Master of Creative Writing

The MCW is for writers working on a large-scale creative writing project: a novel, short story collection, full-length work of creative nonfiction, or poetry collection. The programme is convened by the award-winning novelist and short story writer, Paula Morris. Acclaimed poet Selina Tusitala Marsh co-supervises poets in the programme. The best portfolio each year wins the Sir James Wallace Master of Creative Writing Prize of $5,000, New Zealand's richest prize for a creative writing student.

The MCW is a one-year, full-time programme of study with entry in Semester Two only. You will enrol in CREWRIT 797 Creative Writing (120 points).

If you are writing a novel, short stories or creative non-fiction, you are expected to produce a portfolio of between 40,000 and 80,000 words. Poetry collections should have a minimum of 80 pages.

Class contact time and peer interaction are an essential part of the programme. In both semesters of the MCW, you must be able to attend two weekly classes - workshops and seminars. In the workshop you will submit drafts for discussion and give considered feedback to the other writers in your cohort. The weekly seminar is a forum for thinking and talking about writing. In these classes we discuss published work and explore the key issues of technique you need to consider in your work.

The seminar hosts a range of visitors, including local and international writers; practitioners from the world of film, radio and theatre; and speakers from the publishing and literary arts world.

Recent visiting writers have included Karl Ove Knausgaard, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Teju Cole, Frankie McMillan, Lucinda Hawksley, Michel Faber, Elizabeth McCracken, Louise Welch, Zoe Strachan, Ben Okri, Stephanie Johnson, Eleanor Catton, Owen Scott, David Mitchell, Colm Toibin, Sebastian Barry and Anita Desai.