Cs 980v2 creative writing

Creative Writing at Edge Hill University

Write your story as it needs to be written.

Write it honestly, and tell it as best you can.

I'm not sure that there are any other rules.

Not ones that matter.

Neil Gaiman

Welcome to Creative Writing at Edge Hill University If you’re looking for a degree that is challenging and innovative, stretches your abilities and encourages independence, then the pioneering Creative Writing programmes at Edge Hill University will give you a voice, and the confidence to express yourself.

It is one of the fastest growing subjects in the curriculum, covering all aspects of Creative Writing, including poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction and writing for stage, screen and radio. And we’ve added writing for role playing games, because we want our students to be familiar with all the creative writing options to give them the best possible platform from which to launch their careers.

All the teaching is carried out by internationally-known writers, who will provide you with the tools necessary to become a professional writer - keeping a writer’s journal, research and observation, re-drafting and editing.

You will also gain insights into the processes of publishing, broadcasting and performing. At Edge Hill University, we place particular emphasis on reading and reflection, nurturing the ability to evaluate your own work and develop a consciousness of your own identity as a writer.

We have a strong cohort of PhD students, undertaking practicebased research and exploring the poetics of fiction and poetry. We have particular expertise in linguistically innovative poetry and the short story, and we welcome proposals in these areas.

In addition to the regular research forums run by the department, we award the Edge Hill Prize for the Short Story competition, and host two research groups for writers – ‘Poetry and Poetics’ and the ‘Narrative Research Group’.

The team publishes and/or edits a variety of academic and literary journals, including the Journal of British and Irish Innovative Poetry, Short Fiction in Theory and Practice and 21: Journal of Contemporary and Innovative Fiction.

We also publish The Black Market Review, an international literary journal edited exclusively by our students.

The community of writers at Edge Hill University is always here to answer any questions you have about the course, the tutors, the University, or the life of a writer, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

The Creative Writing Team

Staff Profile: Billy Cowan

Love writing?

Enid Blyton and the Famous Five are the first to blame. Then there was Agatha Christie followed by Carson McCullers. The real culprits however are Joe Orton, Edward Albee and Tennessee Williams.

These three giants of the theatre stand guilty as charged of making me put pen to paper.

Billy is an award-winning playwright from Northern Ireland. He has an MPhil in Playwriting from Birmingham University. His first play, Smilin’ Through, won the 2003 Writing Out award for Best New Gay Play and went on to be produced by Birmingham Rep and Contact in Manchester. The play was nominated for Best New Play 2005 at the Manchester Evening News Theatre awards. In 2010 his play Transitions won Warehouse Theatre’s International Playwriting Award. Other plays include The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Stigmata, Care Takers and The Right Ballerina which have all toured the country as well as Ireland.

Billy has also written community and youth plays for Bolton Octagon, Oldham Coliseum and M6 Theatre Company, one of the top theatre companies for young audiences in the country. Plays for young people include Sidelined, Straight Talk, Antigone, and Glee & Glum which has just been published by Playdead Press.

Before coming to Edge Hill, Billy worked regularly for many of the top theatre companies in the North West as a freelance creative writing and drama facilitator. He ran the Writing Lab at Oldham Coliseum and was Outreach and Participation Manager at M6 Theatre Company. Billy is also joint artistic director of Truant, his own theatre company.

Staff Profile: Ailsa Cox

Love writing?

I was seven or eight. I was very clumsy. My handwriting was terrible. I was useless at PE, art, sewing, craft and musical movement, and my school report said I was always daydreaming.

When one of the teachers said he liked my story, that was it – something I was good at! I got a typewriter for Christmas, and haven't stopped since.

Dr Ailsa Cox is a fiction writer and critic, with special expertise in the short story. Her collection The Real Louise and Other Stories is published by Headland Press. Other books include Writing Short Stories (Routledge) and Alice Munro (Northcote House Writers and Their Work series), while her stories have also appeared in various magazines and anthologies, including The Virago Book of Love and Loss, Malcolm Lowry: From the Mersey to the World, Katherine Mansfield Studies, New Writing, London Magazine, east of the web, Rainy City Stories and Paraxis.

The story Like Ice, Like Fire is published as a pocket-sized pamphlet by Leaf Books. She has published journal articles on writers including Helen Simpson and Elizabeth Bowen, and is editor of the journal Short Fiction in Theory and Practice (Intellect Books). She is currently completing a novel.

