King’s College London

Department: English
Faculty: Arts & Humanities
Position: Lecturer in Creative Writing
Number of posts: Two
Hours: Part-time (0.5 FTE)
Contract: Indefinite
Start date: 1st January 2027
Pathway: E&R pathway, including both Education and Research activities

About us

King’s College London is one of England’s oldest and most prestigious universities, founded within the tradition of the Church of England by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington who granted our royal charter in 1829.

King's has a proud history of inspiring and supporting those who seek to solve the world's most pressing problems. For almost 200 years, our community has been deeply rooted in the belief that learning and research should serve society.

This commitment to knowledge with purpose – using our expertise as a force for good – lies at the heart of our core mission at King’s. From research that led to the discovery of the structure of DNA, to developing life-changing therapies and making maths education available to underrepresented groups, we continue to have a transformational impact on society.

Fourteen people from King’s and its associated institutions have been awarded the Nobel Prize, including Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu for his role in South Africa’s anti-apartheid campaign, and Professor Michael Levitt for his joint work in developing multiscale models for complex chemical systems.

Notable alumni include British sprinter and world-record holder Dina Asher-Smith, biophysicist Dr. Rosalind Franklin, famous for her work in X-ray spectroscopy, and acclaimed children’s writer Sir Michael Morpurgo.

The Faculty of Arts & Humanities at King’s is distinctive in representing exceptional strength in both the longer established disciplines (such as Philosophy, Classics, English, History, Languages, Music Philosophy and Theology) and world-leading quality in more recently established fields (such as Digital Humanities, Film, Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts, and Culture, Media and Creative Industries).

About the role

The Department of English wishes to appoint two part-time (0.5 FTE) Lecturers in Creative Writing on an indefinite basis from 1st January 2027. The roles will be on our E&R pathway, including both Education and Research activities. These roles are for a writer of any specialism (prose fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, screen-writing, other).

The successful candidates will have proven experience of university teaching, a recognised record of published work appropriate to their career-stage and also be able to undertake administrative and pastoral duties.

They will be able to teach in a range of undergraduate and postgraduate capacities. These may include the level 4 module, Creative Foundations (which introduces our students to Poetry, Prose and Creative Non-Fiction and to the workshop format) and possibly other first-year introductory modules such as Reading Poetry or Writing Race, Writing Gender; at least one of our level 5 modules, Prose Fiction, Writing Poetry and Creative Non-Fiction, and at least one of our level 6 modules, Advanced Poetry, Advanced Fiction and Advanced Non-Fiction. An ability to teach across different Creative Writing specialisms or to bring a new specialism to the Department and develop courses not currently offered would be particularly welcome. We seek to appoint colleagues who will work collaboratively with our existing Creative writing team (which includes Jon Day, Anthony Joseph, Edmund Gordon and Lara Feigel) and bring complementary strengths.

The people appointed will be asked to supervise PhD dissertations for our PhD programme in Creative Writing, as well as BA dissertations and possibly MA dissertations in relevant subject areas. The postholders may serve as tutors for our student essay support service, Writing Lab, and contribute, as personal tutors, to the pastoral care of students. They will be expected to undertake departmental administration and any other reasonable duties as required, including the organisation of Creative Writing events including our Writers’ Salon and Writing Life (programmed talks with working writers and industry professionals). Experience of teaching Creative Writing within the broader context of an English literature Department would be valuable.

We are seeking colleagues who have strong existing connections to the creative industries, including publishing, and whose teaching will support our students’ career aspirations in the arts and cultural sectors, furnishing them with skills and experiences they can take into their future employment.

The roles will be fundamental to developing the profile of Creative Writing at King’s, and ensuring the success of our new BA in English with Creative Writing, for which the successful candidates will be required to bring new energy, ideas and specialist expertise. They will be responsible to the Head of Department.

Shortlisted candidates will be asked to give a short presentation on their work as part of the interview.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide undergraduate and postgraduate specialist teaching in Creative Writing of the highest quality, including the delivery of workshop-style teaching
• Bring a fresh vision of Creative Writing at King’s and leadership on our new and existing programmes
• Participate in the organisation and delivery of teaching activities across the Department in accordance with both established departmental practice, including convening modules
• Contribute to the research culture of the Department and Faculty, and foster partnerships with industry stakeholders (including publishers, literary agents, etc.)
• Supervise undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations
• Act as personal tutor to students supporting their pastoral care and academic progress
• Participate fully in assessment and examination processes as appropriate, using a variety of methods and techniques and provide effective, timely and appropriate feedback to students to support their learning
• Undertake any reasonable administrative duties requested by the Head of Department

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.

About you

To be successful in these roles, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1. A distinctive, nationally or internationally-recognised profile of published work (relative to career stage) that complements the Department’s existing strengths in the field

2. Experience of delivering and convening specialist Creative Writing teaching (workshop format) in one or more genres (to include prose fiction, poetry and/or creative non-fiction)

3. Industry connections, including knowledge of the publishing process and ability to help our students develop their employability and progress towards careers in writing

4. Evidence of a vision for Creative Writing both at King’s and as a discipline; commitment to implementing this vision; energy and ideas for events, collaborations and curriculum development

5. Collegiate, proven ability to work with others and to support them; capacity for team-working and enthusiasm for engaging with other colleagues, especially with regard to events and curriculum development

6. Ability to engage students and support their learning and wellbeing throughout their studies

7. Experience of effective and diligent academic administration

Desirable criteria

1. PhD qualified in English Literature or Creative Writing

2. Experience of supervising dissertations in Creative Writing at both BA and PhD level, relative to career stage

3. Experience of teaching Creative Writing within the broader context of an English Literature Department

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Further Information

At King’s, we believe that the diversity of our community and a culture that is welcoming, open, inclusive and collaborative, are great strengths of the university.

The Equality Act of 2010 protects the rights of our students and staff and provides a framework to fulfil our duties to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and in addition, to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. At times, this will include balancing rights and beliefs that can feel in tension.

We are committed to free speech and to academic freedom, believing that our foundational purpose as a university, is to create spaces where a wide range of ideas, including ideas that are controversial, can be discussed and debated, and where members of our community can express lawful views without fear of intimidation, harassment or discrimination.

When engaging in the robust exchange of ideas, we ask that our community is mindful of our Dignity at King’s guidance.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the person specification section of the job description. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

We reserve the right to close adverts early due to the volume of applications we receive. While the closing date may change, all adverts will close at 23:59 to allow sufficient time for applications to be submitted on that day.

We encourage you to apply at the earliest opportunity to avoid disappointment as once we have closed a vacancy you will be unable to submit your application.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.

Interviews are due to be held during the week beginning 5th October 2026.