Postgraduate Courses, MA in Writing

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NEWS UPDATE: Alan McMonagle and Hedy Gibbons, both MA in Writing students 06-07, were  short-listed for prestigious, national literary competitions. Alan McMonagle's short story, The Wake, was runner up in the 2006 Sean O Faolain competition and Hedy Gibbons' story, Shipwreck, came fourth in the Dromineer Literary Festival. A collection of Hedy's shorter fiction, Written in Stone, was recently featured on RTE Lyric FM's, The Quiet Quarter.

Click here for Student and Graduate Publications: http://www.nuigalway.ie/english/studentandgraduatepublications.html

Click here for   The Postgraduate Applications Centre

For details on funding please see http://www.nuigalway.ie/courses/fees-and-funding/funding.html

The introductory meeting for THE class of 2012-13 will take place from 2pm to 4pm, thursday, AUGUST 31ST, in IT206, IT BUILDING, NUI, Galway.
CLASSES BEGIN ON SEPTEMBER 3RD.

The MA in Writing is a one-year (48 weeks), full-time course intended for committed writers. It is not called an MA in "Creative Writing" because the course covers forms of writing in addition to fiction and poetry.

The MA in Writing synchronizes with the Department’s current postgraduate offerings (MA in Literature & Publishing and MA in Drama & Theatre Studies). This MA thus builds on existing strengths at NUI Galway in the diverse arts of writing for page and stage, screen and daily papers.

Core Course

Writing Workshops

In each semester, all students will take a Writers' Seminar. This will meet once a week for three hours through the semester. Its scope will include fiction and non-fiction, poetry and prose, dramatic and non-dramatic writing, journals and journalism. Normally, there will be a different visiting writer at each seminar meeting.  Only students from the MA in Writing may enrol for credit in this seminar. Assessment  is based on weekly journal writings.

Option Courses

Students must take six modules in total.  The Writers' Seminar is compulsory, students may then take any five of the following modules -two from one semester and three from the other:

Semester I:

Poetry Workshop
Fiction Workshop
Reviewing Irish Theatre
Playwright's workshop II: Adaptation (places limited)
Discovering the Archives
Irish Playwrights since the 60s 
Contemporary Publishing (places limited)
Book History (places limited)
Literature of North America
19th Century Literary Marketplace
Studies in Oral History

Semester II:
Non-Fiction Workshop
Playwright's workshop I
Copy-editing & Proof-reading (places limited)
Textual Studies
Travel Literature
Imaginative Responses
Twentieth Century Irish Women's Writing
Theatre & Globalization 
   

What our students and graduates say:

Listen to Deirdre Mask, Mitchell Scholar and MA in Writing student 2010-11, speaking about her experience studying at NUI Galway:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7M2qPAaMQM

"This is a great course for aspiring writers who want to be challenged, assessed, and improved in their work".
Jennifer McCarrick, MA in Writing, 2009-10

"The MA in Writing at NUI, Galway has, without doubt, contributed enormously to the development of many writers, including myself, who have subsequently gone on to become established and published in their own chosen areas. The course has also greatly enriched the cultural life of the city. One example of this enrichment would be the large attendances at the many regular literary events held both on campus and in the locality. Established writers have been attracted to the area by the opportunity to study and write in genres other than their own and less experienced writers have been given the confidence and expertise to progress. The list of publications and literary prizes of MA in Writing graduates lengthens every year. An academic year spent studying on this course is a wonderful and valuable experience".  Gerard Hanberry, MA in Writing, 2002-03

PROVISIONAL TIMETABLE 2012-13

NB Times & Venues subject to change

Sem I

Sem II

Final Project: Portfolio

Over the course of the year, students will draft pieces of writing, some of which, once formal teaching has ended, they will develop as elements in their portfolio. Programme staff will offer advice on improvement. The collection of completed writings will be submitted by a date to be specified by the Programme Board [not later than August 1] and assessed as the students’ final project.

Click here for details on Portfolio  requirements

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Staff

Burke Kennedy, Mary-Elizabeth  - Playwright and founder-director of StoryTellers Theatre Company. Author of "Cross My Heart", "Curigh the Shape Shifter", "The Golden Goose", "The Parrot", "Wind of the World" and many translations and adaptations.  Teaches playwrights' workshop.

Carney, Kieran  - Playwright and screenwriter.  Author of the play "Afters" (London, 1995), co-author of RTE series "Bachelor's Walk" (2003), and author of "Hidalgo", currently in development with RTE.  Teaches workshop in adaptation for the screen

Frazier, Adrian  - English Department, NUI Galway.  Programme Director.  Author of Behind the Scenes: Yeats, Horniman, and the Struggle for the Abbey Theatre (1990) and George Moore 1852-1933 (2000).  Teaches workshops and seminars in non-fiction, reviewing, writing from archives, and convenes the programme's weekly seminar.

Kenny, John - English Department, NUI Galway. Currently preparing two books on John Banville for Irish Academic Press, due out 2007-8, and writing a long essay on Banville titled ’History Lessens: John Banville’s Ireland’, for the Field Day Review. Researching in the field of literary journalism and reviewing.

Lonergan, Patrick – English Department, NUI Galway. Reviews Editor of irish theatre magazine, webmaster for the International Association for the Study of Irish Literatures (IASIL), programmes editor for the Dublin Theatre Festival 2005 and 2006, and theatre critic for publications including The Irish Times. Author of many articles on Irish dramatists, including Martin McDonagh, Sean O’Casey, and Brian Friel. Currently working on a book on Irish Theatre and Globalization.

McCormack, Mike  - Author of Getting it in the Head (1995), for which he won the Rooney Prize; Crowe's Requiem (1998); and Notes from a Coma (2005).  Teaches course in fiction-writing.

Woods, Joe -Print and Media Journalist.  Formerly staff of MA in Journalism, NUI Galway.  Teaches Feature-Writing and Crime-Reporting.

Admission

Applicants must have a university Arts degree (minimum standard 2.2) or the equivalent in education and professional experience. Students will be accepted on the basis of the degree result and a portfolio of recent writing. Total enrolment will be limited to 15 students.

Applications should be made online via The Postgraduate Applications Centre (PAC)

See  PAC Website or

NUI Galway Postgraduate Admissions Office for further details.

You may also like to visit NUI Galway's Student Writers' Society website  Writers Group

Course Director: Professor Adrian Frazier adrian.fraziernuigalway.ie, 00353-91-493129

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