Hong Kong’s groundbreaking MFA in Creative Writing: discover your creative identity, sharpen your craft, and explore writing across genres, cultures, and languages.

Opens from September 25, 2025.

For latest admission information, please visit the Admissions Office, Registry’s website at:

https://portal.hku.hk/tpg-admissions/programme-listing

For links to application documents, please visit:
https://portal.hku.hk/tpg-admissions/programme-details?programme=master-of-fine-arts-in-the-field-of-creative-writing-in-english-arts&mode=0

DEADLINEs FOR APPLICATION

Round 1: 12:00 noon (GMT +8), November 28, 2025

Round 2: 12:00 noon (GMT +8), March 20, 2026

2026-27: HKD$307,800 per annum (Composition fee)

Candidates who have accepted a conditional offer will be asked to pay the 1st instalment of tuition fees.

***Once you have paid the initial deposit to secure your place on the programme, please note that it is NOT transferable to other MA Programmes at HKU or refundable in any way.***

The Master of Fine Arts in the field of Creative Writing in English is offered full-time over one year, designed to foster creativity that transcends boundaries between genres, cultures, and languages.

The programme consists of 60 credits, including two compulsory 6-credit courses, two compulsory 9-credit courses, three elective 6-credit courses, and a 12-credit Capstone Experience. Courses in the programme feature foundation courses, workshops, seminar discussions, experiential learning activities in the Black Box Studio, as well as sustained Individual Advising for each writer. Each of these courses will contribute to the writer’s own vision and culminating Creative Dissertation, while emphasising the rigorous coursework, readings and studies needed to realise it.

On successful completion of the Master of Fine Arts in the field of Creative Writing in English programme, students should be able to:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of history and contemporary practices in the field of creative writing and point of view, with a focus in the field of the multilingual and global creative writer.
2. Analyze with critical and creative skills in the practices of creative perspective and communications internationally, across contemporary and fluid developments of genre and multimedia platforms.
3. Analyze the problems and productive junctures of period and craft in the field of creative writing and design, along with the identifying major and pivotal moments in language practices and communications for the creative writer.
4. Identify and practice critical and creative strategies of revision through collaborative workshops and studios, developing expertise in creative approaches for public circulation and dissemination.
5. Prepare under supervision an original creative work in multilingual contexts eligible for submission to international and professional standards of publication in the field.
6. Prepare for professional participation in the field of creative writing through guided work in the ‘built environments’ of contemporary creative practices and writing: including professional literary journals, creative agencies, and online presence.

Click here for the pdf version.

MFA Students Receive Major Prizes in National Creative Writing Contest

Three fresh graduates from our MFA in Creative Writing in English programme have received First, Second, and Third Prizes in the 12th National Creative Writing Contest in English (第12届全国英语创意写作大赛). This highly competitive national competition attracts submissions from universities and student writers across China and is judged by panels of experts from leading institutions.

Our awardees are:
• First Prize — Vivian Liu
• Second Prize — Lily Tang
• Third Prize — Ruby Gao

Their outstanding achievements reflect the creativity and dedication of our growing MFA community.
We are looking forward to featuring some of their creative work in the forthcoming issue of Black Box Magazine, the School’s MFA‑centred publication.

Full results: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/k4ZXbq98b8NUzrLq6qSfBw

Dr. Brandon Chua
Director of Taught Postgraduate Studies
School of English
The University of Hong Kong

Dr. Antony Huen
Programme Director
School of English
The University of Hong Kong

E-mail for enquiries: mfahku@hku.hk

The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing in English at HKU is an advanced degree in creative writing: the art and craft of telling your own story. The first of its kind in Hong Kong and Asia, the MFA at HKU features the contemporary creative voice in multilingual contexts. A customised combination of coursework, workshops, studios, and individual advising offers each student opportunities in the artistic environment of the Black Box to explore creative writing, design practices, and the wider vision of a writer’s “built environment” on global audiences. Each writer joins in a community of shared fellowship and passion for creative writing. The unique design of the programme, exploring history and contemporary practices, allows writers in Hong Kong to discover the flexibility of both voice and achievement through the intense study of literary fiction, poetry, drama, or creative nonfiction. The MFA at HKU will guide the art of creative writing across genres as well as individual progress toward the creative thesis. It will look both to history and contemporary work internationally in the field. No programme can guarantee publication. At the same time, the MFA in creative writing will introduce approaches and plans for preparation of publishing in a writer’s chosen genre.

