Dr Sarah Reynolds

Lecturer in English Literature and Creative Writing

English Literature

+44 (0) 1792 295796

s.l.reynolds@swansea.ac.uk

Fluent Welsh Speaker

Office - 207B
Second Floor
Keir Hardie Building
Singleton Campus

Available For Postgraduate Supervision

Research Links

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4472-0192

About

Sarah Reynolds is a Lecturer in Creative Writing at Swansea University and an award-winning bilingual writer working in English and Welsh. Her teaching is informed by professional experience in fiction, scriptwriting and the creative industries.

Originally from Surrey, Sarah moved to Carmarthenshire in 2009 and learned Welsh as an adult. She has since published two Welsh-language novels, Dysgu Byw (Learning to Live) and Cyffesion Saesnes yng Nghymru (Confessions of an Englishwoman in Wales). Her creative work explores language, identity, belonging and contemporary Wales.

Her short story Catch of the Day won the Rhys Davies Short Story Competition, and its Welsh-language screen adaptation, Helfa'r Heli, won the BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Short Film. Her BBC Radio Cymru drama Lliwiau'r Symffoni (Painting the Symphony) was shortlisted by BBC Writersroom before being produced for broadcast. Her English-language novel, Traces of Alys (Honno, 2026), was runner-up in the Bridport Novel Prize and longlisted for the Curtis Brown Novel Prize.

Before joining Swansea University, Sarah worked in television production and development, experience that continues to shape her teaching and creative practice. She has presented research at conferences and literary festivals including the Association for Welsh Writing in English, Tafwyl and the National Eisteddfod.

Sarah's practice-based research focuses on creative writing, bilingual literature, writing for performance, and the relationship between language, identity and belonging in contemporary Welsh writing.

Areas Of Expertise

Practice-based research and creative writing
Novel and short story writing
Writing for performance
Bilingual creativity and literary translation
Welsh language learning, linguistic citizenship and identity
Representations of bilingual identity in contemporary Welsh literature
Language memoir and life writing

Languages Spoken

Welsh

Supervision

Buried Voices of Oklahoma Territory (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Dr Rachel Farebrother
Fiction on the women's revolution Interconnected Short Stories about the Women's Revolution (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Dr Richard Robinson
Barddoniaeth Gwyn Thomas a'r gymhariaeth boblyddol (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Prof Tudur Hallam

Other supervisor: Prof Tudur Hallam

Other supervisor: Dr Miriam Jones

Taught Modules

EN-236 Introduction to Writing Drama

This module leads the student through theory and practice of the main areas of naturalistic theatre, with a short introduction to non-naturalistic theatre. Regular assignments will be set, and these will be brought to the workshop to be presented and considered. The module considers the relationship between writer, play, actors and audience. It examines methods of structuring material so as to reinforce curiosity and create empathy and suspense, and explores issues of character and dialogue. Emphasis will be placed throughout on the practicalities of the creation of a performance script.
EN-3026 Creative Writing Personal Project

Students taking this module must submit a portfolio of creative writing of between 7-8,000 words in any genre, subject to Departmental approval. The Personal Project is an independent study module for which each student will receive 5 hours of individual or group supervision. Supervisions will take place at regular intervals with set targets, and will primarily involve feedback on the style and structure of the submission.
EN-M34 Long Fiction

The course begins with a consideration of the shaping of narrative, with an initial emphasis on plot and action, referring to the art of drama as a way into the basics and subtleties of plot. Matters of style and character are introduced simultaneously, as well as the relationship between memory and invention. The module then moves to voice, perspective, stream of consciousness, `free indirect¿ techniques and focalization. Dialogue, monologue and subtext follow and the course ends with an exploration of the particular qualities of long fiction and the practicalities of publication. The workshops will last for up to three hours, with, in addition, sessions of individual mentoring on a one-to-one basis. Within this module, students will be introduced to the ethical issues arising from the use of AI, exploring the challenges and transformations that the creative industries will face, as well as encouraging a thoughtful and morally responsible use of AI in terms of individual creative practice. Creative Writing is predicated upon the value and meaning of individual creative acts, unique, personal voices, and distinctive imaginative works, and students will be asked to consider this when considering how AI may or may not be used in their own creative work.
EN-M35 Dramatic Writing: Writing for Performance

What makes writing dramatic? A consideration of some components of dramatic storytelling: thesis, narrative, character, style. The module will explore writing for the stage, alongside a consideration of other forms of performance, that may include radio, TV, film and social media. The module will explore key themes in dramatic writing - action versus reflection, the tension between the ordinary and the special ¿ before exploring narrative and Dramatic Structure, scene assembly and dramaturgy, choices in the use of time, dramatic tension and writing dialogue on the stage. A key component throughout will be a stress on collaboration, and working with directors, actors, designers and technicians. There will also be an introduction to the creative industries and the practical and economic issues regarding staging original work.
EN-M38 Art of the Short Story

You will explore the art and craft of the short story, examining its challenges, pleasures, and long literary history. We will consider issues of compression and precision and explore the aesthetic and psychological pedigree of the form. This module consists of a series of workshops leading you through the theory and practice of writing short fiction: short assignments will be set every week, and these will be brought to the workshop to be considered communally. The course will be taught by a fluid mingling of tutor led discussion and workshop-based exercises; narrative techniques will be clarified by the reading and discussion of named works and fiction, shedding light on creative practice by exercises in mimesis and parody. The workshops will last for three hours, with, in addition, sessions of individual mentoring on a one-to-one basis with the module tutor.
ENC1101 Fundamentals of Creative Writing I

To begin at the beginning¿ and continue the overuse of Dylan Thomas¿s opening to Under Milk Wood, this introductory course focuses on three fundamentals of beginning writing: observation, imagination, and presentation. Writers must first be good observers of the world if we¿re to create writing that¿s authentic. Imagination enables writers to manipulate the material we¿ve observed and understanding presentation, finally, ensures a writer knows what vehicle is best for our writing. This module is taught through a weekly hour-long lecture and two-hour seminar. It begins exercising the skills of observation and imagination and introduces the presentation methods we¿ll later focus on: fiction, poetry, screenwriting, writing for the stage, and creative non fiction, offering insight into the fundamental composition of studied texts for students of literature and preparing our creative writing students for the next module and following two years of creative writing.
ENC1102 Fundamentals of Creative Writing II

Fundamentals of Creative Writing II builds on the focus of the first of the creative writing fundamentals module by picking up where the first module left off: presentation. You¿ll take a nuanced look at presentation methods introduced in the first module particularly through the ways each deals with the storytelling fundamentals of idea, character, narrative, and style. You¿ll become better acquainted with the varied opportunities and limitations of each of the styles of writing introduced in the previous term by practising each through specific engagement with those fundamentals.

Dr Sarah Reynolds

Telephone number

Email address

Welsh language proficiency

Facebook Account

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Research Links

About

Areas Of Expertise

Languages Spoken

Supervision

Buried Voices of Oklahoma Territory (current)

Fiction on the women's revolution Interconnected Short Stories about the Women's Revolution (current)

Barddoniaeth Gwyn Thomas a'r gymhariaeth boblyddol (current)

Taught Modules

EN-236 Introduction to Writing Drama

EN-3026 Creative Writing Personal Project

EN-M34 Long Fiction

EN-M35 Dramatic Writing: Writing for Performance

EN-M38 Art of the Short Story

ENC1101 Fundamentals of Creative Writing I

ENC1102 Fundamentals of Creative Writing II