Faculty of Arts
Creative Writing

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Faculty of Arts

1. Diploma in Arts (Creative Writing)
2. Bachelor of Arts prerequisites
3. Requirements for a BA major in creative writing
4. Creative writing subjects in the BA
    4.1. Quotas
    4.2. Further study
5. Bachelor of Creative Arts prerequisites
6. Requirements for a BCA major in creative writing
7. Creative writing subjects in the BCA
    7.1. Further study
8. Career opportunities
9. For more information

The creative writing programs at the University of Melbourne are located in the Department of English with Cultural Studies and the School of Creative Arts. Creative writing at Melbourne offers students an exciting and productive environment in which to acquire and develop essential skills in creative writing through a range of subjects. The programs encourage work that combines creative and critical abilities. The focus of the programs is on developing students' writing skills and publication opportunities.

The programs offer a number of subjects and study areas, including prose fiction and poetry as well as non-fiction, performance, editing and scriptwriting, which provide opportunities for students to produce their own work under the guidance of professionally accredited practitioners who are technically expert in their specific areas. Many of them have close links with the publishing and film-production industries, and can keep you in touch with current developments. Graduates of this program have been extremely successful in seeing their work featured in a wide range of publications, and many have won awards in national competitions for their work.

Staff are dedicated to fostering a learning experience that students will value their whole lives, and they aim to help students to produce writing of a publishable standard.

The departments also have a vibrant postgraduate community with its own journals and seminar series to which creative writing students make important and regular contributions.

1. Diploma in Arts (Creative Writing)

The Diploma in Arts (Creative Writing) is only available to students who are currently enrolled in a degree course at the University of Melbourne. It consists of a three-year sequence of study, and adds one year to the duration of your degree.

Students must complete 25 points of first-year study from the Department of English including 106-186 Creative Writing 1: Autofictions and 75 points of second/third-year creative writing subjects selected from the lists below.

2. Bachelor of Arts prerequisites

Bachelor of Arts students enrolling in third-year creative writing subjects will normally have passed two first-year English subjects.

Students enrolling in second-year creative writing subjects will normally have passed 106-186 Creative Writing 1: Autofictions (or its equivalent) plus at least one other first-year English subject.

3. Requirements for a BA major in creative writing

A BA major in creative writing usually consists of nine 12.5-point subjects, totalling 112.5 points. It comprises:

at least two first-year subjects in English (25 points), one of which must be 106-186 Creative Writing 1: Autofictions; and
seven second/third-year subjects in English and/or creative writing as set out below (87.5 points). At least four of these subjects must be taken from the following approved creative writing subjects and must include the core subject 106-025 Creative Writing 2: Across the Genres. The remainder can consist of any second/third-year subjects offered in the English Department.

4. Creative writing subjects in the BA

First year

	106-186 Creative Writing 1: Autofictions	1

Second/third year

	106-025 Creative Writing 2: Across the Genres	1
	106-026 Writing Extended Fiction	2
	106-027 Writing Scripts	Not Offered
	106-028 Writing Poetry	1
	106-062 Writing Literary Non-Fiction	2
	106-077 Poetry in the Making	1
	106-090 Editing	Not Offered
	106-091 Writing for Performance	1
	106-212 Principles of Editing and Publishing	2

BA students who have completed:

	106-186 Creative Writing 1: Autofictions	1
	and
	one other first-year subject in the Department of English

may enrol in up to two of the following second-year creative writing subjects from the School of Creative Arts for credit towards their creative writing major:
	760-202 Short Fiction	2
	760-203 Scriptwriting for Theatre	2
	760-205 Poetry	1
	760-206 Scriptwriting for Screen	1

BA students who have completed:

	a second-year level creative writing subject from the Department of English

may seek approval to enrol in up to two of the following third-year creative writing subjects from the School of Creative Arts for credit towards their creative writing major. Eligible students must first seek written approval from both the creative writing course coordinator in the School of Creative Arts (Dr Kevin Brophy) and then enrol with a course adviser in the Faculty of Arts:
	760-309 Theory and Practice of Fiction	1
	760-320 Advanced Scriptwriting for Theatre	1
	760-328 Advanced Screen Writing	2
	760-330 Poetry, Poetics and Poetic Forms	2
	760-429 Writing through Character	2

BA students are not permitted to enrol in more than two second and/or third-year SCA creative writing subjects.