Staff Profile: Rodge Glass

Love writing?

The turning point for me was as a teenager, realising that writers were not aliens from outer space - they were actual real people, like me, and writing was not an elite sport.

Anyone could do it if they worked hard enough. I began to notice examples of writers I respected who came from a similar background, and that gave me the impetus to dedicate myself to the craft.

Rodge is a novelist, short story writer, biographer and editor appointed at Edge Hill University in September 2012, having previously taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses in creative writing and journalism at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. He gained his PhD in English and Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow in 2008, after completing an MLitt in Creative Writing there, in 2003. Since 2010 he has been Associate Editor at Cargo Publishing, and written for a number of newspapers and magazines, including The Guardian and The Herald.

His debut novel, No Fireworks (2005), was published by Faber & Faber, and nominated for the 2006 Dylan Thomas Prize, Saltire First Book Award, Glen Dimplex First Book Award, and the Authors’ Club First Novel Award. His second novel, Hope for Newborns (2008), was also published by Faber & Faber. Alasdair Gray: A Secretary’s Biography (2008), published by Bloomsbury, won the 2009 Somerset Maugham Award for Non-Fiction, and was nominated for the Scottish Arts Council Non-Fiction Book of the Year.

Dougie’s War: A Soldier’s Story (2010, co-written with artist Dave Turbitt), published by Freight, was nominated for the 2011 SICBA Best Graphic Novel of the Year Award, as well as winning Best Publication and Best Illustration at the Scottish Creative Awards in 2011. Bring Me the Head of Ryan Giggs (2012), a novel, was published by Tindal Street Press.

His latest work, LoveSexTravelMusik, is a collection of short stories published in 2013.

Staff Profile: Robert Sheppard

Love writing?

I knew I wanted to write the day I met Bob Cobbing and he showed me a poem that had no words in it and invited me to perform it with him as a sound poem.

Dr Robert Sheppard is a poet and critic, as well as Professor of Poetry and Poetics and Programme Leader of the MA in Creative Writing at Edge Hill. His book Twentieth Century Blues appeared from Salt in 2008, ‘a major work of serious intent’ according to Poetry Wales. Recent work, Warrant Error, his innovative sonnet sequence, appeared from Shearsman in 2009, followed by Berlin Bursts in 2011. This year his ‘fictional poems’ appeared as A Translated Man from Shearsman. His critical work The Poetry of Saying (Liverpool University Press, 2005) is the result of 25 years at the centre of ‘linguistically innovative poetry’, writing it, performing it, publishing it, editing it, criticising it.

Further essays on poetics and poetry are published by Shearsman as When Bad Times Made for Good Poetry: episodes in the history of innovation. He has published poetry in various anthologies and magazines, including Anthology of Twentieth Century British and Irish Poetry (ed. Tuma), Other (ed. Caddel and Quartermain), The Reality Street Book of Sonnets, Critical Quarterly, PN Review, Stand, and Agenda. Robert also edits Pages, a blogzine of poetry, at robertsheppard.blogspot.com, and the academic Journal of British and Irish Innovative Poetry.

Staff Profile: Kim Wiltshire

Love writing?

The first play that made me want to be a scriptwriter was The Crucible

by Arthur Miller (1952). We'd read it for A level, and it hadn't made much impression on me as a text, but when it came to life in a promenade performance I saw by the RSC, it was the most emotionally draining and theatrically thrilling experience I'd ever had.

Dr Kim Wiltshire is a scriptwriter and fiction writer. After attending drama school, Kim worked in theatre for a few years before deciding to take her writing seriously, and enrolling on the MA Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University. Following that, she completed her PhD at Lancaster University, exploring the representation of masculinity, through both critical and creative work.

Her first short play, The Loser, was produced in 2009 by Scenepool at Camden People’s Theatre. Her first full-length play, Joy With Child, for which she was mentored by Charlotte Keatley through North West Playwrights, was produced in Manchester in 2010 by Organised Chaos. In 2013 she was part of the curator team for the Alligator Club where she worked on Blackout at The Dukes, Lancaster and Pages from my Songbook at the Manchester Royal Exchange.

Kim has been commissioned to write plays and screenplays by companies such as Lime Arts, Let’s Go Global, Bolton Octagon and Burnley Youth Theatre, where she wrote the first play about the 2001 riots, Polarised. Her short fiction has appeared in Transmission Magazine, Commonword’s Migration Stories (part of the Moving Manchester project) and the Good Ear Review. She has recently worked with Lime Arts on a creative project with young people with cystic fibrosis called CF Transitions, and her evaluation of the project appeared in UNESCO’s e-journal about Youth Arts.