Through classes, workshops, individual advising, and participation in the Creative Writing Forum in the School of English, the programme aims to offer:

• intense focus on an individual writer’s growing body of achievement, along with expertise in editing drafts with greater independence, accuracy, and historical awareness in the craft and discipline of creative writing
• the discovery of common concerns, problems, and practices of creative writing in a community of fellow writers and scholars on campus
• encouragement and continuity of creative writing in Hong Kong and internationally.

On successful completion of the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing in English programme , students should be able to:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of history and contemporary practices in the field of creative writing and point of view, with a focus in the field of the multilingual and global creative writer.
2. Analyze with critical and creative skills in the practices of creative perspective and communications internationally, across contemporary and fluid developments of genre and multimedia platforms.
3. Analyze the problems and productive junctures of period and craft in the field of creative writing and design, along with the identifying major and pivotal moments in language practices and communications for the creative writer.
4. Identify and practice critical and creative strategies of revision through collaborative workshops and studios, developing expertise in creative approaches for public circulation and dissemination.
5. Prepare under supervision an original creative work in multilingual contexts eligible for submission to international and professional standards of publication in the field.
6. Prepare for professional participation in the field of creative writing through guided work in the ‘built environments’ of contemporary creative practices and writing: including professional literary journals, creative agencies, and online presence.

Click here for the pdf version.

Click here for the pdf version.

2024-25: HK$290,000 per annum

Candidates who have accepted a conditional offer will be asked to pay the 1st instalment of tuition fees.

***Once you have paid the initial deposit to secure your place on the programme, please note that it is NOT transferable to other Taught Postgraduate Programmes at HKU or refundable in any way.***

Dr. Antony Huen
Programme Director
School of English
The University of Hong Kong
E-mail for enquiries: mfahku@hku.hk

The Groundbreaking Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing. Join Asia’s one-of-a-kind arts and research centre, located at the heart of The University of Hong Kong.

Opens at noon (GMT +8) on October 22, 2024.

For latest admission information, please visit the Admissions Office, Registry’s website at:
https://admissions.hku.hk/tpg/programme/master-fine-arts-field-creative-writing-english

For links to application documents, please visit:
https://admissions.hku.hk/tpg/programme-list

DEADLINEs FOR APPLICATION
Round 1: 12:00 noon (GMT +8), December 10, 2024

Round 2: 12:00 noon (GMT +8), March 31, 2025

2025-26: HK$298,700 per annum

Candidates who have accepted a conditional offer will be asked to pay the 1st instalment of tuition fees.

***Once you have paid the initial deposit to secure your place on the programme, please note that it is NOT transferable to other Taught Postgraduate Programmes at HKU or refundable in any way.***

The Master of Fine Arts curriculum in Creative Writing in English is offered full-time over one year, designed to foster creativity that transcends boundaries between genres, cultures, and languages.

The programme consists of 60 credits, including two compulsory 6-credit courses, two compulsory 9-credit courses, three elective 6-credit courses, and a 12-credit Capstone Experience. Courses in the programme feature foundation courses, workshops, seminar discussions, experiential learning activities in the Black Box Studio, as well as sustained Individual Advising for each writer. Each of these courses will contribute to the writer’s own vision and culminating Creative Dissertation, while emphasising the rigorous coursework, readings and studies needed to realise it.

On successful completion of the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing in English programme , students should be able to:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of history and contemporary practices in the field of creative writing and point of view, with a focus in the field of the multilingual and global creative writer.
2. Analyze with critical and creative skills in the practices of creative perspective and communications internationally, across contemporary and fluid developments of genre and multimedia platforms.
3. Analyze the problems and productive junctures of period and craft in the field of creative writing and design, along with the identifying major and pivotal moments in language practices and communications for the creative writer.
4. Identify and practice critical and creative strategies of revision through collaborative workshops and studios, developing expertise in creative approaches for public circulation and dissemination.
5. Prepare under supervision an original creative work in multilingual contexts eligible for submission to international and professional standards of publication in the field.
6. Prepare for professional participation in the field of creative writing through guided work in the ‘built environments’ of contemporary creative practices and writing: including professional literary journals, creative agencies, and online presence.

Click here for the pdf version.

Click here for the pdf version.

