30 Week Fiction / Memoir Course - classroom

Starts 26th Sept, 2023. (Course also available Zoom ONLINE anytime). This course is for those who want to write a novel, short stories, or a memoir / autobiography. We provide a fun and stimulating environment in which you can discover your authentic writing voice. Many graduates of this course have published books, some in London and New York. See ‘Reviews’ above.

 

The two semester CLASSROOM version of the course starts 26 Sept 2023 and runs 6-9pm on a Tuesday night, until May 2024 with a break for one-on-one mentoring over the summer. (Switches to Zoom in event of a Covid lockdown). It is chaired by John Cranna, Winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize. John was voted Best Post-Graduate Teacher by students at AUT University. The course can done ONLINE by ZOOM at any time. It features the same course material, but you are provided one-on-one guidance by an experienced tutor, an internationally published author.

The main feature of the CLASSROOM course is a weekly three hour group meeting, in which student work is discussed and critiqued in an informal but supportive environment. Craft and technical issues arise organically from discussion of this work. Students on both versions of the course keep a reading and writing journal, which helps chart their development.

A number of successful NZ fiction writers and editors hold specialist craft workshops during the course; these include new rising authors such as Ruby Porter and Eileen Merriman, plus established writers Tessa Duder, Fiona Sussman, Stuart Hoar, Judith White and Penguin-Random House fiction publisher Harriet Allan who provides insight into the kind of manuscripts they accept. The main craft issues of dialogue, character, plot and structure, point of view, description, voice and theme will all be addressed during group sessions.

In addition, each student will be matched to an established NZ fiction / memoir writer or editor, for one-on-one mentoring. This is the tenth year the course has run, and personal mentors on the course include Elizabeth Smither, Lynn Davidson, Ruby Porter, Rosetta Allan, Stuart Hoar, David Howard, and Jessica Wilson. Several of our teachers have won the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement

 

 

At the end of the course, the student will be provided with an analysis, in the form of a publisher’s readers report, on the strengths and weaknesses of her / his manuscript. Successful completion of the course will result in the award of the Higher Certificate in Writing from the Creative Hub.

In the last three years thirty of our graduates have published novels or won prizes in national or international writing awards. See ‘Reviews’ above for details.

Course Start Date: 6-9pm, Tues, 26th Sept, 2023 (or anytime ZOOM ONLINE) 

 

Classroom Course Outline & Calendar: Download the Course Calendar and a full Course Outline and FAQ from this page (above) as a PDF.

 

Classroom Course location: 23 Princes St, central Auckland (on Albert Park). Large, well-ventilated room. Free dedicated parking. Masks optional. 

 

Course Fee for both classroom and ONLINE: $6,291 incl GST if you have done our Intro to Creative Writing, Queen’s Birthday or Summer School (i.e. 10% discount). $480 deposit. Fee can be paid in interest-free monthly payments over two years. 

($6,990 incl GST if you haven’t done one of these courses).

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All Courses Available in Classroom or Zoom