Kim is currently working with theatre maker Paul Hine on Project XXX, exploring the growing acceptance in youth culture of internet pornography. Other research interests include gender representation, masculinity, feminism, and arts and health.

Staff Profile: Peter Wright

Love writing?

I grew up reading - novels, novelisations, comics, games, whatever I could get my hands on.

It was like listening to a thousand voices all telling stories and, sooner or later, you find yourself wanting to tell stories of your own. It's sometimes hard to start. It's a lot harder to stop.

Peter Wright is currently Reader in Speculative Fictions. Although appointed to the English Department in 1999, specialising in Science Fiction, Utopian and Anti-Utopian Writing and Science Fiction Cinema, he designed, co-wrote and validated the Film Studies programme in 2001.

Having taught a range of English Literature and Film modules, he made the move to Creative Writing in 2012 where he teaches Beyond Books, a module examining how stories are told in fiction, film, graphic novels and games, Writing for Roleplaying Games, and Writing for Digital Adventure Games. He is currently researching and writing tabletop roleplaying games. He also supervises undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations in literature, film, television and game studies. His most recent PhD student attained her doctorate without corrections and published a book based upon her thesis the following year.

Peter graduated with a First Class Honours Degree from Edge Hill University with a commendation from the Senate of Lancaster University. Four years later, he obtained his PhD from Liverpool University. His thesis, A Conundrum Wrapped in an Enigma: Rereading Gene Wolfe's Fictions of the New Sun was published in 2003 by Liverpool University Press. He has subsequently published on Edgar Rice Burroughs, British science fiction television, Doctor Who, The Changes, teaching science fiction, and science fiction film adaptation. His research into science fiction in a variety of media remains a significant part of his scholarly activity. His creative work is, currently, focused on the tabletop roleplaying game.

Student Profile: Sarah Billington BA (Hons) Creative Writing

Love writing?

When I was fourteen my teacher asked the class to write a poem about the Gulf War, which was happening at the time. That night I went home and wrote three poems, all of which my teacher loved and had framed in the school hall.

I knew then that poetry would always be a part of my life.

“I chose Edge Hill as I felt they were very dedicated to helping people who had been out of education for a long time.

Writing, especially poetry, has always been something that I’ve enjoyed doing, so to be able to gain a qualification in something that I really love is a fantastic opportunity. I’d like to study for a Master’s once I’ve graduated, and to be awarded the Rhiannon Evans Poetry Scholarship by the University is a massive help and honour.

Poetry is something I’ve always had a passion for, so my ultimate career goal would involve poetry in some form. I’m interested in World War Two and the Holocaust. My poem, Technical Bulletin 112 – First They Came for the Jews, was published recently, and as part of my MA I’d like to write more poems about the American GIs in Buchenwald Labour Camp.

I’ve loved discovering new authors and poets and seeing just how much these writers have influenced me. All of my tutors have been inspiring, and introduced me to the work of writer Samuel Beckett and poet Paul Celan, both of which influenced everything that I write.

It’s hard to pick just one memorable student experience, but I’ll always remember reading Beckett’s Waiting for Godot for the first time – it really blew me away.

My advice to prospective students would be to absorb and enjoy everything that you’re being taught as you’re only here for a short time but you learn things that will stay with you throughout your life.

The secret to a happy student life is to appreciate everybody for who they are, and to do the work that is being asked of you at the time, as it really does show in your marks.”

Alumni Profile: Wendy Gillett BA (Hons) English with Creative Writing

Love writing?

Since I was very young I've always loved to read. I remember writing a small story for ‘show and tell’ when I was in primary school and feeling very proud of myself. I wrote short stories on and off when I was a teenager but only really got my inspiration and drive to write more when I needed the creative outlet from working in a corporate environment every day. Writing is something that, once it gets hold of you, doesn't let go.

“I chose to study Creative Writing here because the tutors I met were so enthusiastic about the subject I felt this was a reflection of what to expect once the course began.

I’ve always believed that you get out of something what you put in and, on this course, that’s definitely the case; creatively, you do something different every week.

My writing has developed enormously during my studies and I no longer stick to the same genre any more. I’m now confident enough to experiment with both my writing and my approach to it, something the tutors actively encourage. Their support has been invaluable and really gives you confidence.