Dr. Antony Huen
Programme Director
School of English
The University of Hong Kong
E-mail for enquiries: mfahku@hku.hk

The Master of Arts in the field of Creative Communications is a unique academic programme that opens the often mysterious door of creativity as nothing less now than a necessity for emerging leadership, professional promotion, and creative collaborations across every disciplinary and multilingual background. Top CEOs and industry leaders already recognize the key of creativity, demanding dedicated time and attention, to ongoing success stories, both of insight and staying power. With an emphasis on language and discourse, and rooted in prestigious research and practice at HKU, the MA welcomes all emerging professionals to expand their global footprint and creative impact. The MA opens out creative foundations and futures of professional leadership, whether in an individual project, for example, such as a film or memoir; or in a professional context, such as app development or architecture. Participants in the programme will discover and expand their creative adaptability and competitive muscle in theory and practice, life-changing and transformative for expanding audience, clients, and professional impact. Unique courses in the programme feature macro and micro vision and creativity, experimental studio courses in creative collaboration, a capstone project in creativity and happiness, and a compulsory two-semester History of Practice course, developing each emerging and creative leader’s own vision and lifelong path.

On successful completion of the Master of Arts in Creative Communications programme , students should be able to:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of history and contemporary practices in the field of creativity and creative communications in English, with a focus in the field for the multilingual and global creative professional.
2. Analyze with critical and creative skills in the practices of creativity and creative communications internationally, across contemporary and fluid developments of genre and multimedia platforms.
3. Analyze the problems and productive junctures of period, expectation and craft in acts of creative staging and communications, along with the identifying major and pivotal moments in making creative decisions for both development and impact of a growing project
4. Identify and practice critical and creative strategies of macro and micro revisions through collaborative workshops and studios, developing expertise in creative construction and impact
5. Preparations and stagings of original creative signature in multilingual contexts eligible for presentations, projects, artistic works, and professional development.
6. Prepare for creative participation in a professional field or personal project through guided work in the ‘built environments’ of contemporary creative media and communications for greater distinction, impact and leadership.

Click here for the pdf version.

Click here for the pdf version.

2024-25: HK$270,000 per annum

Candidates who have accepted a conditional offer will be asked to pay the 1st instalment of tuition fees.

***Once you have paid the initial deposit to secure your place on the programme, please note that it is NOT transferable to other Taught Postgraduate Programmes at HKU or refundable in any way.***

Opens at noon (GMT +8) on October 22, 2024.

For latest admission information, please visit the Admissions Office, Registry’s website at
https://admissions.hku.hk/tpg/programme/master-arts-field-creative-communications

For links to application documents, please visit:
https://admissions.hku.hk/tpg/programme-list

DEADLINES FOR APPLICATION

Round 1: 12:00 noon (GMT +8), December 10, 2024

Round 2: 12:00 noon (GMT +8), March 31, 2025

2025-26: HK$280,800 per annum

Candidates who have accepted a conditional offer will be asked to pay the 1st instalment of tuition fees.

***Once you have paid the initial deposit to secure your place on the programme, please note that it is NOT transferable to other Taught Postgraduate Programmes at HKU or refundable in any way.***

The Master of Arts in the field of Creative Communications programme is offered full-time over one year. This unique academic programme opens the often mysterious door of creativity as nothing less now than a necessity for emerging leadership, professional promotion, and creative collaborations across every disciplinary and multilingual background. Top CEOs and industry leaders already recognize the key of creativity to their success stories.

With an emphasis on language and discourse, and rooted in prestigious research and practice at HKU, the MA welcomes all emerging professionals to expand their global footprint and creative impact. The MA opens out creative foundations and futures of professional leadership, whether in an individual project, for example, such as a film or memoir; or in a professional context, such as app development or architecture. Participants in the programme will discover and expand their creative adaptability and competitive muscle in theory and practice, life-changing and transformative for expanding audience, clients, and professional impact.

On successful completion of the Master of Arts in Creative Communications programme , students should be able to:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of history and contemporary practices in the field of creativity and creative communications in English, with a focus in the field for the multilingual and global creative professional.
2. Analyze with critical and creative skills in the practices of creativity and creative communications internationally, across contemporary and fluid developments of genre and multimedia platforms.
3. Analyze the problems and productive junctures of period, expectation and craft in acts of creative staging and communications, along with the identifying major and pivotal moments in making creative decisions for both development and impact of a growing project
4. Identify and practice critical and creative strategies of macro and micro revisions through collaborative workshops and studios, developing expertise in creative construction and impact
5. Preparations and stagings of original creative signature in multilingual contexts eligible for presentations, projects, artistic works, and professional development.
6. Prepare for creative participation in a professional field or personal project through guided work in the ‘built environments’ of contemporary creative media and communications for greater distinction, impact and leadership.

Click here for the pdf version.

