Monday, July 27, 2009

PhD in Creative Writing

Over the next few years I will clock up plenty of air miles as I travel from Dunedin to the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University of Wellington where I am enrolled in a PhD in Creative Writing programme. I meet regularly with my two supervisors, Bill Manhire and Pamela Wood, and I also take part in student discussions and presentations. It’s a privilege to study and write in such a supportive environment.

I am currently working on my creative component which is a novel entitled 'Let Your Heart Be Afraid', focussing on the experiences of a group of New Zealand nurses on active service in Egypt and France during the First World War. This novel will be published by Penguin Group (NZ). My critical component explores nurses’ firsthand experiences as represented in their memoirs, historians’ representations of this material, and fiction written by several of the nurses after the war which draws on and also fictionalises their experiences.

4 comments:

Kay Cooke said...

Wow Maxine I had no idea that you were doing this - but then I have somehow got myself washed up (by choice if I'm honest) off the mainstream floating happily in a tributary somewhere (having fun so I'm okay with it) and haven't kept up with a lot of local news. (Through Blogging & Tweeting I probably know more about what is happening in the New York and Paris writing world!)Congratulations and have fun! I can see the success stories already - a long list of brilliant novels and such!

Pen said...

It sounds great Maxine. I can't wait to read it!

Maxine said...

Hi Kay,
Thanks for your good wishes. It has certainly been a wonderful year for me so far. I always come back from Wellington feeling uplighted. Lovely poem of yours on your blog recently. Keep them coming!
Cheers,
Maxine

Maxine said...

Hi Pen,
Thanks for your encouraging comments. I've just finished the first draft of my new novel, so I'll have a break over summer then start reworking / rewriting the second draft, a stage I really enjoy. All the best for your own writing. Cheers, Maxine