Questions

Did you receive any funding when applying for postgraduate study? How did it help?

Yes, I received support from Student Finance England. Without this funding my postgraduate studies would not have been possible due to not being able to fund it myself.

What do you hope to achieve during your postgraduate study at Birmingham?

I hope to hone my craft in Creative Writing, working towards having more polished pieces of works for publication. I would also like to connect with as many writers as possible, hoping to keep in contact with them even post University so as to always have to quiet, safe space to write and workshop with others.

What are you looking forward to most on your course?

I am really looking forward to meeting other writers and being able to workshop with them both in and outside of class. As a writer, there is nothing more beneficial than having a second, third and even fourth pair of eyes looking over your work and offering feedback. While my family are very supportive of my writing, they are very biased and would never fault a piece of work I would produce. It sounds odd, but sometimes I need my writing to be criticised, to be told what parts of my writing just aren’t working and how to make it better.

What have been your first impressions of Birmingham so far?

At first I was a little overwhelmed by the size of the campus and the amount of students that I was surrounded by, having come from a much smaller university. However, after a few visits during Welcome Week I was quickly able to find my way around campus using a combination of the MyUoB app map and the signposts around the campus. Additionally as a commuter, I love the fact that the train station pretty much leads you out onto the campus which feels a lot safer and less lonely when I have to commute later at night when it’s dark.
As a bookworm, I am very excited by the sheer size of the main library on campus. The extensive physical and online material that the university has to offer is both very impressive and greatly appreciated as someone who likes to learn about an array of subjects not just pertaining to my postgraduate course. It is also very spacious so easy to find a spot to do some work there before or after my classes.

What was your motivation for postgraduate study?

I was not ready to give up the writing space, time and community that I had crafted over the last three years of my degree. For most, writing is a luxury that we can indulge in if and when we have the time. I was drawn to the idea of doing a postgrad degree in Creative Writing because it would allow me to carve out time in my day to actually write. I also enjoy being able to discuss my own writing and the work of others, finding workshops and feedback extremely critical to my own writing process. I was particularly drawn to the course at the University of Birmingham for three key reasons. The first is the staff members that teach the course are all amazing, published writers in their own right. Knowing of Bohdan Piasecki’s recent win of the Forward prize for ‘Best single poem performed’ and having read a few of Ruth Gilligan’s novels I knew that I wanted to be taught by these people. The second reason is knowing that this university also produce many published writers. Having recently finished reading Rosie Hewlett’s ‘Medea’ and discovering that she is a university of Birmingham graduate made me more driven to want to publish my own novels with the help and support of the university. Thirdly, the campus is gorgeous and I couldn’t think of a better place to write, being able to look out the window at the large spreading campus.

Tell us about yourself and your journey to postgraduate study.

My choice to study at Postgraduate level happened around a year ago when I was in my third and final year of my undergraduate degree in English Literature and Creative Writing. English Literature is something that I have always been very drawn to and passionate about, I love being able to sit within a group of people and discuss thoughts and opinions on what we’ve been reading and overall sharing our general love for literature. Creative Writing, however, while something that I have always enjoyed was something that I never took seriously until I began my university journey. As this journey came to an end, I decided that I wasn’t ready to give up the writing environment that had been offered to me through university and I wanted to continue to work on my craft. I was supported through this decision making by my lecturers and PAT tutor at the university while I found the right course pathway and university.