent active learning; communication, numeracy, time management, self management, skills for team working and/or collaboration, adaptability.
To enable students to explore the processes of writing original work.
To provide students with an understanding and experience of writers' workshops and the giving and receiving of critical feedback among peers.

Intended Learning Outcomes

analyse past and present literary ecologies in the Potteries region: 1
develop research skills through the exploration and deployment of a range of media (codex, digitised material, internet sources, etc): 1,2
utilise a range of approaches within literary criticism and theory (literary urban studies, deindustrialisation studies, etc) based on the study of primary material and secondary sources: 1
formulate critical arguments or creative writing texts (poetry or prose) that reflect on and respond to published Potteries literary texts, demonstrating awareness of how texts are constructed.: 1
acquire knowledge of the contexts of their reading and writing: literary, sociocultural, and personal: 1,2
acquire knowledge, skills and understanding of ethical practice, arts citizenship, and 'practice research': 2

Study hours

Workshops (in situ) - 14 hours
Training (in situ) - 10
Directed learning and individual consultation - 2 hours
Preparation for workshops - 44 hours
Completing assessment 1 - 40 hours
Completing assessment 2 - 40 hours

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Portfolio weighted 60%
A 1300-word essay (+/- 10%) or creative writing portfolio
Students will choose 1 option from the below (A or B) A. Students will choose 1 question from a list of 4-6. The question will require them to analyse a literary text on the module, adopting the research methods of close reading and application of secondary criticism and/or theory (1100 words +/- 10%). B. Students will write a portfolio, comprising poetry and/or creative prose (fiction, creative nonfiction). The portfolio may be 1100 (+/- 10%) words of prose, an equivalent quantity of poetry, or a mixture of the poetry and prose. 500 words of prose is the equivalent of 1 poem.

2: Creative Brief weighted 40%
Public engagement activity description and workplan: 1000 words (+/- 10%)
1 x creative brief comprising: 1) a summary of the proposed public engagement activity written in accessible language (language that will be understood by a broad audience). 2) a reflective commentary that situates the public engagement activity in relation to: a) set reading on the module, and b) the particular geographical and sociocultural contexts for which the activity is designed, considering 1-2 potential impacts (e.g. place-making, community memory and identity) of the activity. 3) a workplan setting out key milestones for the project, which demonstrates feasibility, engagement with best practice models (e.g. via opportunities for community review) and adaptability (e.g. via alternative delivery forms, contingency plan).

The University undertakes a continuous review of its teaching and research provision to ensure programmes are of a high quality and changes may be made to modules where it is necessary and reasonable to do so. Please be aware that minor changes to modules, such as a change to an individual assessment, can occur up until enrolment, although we endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes. Details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/legalgovernancecompliance/governance/actcharterstatutesordinancesandregulations/studenttermsconditions/

Last Updated: 17 March 2026