A brief history and prospect
The University of Glasgow’s commitment goes back a long way, but became defined when the Masters in Creative Writing was founded in 1995 by Professor Philip Hobsbaum and Professor Willy Maley. Philip Hobsbaum had already gained a remarkable reputation, running writers’ groups in London, Belfast and Glasgow for over thirty years. Writers associated with these groups include Seamus Heaney and Michael Longley, but those who proved most relevant to the Glasgow programme were Alasdair Gray, James Kelman, Liz Lochhead, Bernard MacLaverty and Tom Leonard.
In 1998 the Glasgow Masters became a joint Masters taught by the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde. This added the novelists Margaret Elphinstone and Zoe Wicomb to its list of teachers. By 2001 the Masters course was one of the most successful postgraduate courses of its kind in the United Kingdom, and the University of Glasgow established a chair in creative writing, which was jointly held by Alasdair Gray, James Kelman and Tom Leonard from 2001-2003. In 2002 the administration of the Masters reverted to the University of Glasgow and the novelist Janice Galloway (2002-2006) and the poet and playwright Liz Lochhead joined the teaching staff. The University of Strathclyde withdrew from the course in order to start its new undergraduate programme in creative writing and journalism.
In 2003 Alasdair Gray retired and James Kelman and Liz Lochhead left to take up other commitments (though Liz Lochhead has returned to the University where she is currently Writer in Residence and has an association with the Edwin Morgan Centre); and two successful young novelists, Zoe Strachan and Louise Welsh, both formerly students on the course, were appointed teachers. In 2004 two more novelists joined the teaching team, Laura Marney (also a graduate of the course and now Deputy Convenor) and Alan Bissett. Louise Welsh withdrew to concentrate on her writing.
The Masters in Creative Writing has recruited in 2006-7 44 full- and part-time students and involves three dedicated teachers (with a fourth on a year’s leave) and contributions from members of the Departments of English Literature, Scottish Literature and Gaelic. Also associated with the programme are the poet Professor Tom Leonard.
Programme developments over the next eighteen months include: the delivery of a Creative Writing undergraduate option in year 4 (open to students in the School and Faculty); the growth to 60 part- and full-time students on the campus-based M Litt; an on-line delivered full-time M Litt programme, recruiting 12 individuals from around the world each year; and a campus-based taught Creative Writing PhD programme, the first of its kind in the UK.
Many of our MLitt students have been published in book form. These include: Nick Brooks [2000-02], My Name is Denise Forrester (Orion, 2004); Lynsey Calderwood [2002-04], Cracked (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2002); Anne Donovan [1999-01], Hieroglyphics (Canongate, 2001); Anne Donovan [1999-01], Buddha Da (Canongate, 2002); Stephanie Green [2002-04], Glass Works (Cat's Pyjama Publications, 2005); Rodge Glass [2001-03], No Fireworks (Faber, 2005); Jen Hadfield [2000-01], Almanacs (Bloodaxe Books, 2005); Mandy Haggith [2003-05], Letting Light In (Essence Press, 2005); Shug Hanlan [1996-98], Hi Bonnybrig (Neil Wilson Publishing, 2000); Laura Marney [1998-01], No Wonder I Take a Drink (Black Swan, 2004); Laura Marney [1998-01], Nobody Loves a Ginger Baby (Black Swan, 2005); Jennifer McCartney [2004-05], Afloat (Penguin/Hamish Hamilton, 2006); Alison Miller [2001-03], Demo (Hamish Hamilton/Penguin, October 2005); Will Napier [1999-00], Summer of the Cicada (Jonathan Cape, 2005); Landon J. Napoleon [1995-96], Zigzag (Bloomsbury/Henry Holt, 1999) http://www.landonjnapoleon.com/ index.html; Colette Paul [2000-02], Whoever You Choose to Love (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2004); Rachel Seiffert [1999-00], The Dark Room (Heinemann, 2001); Rachel Seiffert [1999-00], Field Study (Heinemann, 2004); Alastair Sim [2004-06], Rosslyn Blood (Publish America, 2004); Zoe Strachan [1998-00], Negative Space (Picador 2002); Zoe Strachan [1998-00], Spin Cycle (Picador, 2004); Louise Welsh [1998-00], The Cutting Room (Canongate, 2002); Louise Welsh [1998-00], Tamburlaine Must Die (Canongate, 2004); Graeme Williamson [1998-00], Strange Faith (Neil Wilson Publishing, 2001).
Other students have been published on-line, in magazines and journals, or have had their work produced and broadcast. Some have been shortlisted for major short fiction prizes, including the Canongate and Fish Awards; Rachel Seiffert was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and two • Dorothy Alexander and Anne Donovan • have won the Macallan. Freda Church’s short story ‘Spoonface’ recently won the Fish Short Story Award judged by Roddy Doyle, and in 2004 Eunice Buchanan won the McCash Scots Poetry competition. The £5000 New Writing Ventures Award 2006 (Norwich) went to Eleanor Thom, who took her degree in 2006 for ‘Burns’, a chapter from her first novel.
It is worth noting too the past and current successes of the MLitt programme as measured by PhD candidates at this and other institutions who have progressed through the MLitt, and the number of AHRC-funded places (well above the national average) in our existing PhD programme. The conversions from CW MLitt to PhD (creative and critical), and new students who have come to Glasgow to work with our creative team (marked with asterisks), include twenty five in total, twenty one at Glasgow, one at St Andrews, two at Strathclyde, one at Kingston. Half attained Distinctions in the MLitt, five have published books, five have AHRC funding. These are (with funding information in brackets by the name) at the UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW: Dorothy Alexander (AHRC); Nicola Barry; Janice Brown; Eunice Buchanan; Jim Ferguson (AHRC); Rodge Glass (AHRC); Shug Hanlan; Tim Jarvis (AHRC); Anneliese Mackintosh (AHRC); Cathy McSporran (Writing Up); Maureen Myant; William Napier; Sarah Neely (Completed 2003, permanent post at Paisley University); Fiona Parrott (Completed 2006); Nalini Paul; Kenneth Pratt; Sheila Puri; Elizabeth Reeder; Rachel Seiffert (AHRC); Chiew-Siah Tei; Sam Trainor (Completed 2006); Kristina Weaver (Marshall/ORS); at the UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS: Aimee Chalmers; at the UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE: Dave Manderson; Colette Paul (CARNEGIE); at the UNIVERSITY OF KINGSTON: Kathy McKean (AHRC).
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