This course is not only about your own writing, though. Since I’ve been at Edge Hill I’ve had the chance to meet so many distinguished writers, including Carol Ann Duffy, Billy Collins, Jane Rogers and Jeremy Dyson. I’m also involved in the Black Market Review, the student-run literary journal which has provided invaluable experience in getting a piece of fiction or poetry published.

It’s because I’ve enjoyed my time here so much that I’m now studying for a PhD. I’d like to stay at Edge Hill for a while longer yet!”

Get writing...

Start with a question, not with a plot.

Student Profile: Martin Palmer BA (Hons) English and Creative Writing

Love writing?

I've always loved language: how it works, how different ones compare, and how rules can be broken – Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky, for instance. It bred in me the desire to communicate, which I love to do through writing. The process of crafting a piece is itself rewarding, trying to make sense of life on the page, whether I succeed or not!

“I chose to study the English and Creative Writing degree as it combines my passion for literature and language with my dream of becoming a writer.

The tutors here are excellent and they are always there to lend a hand and offer friendly support above and beyond the call of duty.

The course is challenging, and the module on Experimental Writing was particularly interesting. Poems involving two different words (‘like’ and ‘attracts’) placed in a certain way around the page?

Poems inspired by the five vowels? Poems containing Monty Python-esque screeching? It’s a bit shocking, but in this confusion there are new possibilities for writers, and I think that if you want to come to Edge Hill, you have to be prepared to walk untrodden paths.

As well as this, through the variety of guest lectures and extracurricular events held on campus, I’ve gained further perspectives from a range of significant writers which I hope will serve me well in the future.

Becoming a student blogger was a good way for me to use my English skills, and to help communicate to future students what is available and what is happening at Edge Hill.

For anyone thinking of undertaking a writing course, my advice would simply be to come to Edge Hill with an open mind; you’ll soon discover hidden strengths and passions that previously you didn’t know existed.”

Student Profile: Christine Riaz BA (Hons) Creative Writing

Love writing?

I’ve always enjoyed writing, I think I express myself best through the written word; the freedom to play with words and meaning. I recall being in primary school and writing – or rather typing on an old bakelite typewriter that we had at home – a play for the class assembly.

I became really cross with my classmates during rehearsals because they clearly weren’t taking my play as seriously as I was!

“I’ve worked full-time since leaving school, combining work with caring responsibilities, and my decision to study full-time at this point in my life is part of a wider ambition to achieve a better life balance. I realised that if I was to complete three years of study it had to be a subject that I could immerse myself in.

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, but I really enjoy the sense of being within a community of writers, and the fact that it’s a diverse group of people on the course and anything goes… well, almost anything!

Since starting the course I mainly read contemporary authors. I’m not interested in whether a writer is a good person, or whether I share their values or politics, what matters to me is whether I’m either entertained or affected in some way by what they write, so I’m not sure about literary heroes, but I have a few favourite authors - Beryl Bainbridge, Michael Bradbury, and I think Hilary Mantel really deserves the acclaim she’s received. I admire Martin Amis’ writing, he’s very clever, and I find the British writer and critic AA Gill entertaining.

I’d like to have something that I’ve written published, I wouldn’t be doing the course if I didn’t, but I’d also love to be able to go on to further study and research.

My ultimate career goal hasn’t changed since I was seventeen – I’d like to write for the arts pages of The Guardian!

My advice to prospective students would be to choose to study a subject that you love and ideally have a talent for. Everything else will follow on.”

Student Profile: Phil Richardson BA (Hons) Creative Writing

Love writing?

I’d become a great lover of the classic sitcoms of the 1970s and 1980s, but it was John Sullivan’s Only Fools and Horses that captivated me the most. I was impressed by how such memorable characters, and the hilarious situations they found themselves in, could win the hearts of the nation.

It was only then that I got the urge to try my hand at scriptwriting myself.

“I’d seen so many shows on tv and wondered whether I could write stuff like that. I’d heard that Edge Hill had a great reputation, and some of my friends said they’d enjoyed their time there. I was excited by the idea of mixing with other ambitious students and gaining invaluable tuition from professional writers.

One of the second year modules provided a real course highlight.

I wrote a play with two fellow students, which was performed at Edge Hill’s Arts Centre. It gave me an insight into the practicalities of theatre production - writing a script, casting, rehearsals, technical support, and advertising. Hearing people laughing at dialogue I spent months perfecting was an amazing feeling.