Scholarship Opportunities

The School of English is pleased to let you know that a new scholarship called the “Faculty of Arts Scholarship for Local Students” has been established in 2024 to recognise the outstanding achievements of local students and encourage them to pursue further studies, applicable to eligible TPg students admitted in 2025-26. The award amount is up to 20% of the total tuition fee. Applicants are not required to submit a separate application form for this Scholarship, as all eligible local applicants are automatically considered upon their submission of their admission application. The total number of award places is decided by the School of English on a case-by-case basis.

Update: November 15, 2024

In 2018, the School of English established an Entrance Scholarship for students of the Master of Arts in the field of English Studies programme to recognise their outstanding achievement upon admission. The Scholarship shall be awarded to cohorts admitted from the academic year 2020-21 under the following regulations:

1. The Scholarship shall be awarded annually to new full-time and part-time students of the Master of Arts in in the field of English Studies programme, on the basis of academic merit upon admission. Preference may be given to the students who are not holding any scholarships and students with financial need.
2. The exact award number and values of awards shall be determined by the Selection Committee, based on funding availability.
3. In the event of there being no suitable applicant in any year, no awards shall be made.
4. MAES applicants who would like to apply for the Entrance Scholarship shall submit a separate application by completing the application form (see below) and send it back to the School Office (email: maespt@hku.hk) by March 28, 2025.

[Download the application form here: docx ] (Application deadline: 12:00 noon (GMT +8) March 28, 2025)

The part-time MAES programme is offered over the course of two years (i.e., four semesters, 12 weeks each).

Starting from 2022-2023, you will be offered a choice of electives (2 out of 4 possible courses) in Semester 2 of your studies, including two courses that will be taught online (Note: These courses are still to be confirmed). You will receive a form to let us know your preference for courses in Semester 2. While part-time students normally follow a fixed curriculum with half of their courses in Literature and half in Linguistics, they can apply for special approval to take seminar courses in either Linguistics or Literature stream. In order to allow more flexibility, part-time students may also apply for special approval and take electives offered during the day in either literature and linguistics in lieu of the course(s) offered in the evenings after they have taken the mandatory introductory classes in literature and linguistics.

Please note you will be in a combined class with full-time MAES students. The class size will range from 30 – 90 students depending on the course.

Please find the Regulations & Syllabuses 2025-26 for your reference.

The School of English is pleased to let you know that a new scholarship called the “Faculty of Arts Scholarship for Local Students” has been established in 2024 to recognise the outstanding achievements of local students and encourage them to pursue further studies, applicable to eligible TPg students admitted in 2025-26. The award amount is up to 20% of the total tuition fee. Applicants are not required to submit a separate application form for this Scholarship, as all eligible local applicants are automatically considered upon their submission of their admission application. The total number of award places is decided by the School of English on a case-by-case basis.

Update: November 15, 2024

1. The Scholarship shall be awarded annually to new full-time and part-time students of the Master of Arts in the field of English Studies programme, on the basis of academic merit upon admission. Preference may be given to the students who are not holding any scholarships and students with financial need.
2. The exact award number and values of awards shall be determined by the Selection Committee, based on funding availability.
3. In the event of there being no suitable applicant in any year, no awards shall be made.
4. MAES applicants who would like to apply for the Entrance Scholarship shall submit a separate application by completing the application form (see below) and send it back to the School Office (email: maesft@hku.hk) by March 28, 2025.

Application deadline: 12:00 noon (GMT +8) March 28, 2025

The full-time MAES programme is an intensive one-year course that runs over two semesters. In Semester 1, student will take three introductory courses, as well as two elective courses in Linguistics and/or Literature. In Semester 2, students will have the option of specialising in either the Linguistics or Literature stream and can choose two more electives from above, depending on their area of interest. In addition, the students will develop a final research project in the capstone course in the second semester, culminating in a paper, a creative project and a presentation at a conference.

Please find the Regulations & Syllabuses 2025-26 for your reference.

The MA in the field of English Studies consists of three core courses (ENGL6073 & ENGL7101 is 9 credits each, ENGL7801 is 3 credits), four seminar courses (6 credits each), and a capstone experience (15 credits) in the form of a final research project and a conference paper to be presented at a conference on a Saturday in May. This conference will be open to the academic and wider community. The total graduation requirement is 60 credits.

HKU Calendar for the Academic Year 2025-26 (For Undergraduate and Taught Postgraduate Students)

• Semester 1 Timetable
• Semester 2 Timetable

Applications for the part-time study mode for the academic year of 2026-27 is suspended.

Update: September 11, 2025