The Manchester Poetry Prize 2008

This is my 301st post!
Here's one you may not have heard of.

Manchester Metropolitan University Writing School is launching its own poetry prize to promote its own Writing School.
Sometimes the newer competitions have fewer entries, so a greater chance to win.

First prize: £10,000*
In addition, a bursary for study at MMU will be awarded to an entrant aged 18-25 as part of the Manchester Young Writer of the Year Award*.
Now does that mean the winner will more than likely be in this age range?
And only one prize, so lower chances. There may be two prizes if the winner is older than 25.

Deadline: 1st August 2008
Fee. at steep £15

They want a portfolio of poetry (three to five poems; the total length
of the portfolio should not exceed 120 lines). The poems can be on any subject but must be new work, not published elsewhere.
Entrants can submit work via the competition website , or by post using an entry form.
Contact:

James Draper
Project Manager: Writing School
Manchester Metropolitan University
Manchester, United Kingdom
Telephone : +44 (0) 161 247 1787
Email : j.draper@mmu.ac.uk

The Writing School will be launching The Manchester Fiction Prize in 2009.

On MFAs in the US

Have you ever considered an MFA in creative writing in the US? They differ greatly. But here's one interesting thing compared to the MAs on offer in Ireland and the UK. Some of the waive fees. Some of them even give you a stipend. I would think that the money aspect of it would mean that they get a much greater selection of potential writers applying than here, where only those who can afford a year out of the workforce AND the fees apply. Forget it if you have a family.

See this interesting article from The Atlantic.

To MA or not to MA

I'm doing more research on a possible masters in Creative writing. Here's a link to someone who did the distance learning, part time MPhil in Glamorgan. This is two years with four weekend workshops and a reduced cost residency week in Wales or (I think) Galway for about 1,500 sterling per year.

I've been mulling over MA's. Why do I want to do one?

Primarily, a writer who shows the commitment to take the year or two part time years to do one, shows the ability and drive to succeed - useful in any discipline.
But surely taking a year to write a novel or poetry collection demonstrates the same drive.

Also, I would like to learn. I would like to improve, in particular, my critical reading. Are there other courses which offer this?

Others I have spoken too have said the workshops can be great. But it varies depending on the class participants. And sometimes you can get more from your classmates than the workshop leaders (shock horror)
but you can find good workshops elsewhere for a lot less dosh.

Then there's the credibility that academia gives someone with an MA. I love to teach creative writing and schools, colleges, universities look more favourably on others who have done the academic thing. Can't do much about this thought I do have an MA (in Physics)

Then there's the networking. But if you have the Blarney (not sure I do to any extent) you can network at poetry readings, festivals, events, weddings, Tescos, whatever. I saw a famous poet in my local Dunnes stores the other day. I had gone as far as the cut price Easter Eggs before I'd worked out where I knew him from.

The money an MA costs (about 6,000 Euro give or take) and the money I'd lose by not being able to work full time is huge and I am poor, though not poor enough for subsistence grant. There are no bursaries, not even from the Arts Council. None. And look how many workshops/classes/festivals the 6,000 could buy in the mean time. That's not counting the time spent on work for the degree that may not be directly related to the writing I am interested in.

Any inputs? MA or Not MA.

More MAs in creative writing in the UK

There are so many MAs available, full and part time as well as distance learning. Do your homework. They are not all the same. Check the curriculum, the alumni, the fees and above all, the teachers. UPDATED 7-Apr-08

Anglia Ruskin in Cambridge looks like it may be leaning on its geography. It's for fiction.

Bangor University offers full and part time MAs in Creative Writing with the possibility of distance learning.

Birkbeck University in London offers a full or part time MA.

Brunel University has an MA for new novelists and Prof Fay Weldon.

University of East Anglia is where I would go in a perfect world. Andrew Motion is Professor of Creative Writing. It is directed towards those who are committed to writing, who have already produced work, whether published or not, who have a strong formal and aesthetic curiosity, and who welcome the chance to develop their writing in a university atmosphere. George Szirtes, Roberts, Trezza Azzopardi and Lavinia Greenlaw teach. Competition is intense. 45 places.

