What makes a text a good or captivating English text? How do you recognize repetitions, inconsistencies, faulty logic and other problems in English texts? What does it take to guide a text from writer to reader?
Working with English texts in a professional setting involves a special set of skills. The Writing, Editing and Mediating Master's track (often abbreviated to WEM), offers students a choice of courses that focus on non-fiction and fiction writing for specific audiences, the history of texts in their various forms (from manuscript to digital book), proof-reading and correcting English texts, and producing texts for publication. Topics addressed include censorship, copyright, scholarly editions, and social issues in contemporary literature.
Students on the course typically have a BA in English or in an Anglophone culture (e.g. American Studies). Some students with other humanities qualifications and a sufficient level of academic English are accepted by the admissions board. In all cases, a good background in literary studies is required (60 ECTS)
The one-year Master's track in Writing, Editing and Mediating (WEM) is a track within the Master's degree in Literary Studies and is run by the Department of English Language and Culture. It is taught and assessed wholly in English and focuses on English texts.
Sign up now for the Master's Week from 18-22 November!An up-to-date version of the programme can be found in the online course catalogue.
For Writing, Editing, and Mediating, you must complete a minimum of 30 ECTS of WEM modules, 10 ECTS of English Literature tutorials or interdisciplinary seminars or a work placement, and a 20-ECTS thesis.
Semesters | ||||
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CoursesCourse Catalog > | 1a | 1b | 2a | 2b |
WEM 5: Towards the Digital Text, Part A: Book History (5 EC, optional) | ||||
WEM 6: Poetry Writing (5 EC, optional) | ||||
WEM 1: Modern Literature and Mediation (10 EC, optional) | ||||
WEM 2: Modern English Language (10 EC, optional) | ||||
WEM 3: From Manuscript to Printed Book (10 EC, optional) | ||||
English Literature Tutorials (one or two modules)* (5 EC, optional)
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Master's Thesis (WEM) (10 EC, optional) | ||||
Masterlanguage (English) (one or two modules) (5 EC, optional) | ||||
WEM 5: Towards the Digital Text, Part B: Digital Remediation and Publishing (5 EC, optional) | ||||
WEM 7: Creative Nonfiction writing (5 EC, optional) | ||||
Interdisciplinary Seminar (Literature) (10 EC, optional) | ||||
MA Placement in Writing, Editing and Mediating (10 EC, optional) | ||||
WEM 4: Translating and Editing (20 EC) |
For information about the variety of areas in which students can write their dissertations, click the Research tab below. As part of the WEM programme, students can opt to complete a 10-credit work placement (a.k.a. internship). At the Faculty of Arts, students are responsible for finding a placement for themselves and having it approved by the placement coordinator for their programme: Dr Tekla Mecsnóber, who can be reached at t.d.mecsnober rug.nl.
The following can help you find a placement:
Programme options |
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Master's placement (specialization) This master's track includes an optional work placement for which you are awarded ECTS credit points. It is your responsibility to find a placement yourself, but the Mobility Office can offer help with this where necessary. |
Study programme | Organization | Transition |
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Engelse Taal en Cultuur | All Research universities | No additional requirements |
Study programme | Organization | Transition |
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English Language and Culture | University of Groningen | No additional requirements |
Specific requirements | More information |
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previous education |
Students with a Bachelor's degree in English Language and/or Literature or in another literature or culture area taught in English (e.g. American Studies) showing at least 60 ECTS or equivalent in literary studies (literary analysis, literary theory, genres, periods) are admissible to this Master's track. |
language test |
Additional English language requirement: a TOEFL iBT with a score of 110 (min. of 25 on all items); an IELTS, Academic Module, with a score of 8 (min. of 7.5 on all items); ERK level C1. Cambridge C1 Advanced (level A) or C2 Proficiency with a minimum score of 200. If your BA does not certify this, you may have to take an appropriate language test. |
other admission requirements |
To assess whether your educational/academic background meets the specific programme requirements, we will consider the level and curriculum of your previous studies. This evaluation is carried out by our Admissions Office and the Admissions Board. |
Type of student | Deadline | Start course |
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Dutch students | 15 August 2025 | 01 September 2025 |
EU/EEA students | 01 May 2025 | 01 September 2025 |
non-EU/EEA students | 01 May 2025 | 01 September 2025 |
Specific requirements | More information |
---|---|
previous education |
Students with a Bachelor's degree in English Language and/or Literature or in another literature or culture area taught in English (e.g. American Studies) showing at least 60 ECTS or equivalent in literary studies (literary analysis, literary theory, genres, periods) are admissible to this Master's track. |
language test |
Additional English language requirement: a TOEFL iBT with a score of 110 (min. of 25 on all items); an IELTS, Academic Module, with a score of 8 (min. of 7.5 on all items); ERK level C1. Cambridge C1 Advanced (level A) or C2 Proficiency with a minimum score of 200. If your BA does not certify this, you may have to take an appropriate language test. |
other admission requirements |
To assess whether your educational/academic background meets the specific programme requirements, we will consider the level and curriculum of your previous studies. This evaluation is carried out by our Admissions Office and the Admissions Board. Students with an international diploma should fill in the checklist. This checklist needs to be uploaded via the Progress Portal when applying for this programme. |
Type of student | Deadline | Start course |
---|---|---|
Dutch students | 15 August 2025 | 01 September 2025 |
EU/EEA students | 01 May 2025 | 01 September 2025 |
non-EU/EEA students | 01 May 2025 | 01 September 2025 |
Nationality | Year | Fee | Programme form |
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EU/EEA | 2024-2025 | € 2530 | full-time |
non-EU/EEA | 2024-2025 | € 18700 | full-time |
Practical information for:
Upon graduation students hold a (60 ECTS) MA degree in Literary Studies with a track in Writing, Editing and Mediating from the UG. A student's career after that depends on the kind of person they are. Writing and editing skills can be applied in many settings. Language is central to studying human behaviour and activities. Proper communication through writing in a correct and organised way provides a challenge to many people, and you could assist them or guide them in this process.
