Aoraki Polytechnic Advanced Certificate in Creative Writing

This course was developed by Owen Marshall and was taught by him at the Aoraki Polytechnic in Timaru from 1993 to 2003.

In 2003 the course was moved to the Aoraki Campus in Dunedin and is now taught by Diane Brown who has been teaching creative writing for the last ten years.

The course is a 34 week part-time course. Previous students have gone on to further their careers in various ways including the winning of awards, the acceptance of their work by national periodicals and publishers, and the gaining of further academic qualifications.

Objective

The objective of the programme is to develop in those who are serious about writing and already competent in language skills, the skills of creative writing to a publishable standard. The atmosphere will be informal, flexible, professional, collegial, yet challenging.

Content

Content will include developing an individual voice, place and time in fiction, dialogue, characterisation, metaphor, plot, narrative viewpoint, structural options, children's writing, poetry, biography, memoir and creative nonfiction.

In addition to writing assignments, exercises and presentations a major writing project is undertaken during the programme.

Course Organisation

There will be three full-time teaching weeks at the beginning of each term and classes on Thursday night and all day Friday during term time used for various forms of group work. In general, Thursday afternoons will be available for supervised writing sessions or individual sessions with the tutor.

Course Co-ordinator

Diane Brown is a novelist and poet. Her first book Before The Divorce We Go To Disneyland, a combination of prose and poetry, won the Best First Book Of Poetry at the Montana Awards 1997. She was a Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellow in 1997. Her novel If The Tongue Fits was in the Top 20 of the Listener Women’s Book Festival in 1999. Eight Stages of Grace –New Zealand’s first verse novel-was published by Vintage in 2002. Her travel memoir Liars and Lovers and a collection of poems, Learning To Lie Together were published in 2004. She was an inaugural resident at the Michael King Writer's Studio in Devonport and is currently working on a prose/poetic work Here Comes Another Vital Moment and a novel Hooked. Diane is actively involved in the writing world being a representative on the Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc) National committee, a reviewer and a mentor for emerging writers. Sections of the programme will be covered by other qualified tutors and there are frequent visiting writers.

Entry Requirements

A sound competency in language skills, and a serious commitment to writing are necessary for entry into this programme. A full C.V. and sample of work, together with a publishing record (if applicable) should accompany the application form.

Further information is available from

Email: dibrown@xtra.co.nz

Post: Aoraki Polytechnic, PO Box 943, Dunedin