The work of Eric Chappell, best known for the classic sitcom Rising Damp, is a significant influence. His characters are always vivid, and his dialogue is crisp and true to life. John Sullivan [creator of Only Fools and Horses] developed characters that are easy to relate to, and storylines were simple. He brought pathos to the humour, giving his work more depth than the average sitcom.

Finally, the plays of John Godber have been helpful because many revolve around domestic issues, which I also enjoy writing about.

I’d like to work in a theatre, working alongside a stage manager, actors, directors and designers. It would give me the opportunity to watch and learn.

The tutors have always been more than happy to help improve and develop my work. Dr Kim Wiltshire‘s invaluable advice on stagecraft has helped me to get the best out of my scripts; techniques that I’ll continue to use in the future.”

Get writing...

Read your work out loud to yourself.

Student Profile: Anushree Nande MA Creative Writing

Love writing?

I'd never really considered writing as a serious career option before Year 9, when I wrote a fictitious news article for my English class assignment. My teacher, my family, and especially a close family friend who works in the media industry, told me that I showed real promise and opened my eyes to the world of creative writing.

“I’ve had four of the best years of my life here, and I couldn’t be happier. I’d definitely recommend Edge Hill to anyone thinking of coming to the UK to study. It’s a close-knit community, has a beautiful campus, a good support system for home and international students, and friendly staff who do their best to help.

I loved what I’d read about the Creative Writing course at Edge Hill, and chose to study the full-time MA in Creative Writing. I’ve been Editor-in-Chief (Fiction) for Edge Hill's Black Market Review, and Reviews Editor for Ailsa Cox's journal, Short Fiction in Theory and Practice.

When I’m not studying I have a great time playing for the University’s badminton team. This includes social events, such as the weekly fancy dress!

I'm not really sure what I want to do after university, but I’ve already had my first piece of writing, a short story called L'Effet de Papillon, published online.

Having been born and brought up in Mumbai, I’d like to go back home for a while and take some time off after four years away.” gogglepublishing.wordpress.com

Get writing...

The first rule is, there are no rules.

Student Profile: Carys Bray PhD Creative Writing

Love writing?

I’ve always been a voracious reader and I suppose it was only a matter of time before I began to wonder how the magic worked and whether I could learn the trick of it. I wrote reams of Famous Five fan fiction which I presented to my teacher who was kind and encouraging (poor man) and that’s how it began.

For Carys Bray, Creative Writing PhD student, Associate Lecturer and short story prizewinner, HE has been a life-changer. Now she can add novelist to her CV with the publication of her first full-length work of fiction, Here We Are Together, completed as part of her PhD. “I was in my early thirties when I crawled out from under a pile of nappies and started to wonder what I was going to do with the rest of my life. I did a BA in English Literature, and had the option to choose some Creative Writing modules. I loved them, and started my MA when I was 34.

The MA taught me to be a better writer. The staff expanded my reading horizons, taught me how to give and receive feedback, how to edit and discard things that don’t work, and how to submit work to journals and magazines.

But I think the most valuable thing was that I found a writing community. I met other people who wanted to be writers.

I used to be afraid to write what I knew because I thought it was too boring and ordinary. But I’ve since realised that there’s plenty of material to be found in family relationships.

Now I often cook dinner with my laptop open on the worktop.

Sometimes I turn my days upside down and work all night then sleep for a couple of hours after the school run.

I wouldn’t really describe myself as a full-time writer yet. I’m still studying for my PhD and I do some part time teaching. Having said that, I suppose my teaching and studying are part of being a writer… I might actually be a full-time writer! Gulp.”

Here We Are Together will be published by Hutchinson in June 2014.

Get writing...

Read, read, read!

Jeremy Dyson

Events and Readings

As a Creative Writing student you will have access to a wide range of events, including visiting speakers, such as Jennifer Saunders, Michael Stewart, and BBC executive producer Hilary Martin, and literature readings from writers. A list of recent readers includes Lee Harwood, Maggie Gee, Iain Sinclair, Robert Shearman, Jerome Rothenberg, Carol Ann Duffy, Billy Collins, Sarah Hall, Jane Rogers, and Alan Bissett. Theatre visits and field trips are often built into individual modules, and recently students took part in a Radio Four broadcast with Jeremy Dyson, co-creator of The League of Gentlemen.

