Creative Writing
Shape the future of contemporary writing
At UNSW’s School of the Arts & Media, our Creative Writing program empowers you to craft original, boundary-pushing work that speaks to the contemporary world. You'll develop your skills in writing by experimenting with a range of genres and styles in fiction, poetry and nonfiction, while discovering how the literary industry works.
Under the guidance of passionate writers and teachers, your studies will combine rigorous literary analysis with hands-on creative practice. You’ll learn how techniques and genres have developed throughout history, enabling you to make your own contributions to the art of literature. Along the way you'll gain insight into the cultural and social contexts that shape how writing is produced and received.
Build a career in the creative arts
As part of a dynamic arts and media community, you’ll discover the connections between writing and other creative disciplines through electives in film, theatre, performance, and media studies. Developing your skills in writing across media will open doors to careers in publishing, communications, social media, copywriting, and script development.
Learn from leading writers and researchers
You'll study in an environment that is intellectually curious, committed to the value of literature, and passionate about developing new writers. Our staff are established authors and internationally recognised scholars keen to share their expertise with you.
Engage with the literary community
From the student-run English and Creative Writing Society to UNSW's Literary Provocations Hub you'll have access to readings, workshops and author talks that connect you to a network of local and international thinkers and writers.
Publish your work
Showcase your writing in UNSWeetened Literary Journal, an annual student-run publication celebrating the creative talent of UNSW. Featuring poetry and prose from both undergraduate and postgraduate students, it’s an opportunity to share your voice with a wider audience.
Study
-
The undergraduate major includes core courses in creative writing with a range of prescribed electives in English literary studies, media and communications, film studies and theatre and performance. During your study, you’ll produce your own body of creative work by developing practical skills in the craft of writing, and by learning how this craft relates to the history of literary forms.
At UNSW, you'll hone your practical knowledge of creative writing through participation in group workshops. You'll come to view yourself as a participant in the public life of literature and to understand the political and ethical dimensions of the aesthetic choices you’ll make as a writer.
-
You’ll have the option to continue your studies into an honours year. Working closely with a supervisor, you’ll produce a thesis comprising of two complementary parts: a creative work and a scholarly essay. The honours degree provides a basis for further study at the postgraduate research level.
-
The PhD in creating writing supports students to produce a full-length creative work in any genre (novel, collection of poetry, short fiction, nonfiction, biography, ficto-criticism, etc.) and an accompanying scholarly dissertation of at least 40,000 words.
This original work will explore the flexible connection between the creative and the critical. Previous PhD students in creative writing include prize-winning and best-selling authors: Dylin Hardcastle, Georgia Rose Phillips, Charlotte Wood, Mette Jakobsen and Anna Westbrook.
You can find more information on the variety of scholarships on offer at UNSW.
Staff
