Postgraduate degrees

MSc/Dip in Literary Translation as Creative Practice

This programme, organised by the Graduate School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, can be taken as either a 12-month full-time programme or a 24 month part-time programme.

It is taught through a combination of lectures and exercises in practical literary translation, in conjunction with individual tutorials, student presentations and guest lectures.

Aims and outcomes

This programme aims to:

enhance students’ practical skills in and intellectual perspective on literary translation.
link the activity of literary translation to the notion of creative practice, by emphasizing the originality, inspiration and resourcefulness that go into high-quality literary translations
encourage critical thinking on language use, translation and writing
provide you with confidence and competence in literary text production
broaden and deepen your understanding of a variety of issues in relation to translation and writing, such as gender, power relations, ideology, religion, and multimedia
help you acquire important transferable skills, such as carrying out academic research, excelling in academic writing, improving analytical thought, better use of electronic resources, and doing oral presentations.

Programme structure

MSc Literary Translation as Creative Practice Programme Handbook 2012-13

The programme comprises a core course on Translation and Creativity (first semester), a core course on discipline-specific research problems and methods (second semester), two core courses on Portfolio of Literary Translation Exercises running over two semesters, and a provision of options available within the School of LLC.

All students will attend the two core courses and one option course for each semester and attempt to complete 120 credits before they can be eligible to progress from Diploma to the MSc.

They then need to complete a 15,000 word dissertation over the summer period, bringing their total number of credits to 180.

For more information about any of the courses on the programme and a full list of option courses offered, please refer to the Degree Programme Table (DPT):

MSc Literary Translation as Creative Practice DPT

Admission requirements

Candidates must be graduates with a good first degree (equivalent of 2:1 and above) and with experience and/or interest in literary translation.

English language requirements

Where appropriate, an English language test score of 7.0 on the IELTS test score, with no less than 6.5 in every section, (or an equivalent) will be required, as will native speaker competence in the relevant language(s) other than English.

Apply

You can apply online for this programme:

Apply online for the MSc/Dip in Literary Translation as Creative Practice

Please note that:

Applications should be made before the end of January if you also wish to apply for funding, as most deadlines will pass in February. Although there is no formal closing date for applications, any applications made after 15th July 2013 are not guaranteed to be processed for starting the programme in September 2013.
Your personal statement needs to show an awareness of what Translation Studies is and of the content of the Literary Translation as Creative Practice degree at the University of Edinburgh.
We do not offer interpreting.
You should indicate the language pairs you would like to take. Note that you can take a maximum of two languages and that you will always translate in and out or English; for example, if you have French and Chinese you will do one semester with French-English and the other one with Chinese-English, not Chinese-French. Please ensure that you upload an additional supporting document with your application stating your language preferences.