Creative Writing at Whitireia

• Whitireia Publishing Course
• Visit the Whitireia website at www.whitireia.ac.nz
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• About the tutors

The Creative Writing Programme at Whitireia Community Polytechnic (available at Porirua, Wellington and Kapiti campuses) is a practical, exciting and innovative programme.It encourages and celebrates good writing across all genres. It fosters versatility, while giving experienced writers the opportunity to specialise in their chosen field. It actively promotes diversity. It emphasises originality, excellence in the craft, and also the practical business knowledge of being a writer. Students on the programme become part of a strong supportive writing community.

The programme
The Whitireia Creative Writing Programme was established in 1993, the first full-year full-time creative writing programme in New Zealand. Now it offers a wide range of options. Students can enroll in a comprehensive course covering a range of genres, which they can do in the classroom or online, or specialise in the novel, poetry or scriptwriting. They can enrol in individual modules, a one-year diploma course, or a three year Bachelor in Applied Arts (Creative Writing). They can study full-time or part-time.

The programme recognises the richness of the two major literary and linguistic traditions in New Zealand, English and Māori. Students may write and submit work in English or in te reo Māori.

Graduates
Graduates from the programme appear in almost every aspect of New Zealand writing life. They include writers as diverse as Tusiata Avia, highly-acclaimed Samoan/New Zealand performance poet; prolific award-winning children’s writer Vince Ford; Karen McMillan (Unbreakable Spirit, Love in Aotearoa); Maggie Rainey-Smith (About Turns; Nathan Hoturoa Gray (First Pass Under Heaven;, Leilani Unasa (His Mother’s Son – stage play;, Dean Hewison (Maintain – digital feature film); Jessica Bromley(Te Pono – stage play).  Over thirty books have been published by graduates of this programme, and  many shorter works have appeared in both literary and general magazines, on radio, on stage and on the screen. (Writing by previous students can be found in the online literary journal “4th Floor”(www.whitireia.ac.nz/4thfloor/).

). Graduates are active as performers, events organisers, participants in the Writers in Schools programme, and as organisers of writers' groups. A number of graduates have gone onto MA programmes in Creative Writing.

Employment
Excellent writing is a very marketable skill, and graduates are employed in a range of writing work including communications, journalism and editing.

A hands-on writing programme
Above all, this is a practical ‘hands-on’ writing programme. Through exercises, workshops, discussion, speakers, but most of all through writing itself, writers develop their strengths, their critical eye, their knowledge of how the writing business works, and where they fit  in the rich world of writing.

For more information
Contact Pip Byrne, Writing Programme Coordinator at pip.byrne@whitireia.ac.nz  Or phone (04) 2373100 extension 3750 or visit the website www.whitireia.ac.nz.

Tutors
All the tutors in this programme are practicing writers and excellent teachers such as Renee, Lynn Davidson, Adrienne Jansen, Hinemoana Baker and Pip Byrne. In addition to the core tutors, students meet with a number of other writers, as guest speakers and mentors.