Many of these events take place on campus in The Arts Centre, Edge Hill’s 200-seat venue with a 140-seat studio space, and a full programme of drama, literature, dance, physical theatre, comedy, music and cinema.

Black Market Review The Black Market Review (BMR), Edge Hill's international literary journal, is produced by the University's Creative Writing students, providing them with vital experience, developing their professional skills as writers and editors, and preparing them for the competitive marketplace.

Covering fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, translation, art, photography, reviews and interviews, the BMR is published annually.

Wendy Gillett began as senior poetry editor in her first year, before making Editor-in-Chief: "I feel a great sense of achievement and satisfaction knowing that I’m helping other writers to get their work published. This not only influences my own writing but also provides me with real-life experience in publishing.

My attitude is ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained', and working on the BMR has given me the opportunity to broaden my skills and knowledge, which I will use when applying for jobs in the future.

I've really enjoyed working on the BMR – it’s given me the chance to meet new people and see a different side to the writing process." www.blackmarketreview.com "BMR offers our students the genuine experience of working on a professional literary journal, developing a wide range of transferable skills. Putting the journal together not only enhances our students' craft as writers, but also develops their abilities as critical readers through the editing process. Furthermore, it gives them a real insight into what happens when they submit work to a literary journal, and provides opportunities to make important contacts."

Kim Wiltshire

Research and Postgraduate Opportunities Many of our students have gone on to study Creative Writing at a higher level. Our MA in Creative Writing has been running since 1989, and attracts students looking to specialise in the writing of fiction, poetry or scriptwriting, attending intensive workshops as they work towards submission for publication.

Our graduates have published books, pamphlets of poetry, short stories, started their own magazines and publishing ventures, and organised public readings.

PhD students in Creative Writing flourish at Edge Hill, one of the first centres to offer the subject at this level. Again, many of them are our own graduates. Combining the writing of a novel or a long poetry collection with research into the philosophy of writing, these students are both preparing to enter the world of publication and training towards teaching Creative Writing themselves.

There are two active research groups within the department: the Narrative Research Group and the Poetry and Poetics Research Group.

The programme team publishes and/or edits a variety of academic and literary journals, including the Journal of British and Irish Innovative Poetry and Short Fiction in Theory and Practice.

There's no money in poetry, but then there's no poetry in money either.

Robert Graves

The Workplace: do you have the write stuff?

Whether you see writing as a lifelong vocation, or would simply like to try your hand at something different, a degree in Creative Writing offers a sound practical basis for the future.

Creative Writing graduates have many skills sought by employers, including: • • • • •

clear and concise written and verbal communication skills research knowledge an ability to think creatively ‘outside the box’ flexibility and self-motivation collaborative skills

Creative Writing graduates may enter a whole range of professions, including teaching, journalism, publishing, arts administration, marketing, general management, and human resources management.

Edge Hill graduates often continue at postgraduate level, through our MA in Creative Writing.

Get writing...

Your words should have a rhythm, just like music.

Glittering Prizes

The prestigious Edge Hill Prize for the Short Story was launched in 2007 by Dr Ailsa Cox, and recognises excellence in a published single author short story collection - the only such award for a whole collection from a British/Irish author in the UK. In 2013 the literary world finally caught up, awarding the Nobel Prize for Literature to Alice Munro, who has dedicated her career to this oft-neglected format. As author of Alice Munro (Northcote House), Dr Cox is pleased to see the short story form finally being celebrated globally.

Irish author and journalist Kevin Barry won in 2013, for his collection Dark Lies The Island. Judge Sarah Hall, and 2012’s winner, praised Kevin’s “outstanding power and range” in creating “convincing worlds of the natural and unnatural.”

Kevin, who also took the Readers’ Choice category, judged by our own Creative Writing students, believes “the short story should be kept to the fore as it’s such an important genre of writing - we need stories in our lives.”

Previous winners and shortlisted authors include Jeremy Dyson, Robert Shearman, Helen Simpson, Neil Gaiman, Chris Beckett, Colm Tóibín, Claire Keegan, and Graham Mort.

The prize has three categories: • The main literary award of £5,000. A panel of judges choose the winner from a shortlist of five collections announced each May. • The £1,000 Readers' Choice, chosen from the same shortlist.

• A £500 student prize, which rewards one of the stars of Edge Hill University's MA Creative Writing course. edgehill.ac.uk/shortstory “The Edge Hill Prize is the only UK award that recognises excellence in a published collection of short stories and each year the number and quality of the submissions is growing, both debut collections and work from some of our most highly acclaimed fiction-writers, all of them exploring the diversity and accessibility of this great literary form.”

