Salient

Vic offering PhD in creative writing

By Seonah Choi | 11 Aug, 2008

Victoria University’s International Institute of Modern Letters is now offering a PhD in creative writing, with applications for the three-year full-time programme beginning in 2009 closing later this year.

According to Bill Manhire, renowned author and the director of the International Institute of Modern Letters through which the programme will be offered, says the establishment of the qualification was prompted by numerous enquiries in recent years.

“We’ve had so many [expressions of interest] over the last few years, from outside New Zealand as well as from our own Masters graduates. This has also been a real growth area overseas – especially in Australia and the United Kingdom.”

Manhire added that the programme will involve both critical and creative elements. “It’s going to be most valuable for people who want to write creatively, but at the same time think in focused and original ways about the contexts of their writing.”

A number of proposals will be possible under the PhD, from fiction and poetry to scriptwriting, and “creative non-fiction” such as biography or memoir.

The deadline for applications for the 2009 academic year is 1 November 2008.