Poetry Studies

The MA in Poetry Studies at DCU re-imagines the study of poetry, and has cultivated a vibrant community of scholars and students from a wide range of backgrounds. Poetry is not the remit of literary specialists alone, and we’re committed to demonstrating its radical influence across societies and cultures. The Programme is internationalist, and asks that students look at poetry as an intercultural phenomenon so that a more nuanced understanding of the relationship of poetry (and song) to ideas of national heritage might be achieved. Above all, we never lose sight of poetry as a passionate medium for expressing and exploring ourselves effectively.

This programme has been of particular use to teachers of English at second-level as a means of career development, and it has also acted as a springboard into doctoral study and academia. Students and graduates also work in law, financial services, administration and IT. For them, a qualification from the programme is a distinctive thing to have on a CV, something that makes potential employers and interviewers take notice. Graduates have also gone on to work in adult education and communications.

•  Potential Careers
• Literary Editor
• Publisher
• Journalist
• Writer/Poet
• Librarian
• Educator

Participants in this programme tend to express that they have some unfinished business with poetry and have always been alive to its potential, but haven’t had the time and space to explore it to their satisfaction. We’ll give you the space and encouragement to think of ways in which your engagement with poetry will continue to grow after you’re awarded your degree.

This degree seeks to build a strong sense of community, and graduates have continued to collaborate and communicate through publishing, broadcasting and creating. Some have used the programme as a spur for their ambitions as writers, and their achievements in the world of Irish poetry have been remarkable. Others approached their study as an opportunity for re-orientating their life-paths and careers. Others have done it because it is the complete opposite of what they are doing in their career! Some have gone on to doctoral study, some have moved happily into a poetry-immersed retirement.

If you’re looking to immerse yourself in current poetry affairs, DCU’s peer-reviewed journal POST is known internationally for its energetic commitment to poetry as a uniquely vibrant form of cultural transmission, generating possibilities for engagement between art, life and society.

General Entry Requirements

Applicants will normally have an honours primary degree or equivalent, but applicants with appropriate combinations of professional qualifications and experience may also, on the basis of the relevant University regulations and procedures, be offered places.

International candidates who are non-native speakers of the English language must satisfy the university of their competency in the English language.

Dublin City University is proud to award merit-based scholarships to high achieving students who enter the Faculty of Engineering and Computing and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences for the 2016/17 academic year. These scholarships are available to Indian applicants only and are based on academic merit to those who have a Full Offer. 

The Faculties also award scholarships of €1,000 to high achievers entering Masters and Bachelor programmes who are ranked by academic achievement.