Prize co-ordinator Dr Ailsa Cox, Reader in Creative Writing and English

Saffron Palmer

Glittering Prizes

A short story about honour killings in the Middle-East scooped Edge Hill Creative Writing and English Literature student Saffron Palmer the first ever Jo Powell BA Prize.

A new category in the Edge Hill Short Story Awards, it was set up to commemorate the life of crime writer Jo Powell, a well-loved and highly regarded Creative Writing lecturer at Edge Hill when she died suddenly in 2011.

“I was completely shocked when I was told I had won – I couldn’t speak,” said the 20-year-old from Norfolk, whose winning piece, Laila, was inspired by a book about honour killings.

“Laila is just a mild example of what actually goes on, and it happens in the UK too. It’s so scary to know someone can be murdered in the belief that they have brought dishonour or shame upon the family or community. It needs to be stopped.

“We see stories in the media and it’s so extreme…but it happens and I think it’s something that needs to be addressed more widely.”

Saffron hadn’t thought about writing short stories until she started studying at Edge Hill University. “It’s the perfect style for me though because I’m far too impatient and lack the attention span to actually write a novel.” To which we’ll add “…yet.”

She concludes: “I’ve always got my nose in a book and since coming to Edge Hill I’ve loved being able to explore different genres and trying out new ideas. It’s a great place to study and I’m loving my time here.”

Get writing...

Write every day.

Short Stories from EHU

Creative Writing student Sue Stout, who won the GQ Norman Mailer Student Non-Fiction Writing Award, has now had her work published in the prestigious magazine.

Sticking to the Letter tells the story of how she lost her husband on military duties in Afghanistan in 2008 but followed his dying wish, which was to make sure she pursued her ambition to have her writing published.

Sue, who studied for her Master’s at Edge Hill University, has had her story printed in GQ magazine.

The mother-of-two explained: “Everything I talk about in this memoir stems from the letter he left me when he died, hence the title. I didn't want it to be a sad story though, which is why I focused mainly on trying to look after myself and my experiences, for example entering triathlons, which was so funny at times.”

Winning the award meant Sue was also able to spend a month at the Norman Mailer Writer's Colony, a residential educational centre based at the legendary author's former home in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The giant of American literature, novelist, journalist, film director and two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner died in 2007. The colony was set up in his memory to nurture the development of future writers, using his contributions to literary culture as a guiding force.

Senior Lecturer Robert Sheppard, Programme Leader for the MA Creative Writing course, said: "Winning the GQ Norman Mailer Award is a major accomplishment, especially for an unpublished author, and Sue's success proves yet again that we have many exceptionally talented writers studying Creative Writing here at Edge Hill University. We’re all extremely proud of Sue's achievement."

Get writing...

Get close up and specific.

Joanne Ashcroft

Short Stories from EHU

Edge Hill Associate Lecturer and PhD student Joanne Ashcroft has always loved poetry. She also has a talent for experimental verse, publishing her first poetry collection, From Parts Becoming Whole (Knives, Forks, and Spoons Press), in 2011. Her second collection, Maps and Love Song for Mina Loy (Seren Books), scooped the Poetry Wales Purple Moose Poetry Prize 2012.

Joanne only began to write seriously when she began her BA (Hons) in Creative Writing at Edge Hill. Inspired by the poetry modules, she started writing her own poems, experimenting with language and technique.

A former trainee nurse, Joanne takes her inspiration from whatever’s around her: "I'm interested in words for the way they sound rather than their meaning, so I use unconventional sources, like dictionaries or technical journals, as inspiration. I like to move away from the normal format for poetry and find different ways of constructing poems using sounds. It makes you look at language differently."

Joanne secured Edge Hill's first Rhiannon Evans Poetry Scholarship to enable her to deepen her academic understanding of experimental poetry and hone her skills on the MA programme.

"I don't know if I'd have had the courage to approach a publisher about my work if my tutors hadn’t encouraged me. To find out my work is being published has given me so much confidence, I actually feel like a writer." knivesforksandspoonspress.co.uk serenbooks.com

Get writing...

Buy a notebook to record ideas, overheard conversation, poems, phrases, experiences.

Take it everywhere.