University of Exeter Julia Copus is a Royal Literary Fund Writer.

University of Glasgow has a taught MLitt.

University of Hull is in its second year of a Creative Writing MA.

Lancaster University's Creative Writing MA is long established. They have a distance learning MA too which sounds innovative and interesting.

Loughborough University doesn't have a lot of info but it's available full and part time.

Manchester University offers full and part time and distance learning and has 30 students split between fiction and poetry. Vona Groarke teaches and Martin Amis is being paid big bucks to show up now and then.

Newcastle University Full and part time options. Tutors include Jackie Kay, Sean O'Brien, Neil Astley and Jo Shapcott.

Northumbria University offers full and part time MAs.

Nottingham Trent University is building a reputation in writing. Visiting professors are Michael Eaton and David Almond, whilst recent guest lecturers have included Kate Mosse, Penelope Lively and David Lodge. There is a fortnightly workshop.

Oxford University offers an MSt in the Continuing Education department. Very low residence but very little teaching too. 12 students a year.

University of Plymouth has an MA/PgDip in creative writing too. Full and part time options. Not much to distinguish it from any other.

Roehampton University London has 20 places on an MA in Creative & Professional Writing. They offer specialised courses in fiction, poetry, writing for children, nonfiction and screenwriting and offers full and part time options. But online reviews of the university sound a bit lacklustre.

Royal Holloway in London offers full and part time MAs with Prof. Andrew Motion, Jo Shapcott and Susanna Jones sounds like the place for poetry.

Salford University offers a 15 month full time or part time MA.

Sussex University has an MA in Creative Writing and Authorship.

University of Winchester I think is the only place concentrating on Writing for Children. Full and part time options. I've heard good things about this MA.

MA Creative Writing Courses in Ireland

MA Creative Writing courses seem to be the natural progression for anyone who has the time, the money and (we hope) the talent to get through a year's creative writing course. What use is such an MA. Firstly, after you assume the learning process is the number one reason, there is the networking side. Also an MA after your name allows you then to teach with more kudos than just, say, years of experience writing and teaching will give you.

I wish I had the money to do one. They are all around the 6,000 Euro mark. That can buy an awful lot of part time evening courses, often given by the same tutors.

Galway do an MA in Writing. Fees 6,005 Euro for EU students. It is a 48 week course. Staff includes Michael Harding, Mary O'Malley, Joe Woods and Jonathan Williams. Maximum 15 students.

The UCD MA course on Creative Writing is in its second year now. it is a one year course. Deadline 1 May 2008. Staff includes Paul Durcan, Denis O'Driscoll, Hugo Hamilton, Billy Roche, Conor McPherson and Jonathan Williams. Fees 5,000 Euro for EU students. Last year there were about 16 people on the course.

Trinity College Dublin does an M Phil in Creative Writing, a one year full time course. There are two terms of 9 weeks and the third term concentrates on writing portfolios. Staff include Gerard Dawe, Deirdre Madden and Jonathan Williams (who really gets around!) There are usually about 16 people on the course, half from non-EU countries. Fees 6,623 Euro for EU students.

The other well known Creative Writing Masters is the MA in Queens, Belfast. It is one year full time or two years part time. Staff includes Medbh McGuckian, Ciaran Carson, Sinead Morrissey, and Glenn Patterson (what? no Jonathan Williams?)

Carlow have now started an MFA in Creative Writing which I hadn't heard of before. It is low residency and (I think) aimed at the US market. Residency is 4 lots of 11 days in Carlow and Pittsburgh. I didn't know Pittsburgh was known for its writers. I haven't heard of any of the US staff but only huge American writers are known over here. The Irish writers in Carlow are not yet announced. The fees are in dollars and seem phenomenally expensive to me.

The University of Glamorgan, Wales MPhil also seems to be aimed at Irish based writers with residencies arranged here. Total costs about £1,500 per year for two years, low residency. Staff includes Tony Curtis (the Welsh one, I think, not the Irish poet) and Sheenagh Pugh. The course has about 8 students per year. Fiction and Poetry.