4.1. Quotas

Some second and third-year creative writing subjects listed above are subject to quotas. All students wishing to undertake second and third-year creative writing subjects must meet the prerequisites detailed above. Students must consult the Department of English for application procedures for quota subjects.

4.2. Further study

There are a number of graduate courses at different levels in a wide range of creative writing programs including the Graduate Certificate in Arts (Creative Writing), the Graduate Diploma in Arts (Creative Writing), an MA by thesis and the PhD. The Master of Creative Writing by coursework and minor thesis is co-taught with the School of Creative Arts. While there is no Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in creative writing, students undertaking honours in literary studies or the Postgraduate Diploma in Arts (English) can specialise in creative writing for their thesis. Details of these courses are available in the Faculty of Arts Postgraduate Handbook and from the Department of English.

5. Bachelor of Creative Arts prerequisites

All students accepted into the Bachelor of Creative Arts can choose to complete a major in creative writing, or take some subjects from the creative writing offerings with due regard to specific prerequisites for second and third-year subjects. See the School of Creative Arts section of this Handbook Creative writing for further information.

6. Requirements for a BCA major in creative writing

A BCA major in creative writing consists of:

25 points (usually two subjects) at first-year level;
25 points (usually two subjects) at second-year level;
50 points (usually four subjects) at third-year level.

Interdisciplinary subjects, see Interdisciplinary studies, may be credited towards the creative writing major.

7. Creative writing subjects in the BCA

First year

	760-101 Creative Writing 1A	1
	760-102 Creative Writing 1B	2

Second year

	760-202 Short Fiction	2
	760-203 Scriptwriting for Theatre	2
	760-205 Poetry	1
	760-206 Scriptwriting for Screen	1

Third year

	760-309 Theory and Practice of Fiction	1
	760-320 Advanced Scriptwriting for Theatre	1
	760-328 Advanced Screen Writing	2
	760-330 Poetry, Poetics and Poetic Forms	2
	760-301 Independent Writing Project (quota restricted)	1, repeat 2

Third/fourth year

	760-421 Diaries/Journals and Autobiography	2
	760-429 Writing through Character	2

BCA students who have completed:

	760-101 Creative Writing 1A	1
	and
	760-102 Creative Writing 1B	2

may enrol in up to two of the following creative writing subjects from the Department of English (at second-year level only) for credit towards their creative writing major:
	106-025 Creative Writing 2: Across the Genres	1
	106-026 Writing Extended Fiction	2
	106-027 Writing Scripts	Not Offered
	106-028 Writing Poetry	1
	106-062 Writing Literary Non-Fiction	2
	106-077 Poetry in the Making	1
	106-090 Editing	Not Offered
	106-091 Writing for Performance	1
	106-212 Principles of Editing and Publishing	2

BCA students are not permitted to enrol in more than two second and/or third-year English creative writing subjects.

7.1. Further study

Students who have completed a Bachelor of Creative Arts with a major in creative writing may go on to complete the Bachelor of Creative Arts (Honours) degree in creative writing.

Graduate and postgraduate courses offered in creative writing include the Graduate Diploma in Creative Arts, the Postgraduate Diploma in Creative Writing, a Master of Creative Writing by coursework and minor thesis (co-taught with the Department of English), a Master of Creative Arts and the PhD.

8. Career opportunities

In addition to developing students' own writing skills and publication opportunities, a degree with a major in creative writing provides students with an excellent and flexible preparation for careers in media, editing, publishing, education/teaching as well as other areas of professional writing such as journalism.

9. For more information

For Bachelor of Arts students:

The Department of English
Second Floor, John Medley Building
The University of Melbourne
Victoria 3010
Tel: +61 3 8344 5506/7/8
Web: http://www.english.unimelb.edu.au

For Bachelor of Creative Arts students:

The School of Creative Arts
Arts Centre Building
The University of Melbourne
Victoria 3010
Tel: +61 3 8344 8425
Web: http://www.sca.unimelb.edu.au