Student Support

Edge Hill University provides a comprehensive student support service that can help with most areas of University life, for example advice on managing finances, career guidance, accommodation or confidential access to a qualified counsellor. Support for students with a disability or specific learning difficulty, for example dyslexia, is provided through the inclusive services team.

You will be assigned a personal tutor who will hold regular meetings to discuss personal development and your progress as a writer; the personal tutor will also be able to advise on support available across the Department, faculty and campus. More details on how to contact the inclusive services team can be found in programme and/or module handbooks.

Life at Edge Hill In addition to the cutting edge resources in each academic department, there are impressive library, IT and study support facilities across the campus to ensure students get the best out of Edge Hill’s extensive information resources and learning facilities.

The Hub forms the centre of the campus, complete with freeaccess Macs and plasma screens, where students and staff meet, eat, relax, and collaborate, while Creative Edge is our £17m state-of-the-art media centre, providing industry-standard facilities. It is a hub for creative people to explore their imaginations, and bring their ideas and visions to life.

The Students’ Union gives you a voice, promoting positive change to ensure you have the best possible experience while at university. This includes access to a variety of student clubs and societies, and the opportunity to enter the world of student politics or embark on a media career with the online mag or the University’s radio station.

Our recently-developed sports site provides high quality indoor and outdoor facilities, and a range of sports clubs which compete with other educational institutions regionally and nationally, through the British Universities and College Sport (BUCS) league.

Find the key emotion; this may be all you need know to find your short story.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Getting Started All reading is good, so we wouldn’t give you a definitive list of must-read books. That list would be very long indeed.

However, some literature we think you might appreciate before embarking on a Creative Writing programme would be:

Books Reginald Gibbons (ed.) (1989), The Poet’s Work. University of Chicago Press Graeme Harper (ed.) (2012), Inside Creative Writing: Interviews with Contemporary Writers. Basingstoke: Palgrave Ilya Kaminsky (ed.) (2010), The Ecco Anthology of International Poetry. New York: Ecco Claire Keegan (2008), Walk The Blue Fields. London: Faber & Faber Hilary Mantel (2010), Giving up the Ghost. London: Fourth Estate Jon McGregor (2011), Even the Dogs. London: Bloomsbury China Miéville (2011), The City and the City. London: Pan Stuart Spencer (2002), The Playwright’s Guidebook. London: Faber and Faber Ra Page (ed.) (2011), Litmus. Manchester: Comma Press Michelene Wandor (2008), The Author is Not Dead, Merely Somewhere Else: Creative Writing Reconsidered.

Basingstoke: Palgrave

Scripts A basic grounding in some of the theatrical innovators and prolific scriptwriters, such as Eugene Ionesco, Bertolt Brecht, John Osborne, Alan Ayckbourn, Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, Caryl Churchill and Arthur Miller, is always useful.

Radio, tv, and film scripts can be found in the BBC Writers Room, at bbc.co.uk/writersroom/

Plays Jez Butterworth (2009), Jerusalem. London: Nick Hern Books Vivienne Franzmann (2011), Mogadishu. London: Nick Hern Books Sarah Kane (2001), Blasted. London: Methuen Drama Mark Ravenhill (1999), Some Explicit Polaroids.

London: Methuen Drama Simon Stephens (2009), Plays 2. London: Methuen Drama

Role-playing games Wolfgang Bauer et al. (2012) The Kobold Guide to Worldbuilding.

Kirkland, WA: Open Design LLC Wolfgang Bauer et al. (2012) The Complete Kobold Guide to Games Design. Kirkland, WA: Open Design LLC

Get writing...

All good creative writing requires practice, so here are some tasks to get you started.

It's none of their business that you have to learn to write.

Let them think you were born that way.

Ernest Hemingway

Write down last night’s dream.

What was your favourite song when you were fourteen? What did it mean to you?

Write from the point of view of someone very old or very young.

Imagine a face at the window; what do you see?

Midnight. A knock on the door.

Write on‌

Contact Us edgehill.ac.uk/location

Liverpool

Manchester

Birmingham

London

If you would like to find out more about our Creative Writing programmes please visit

edgehill.ac.uk/creativewriting Or contact: Course Information, Advice and Guidance Edge Hill University St Helens Road Ormskirk Lancashire L39 4QP T: 01695 657000 E: study@edgehill.ac.uk

The first chapter sells the book.

The last chapter sells the next book.

Mickey Spillane

If you would like to find out more about our Creative Writing programmes please visit

edgehill.ac.uk/creativewriting