Many of the skills a Literary Studies MA teaches are transferable. You will probably find that your analytical competence, ability to write, and capacity to solve problems will significantly improve after completing an MA degree. Although the programme is taught and assessed in English, many of its skills are generic but significant—such as punctuality, attention to detail, self-motivation, written communication etc.—and students have gone on to work in non-Anglophone settings.
We encourage our students to complete a 10 ECTS internship in a field of their interest. In the first term of the MA, a career event is organised to give students information and resources to realise their internship (though be aware that an internship may prolong your registration at university since it may not always be possible to organise it in the best period for you).
With your MA-degree you could work in publishing houses, for magazines as well as books publishers. You could also become a policy consultant (Dutch: Beleidsmedewerker), or an advisor to (inter)national governmental organizations and NGOs. You could also become an expert on dealing with writing in education, companies, or government agencies. You may also choose to pursue a career as lecturer or researcher in higher education.
Through a combination of a research-driven approach and knowledge of applying theory to real life situations, our programme prepares students for the following jobs:
Research in the department covers all areas of English literature and linguistics. Our particular strengths include premodern culture, modernism, contemporary literature, and language development, and we publish widely on such topics as critical theory, visual culture, travel literature, women's writing, multi-ethnic US and postcolonial literatures, medieval learning, and language acquisition and loss. Our staff members run or participate in a number of international research projects, including the Language Attrition project.
Dissertations in the Writing, Editing and Mediating track should reflect the nature of the WEM courses. Possible topics include:
Dissertations may be supervised by any appropriate member of staff. The following list indicates some of the areas in which dissertations can be written.
Dr David Ashford: Modernism, Post-Modernism, the Enlightenment, Theory and Philosophy, Post-Humanism, Imperialism, Cultural Geography, Poetry, Poetics and Publishing.
Dr Kees Dekker: textual editing; manuscript studies; Old English literature and language; Middle English literature and language.
Dr John Flood: Renaissance/Early-Modern literature; Romantic and Victorian literature; Christianity and literature; modern Irish literature; science-fiction; J.R.R. Tolkien; literature and war (especially World War I); twentieth-century British, Irish and American poetry; history of the book; textual editing; philosophy and literature.
Dr Ann Hoag: women’s writing; travel literature; contemporary American fiction; modernism.
Dr Hans Jansen: translation; textual correction and editing; Shakespeare, English drama.
Dr Ashley Maher: the novel, periodical culture, modern literature and the visual arts, text and image.
Dr Suzanne Manizza Roszak: Modern and contemporary US literature, multi-ethnic US and transnational American literature, world literatures in English, Italian American literature and culture, children's and young adult literature, the twentieth- and twenty first-century Gothic, diaspora studies, gender studies, critical race theory, trauma studies.
Dr Tekla Mecsnober: typography; modernist writing (especially James Joyce, modernist magazines and experiments with language); eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British fiction; Gerard Manley Hopkins; Victorian poetry.
Dr Karin Olsen: Anglo-Saxon literature and culture; comparative studies in Anglo-Saxon, Old Norse and early Irish literature and culture; Middle English literature.
Dr Kees de Vries: literary theory; nineteenth-century literature; Oscar Wilde; humour and literature; music and literature.
Here are some sample topics of WEM dissertations recently supervised in the English Department.
For general information about the research in the department see the Research Page and the People page of the Department of English Language and Culture.
You are a graduate with a degree in literary studies and a proven ability to operate in English who wants to develop knowledge and skills related to the circulation and editing of English-language texts.
If you have any questions or doubts about your studies, you can always contact the study advisor. She knows all the ins and outs of the programme. Study advisors are impartial and everything that is discussed is treated confidentially. They can also help you find the right place to direct queries about registration, grades and other administrative questions.