Student Testimonials
MA (Research) in Creative Writing
"With career and general life demands, I had lost touch with my writing since finishing my undergraduate degree. I enrolled in the UNSW Creative Writing MA because I wanted the challenge of studying again and the opportunity to work amongst like-minded people. As well as providing this, the MA programme at UNSW inspired me with new ideas about fiction, gave me valuable feedback on my own work and, most importantly, developed my confidence as a writer again. I work as a High School English teacher and professionally it has helped me to develop a creative writing programme within my school, and more particularly it has been valuable in informing my mentorship of English Extension 2 students."
– Emma Anderson (completed in 2006)
PhD in Creative Writing
“I chose the University of New South Wales because it has a top international reputation for its Creative Writing Doctoral programme. The faculty are an exquisite mix of talent that helped to inform and shape my writing, and, my research. I had looked into other programmes in the States and the UK, but there was simply no comparison. Australian universities have lead the way in developing the PhD in Creative Writing, an initiative now being followed around the world. UNSW is a leader in the field, and I felt that if I was going to spend tuition dollars anywhere, it should be at a place where I would get the very best education. During my years in the Creative Writing PhD programme, I was able to develop multiple publishable pieces that have helped to secure a book contract with Blackwell. UNSW faculty, especially my supervisors, really encouraged my publications. Achieving the PhD in Creative Writing from UNSW creates an almost instant rapport with publishers who know the University's reputation. Because of UNSW's requirement for both creative and critical components to the degree, I am also able to approach a tenure track position in my current teaching post at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. My experience with UNSW's Creative Writing Doctoral programme was exceptional. Any student interested in doing serious Doctoral work in creative writing should consider the School of English at UNSW – in my opinion, the best educational value in not just the Pacific Rim, but in the western world.”
– Rebecca Housel (completed in 2007)
“The PhD at UNSW gave me the time to write a novel. It can be hard to write a novel without a known outcome, either for publication, or for examination, and it was such demands that I wanted placed upon myself to finish the work and push myself as an author. Having four years to expand my ability as an author, to push my boundaries, to refine the voice that I had developed beforehand. Four years of full time writing is a solid chunk of time to find out what kind of author you are, and with supportive supervisors, you (as the author) can be assured that your various interests and obsessions will find a way to emerge. I am the author of the dystopian novel, Black Sheep, published by Prime Books in the States, and the experimental autobiography, Twenty-Six Lies/One Truth, published by Wheatland Press, also in the States. Various short fiction of mine has appeared in the Leviathan, Polyphony, and Agog anthologies series, as well as The Year's Best Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy books. I've also appeared in Overland, Aurealis, and Fantasy Magazine, among others. I also teach creative writing and english, both privately and in workshops.”
– Ben Peek (completed in 2006)
“I chose the School of English at UNSW to do my PhD in literature and creative writing because it provided me with two very competent and supportive supervisors, and a collegial environment to write my novel and research my dissertation. As a PhD candidate at UNSW, I was also given the opportunity to tutor undergraduates in creative writing, a good experience to prepare me for a career in teaching. I am currently teaching English language and literature at the Hong Kong Baptist University.”
– Souk Yee Wong (completed in 2004)
