First Creative and Professional Writing BA (Hons) Graduates

From left to right: Grant Kent, Deborah Stevenson, Niki Valentine (course leader), Piers Edminson.

On Tuesday 19 July 2011, five Creative and Professional Writing (CPW) BA students graduated with honours from The University of Nottingham. Piers Edminson, Caitlin Halahan, Cassie Jenks, Grant Kent and Deborah Stevenson are the first CPW students to complete this new undergraduate degree course offered by the School of Education.

The Creative and Professional Writing degree, along with the Humanities and Fine Art BA degree programmes, was developed from the University's Adult Education courses. These were delivered at the Shakespeare Street site for nearly a century until they moved onto Jubilee Campus in 2010.

Course leader Niki Valentine also attended the degree ceremony. She said:

'I'm thrilled to have our first cohort of Creative and Professional Writing BA students graduating with honours in 2011. Although I only took over as course leader this academic year, I've worked with many of these students since they started, so it feels very special to have seen them all the way through their degree. Each one of them is well on the way to becoming a professional writer and many already contribute to the local writing community in various ways. I'm very proud of our first graduates. I know they will go on to be brilliant ambassadors for the course and I can't wait to see what they do next.'

The CPW programme is specifically designed to give students an introduction to the professional aspects of being a writer, as well as to stretch and polish their writing skills. Students learn about the publishing industry, how to lead writing workshops, and the variety of careers that are available to writers. A feature of the course is frequent seminars given by working writers, agents and publishers.

Piers Edminson is a mature student who has had a variety of jobs, including retail management. He now writes reviews and interviews for music magazines and is currently working on a script for a video game. He hopes to study for an MA in Creative Writing specialising in Horror and Transgression. He said:

'The CPW course has been invaluable, not only have I learned plenty, but where else do you get a collection of students from the ages of 18-80? The free exchange of ideas has been incredible, as well as making some good friends I've been prepared for using creative writing in the outside world, away from the comfortable surroundings of the classroom. I've made the transition smoothly from wannabe writer to working writer.'

Grant Kent joined the CPW programme straight from school in October 2008. He edited the 2011 Student Anthology, and is now researching a historical novel, writing a script for a television series, and hopes to return to study for an MA in Creative Writing next year. He said:

'When I was informed that the year I was to start the course would be the first year it was done full-time, I was skeptical. As soon as I arrived, it was clear that this course was special. The small class sizes lend themselves to the style of teaching through seminars and tutorials. There are no lectures, which I believed was a negative, feeling it was a necessary requirement of University to fall asleep in a lecture theatre. But I have missed out on nothing, and gained much more than I could have hoped for. The tutors are phenomenal, each a bastion of knowledge in their own genre. The students are ridiculously talented, and it has been an honour to work alongside inevitable future stars. And I cannot write about my time at the University without mentioning the Student Anthology, which I was lucky enough to be a part of; there aren't many courses that allow you to become a published author whilst studying. I feel blessed to be able to say I am a graduate of the University of Nottingham's Creative & Professional Writing BA, and I can only hope I'll be able to return to gain my Masters in the same subject. See, that's the only problem I have encountered: the course is so good, I just can't help coming back for more.'

Deborah Stevenson also joined the course straight from school in 2008, and has proceeded to take the East Midlands writing scene by storm. She has received several commissions for her performance poetry work, and was involved in Lyric Lounge Nottingham 2010. In 2010 she set up Mouthy Poets, a group of young people who meet weekly at Nottingham Playhouse to develop their poetry, performance and event management skills. Mouthy Poets have already staged two successful 'Say Sum Thin' events at the Playhouse in 2011. Deborah says:

'I enjoyed everything; the diversity, the age range, the tutors and the professional as well as academic development. I came in someone who enjoyed writing and came out a full time poet. What more could you ask for? It is a course that gives back as much as you put in. The course leader has recommended me work and I have had poetry projects funded through support from the whole school. And being around people of all ages has not only diversified my writing but helped mature me as a person, in a way that has advanced my professional career and made me feel like I now understand what friendships are.'

Deborah has ongoing links with Lyric Lounge, she has been commissioned for BBC Radio 3's 'The Verb', she is a figurehead for a Cultural Olympiad poetry slam organised by Apples and Snakes, she has won a scholarship for two months' study in America, she has been invited to perform and develop work in Germany with other international artists. Alongside all that, she is the Writer in Residence for First Story at Bulwell Academy, she will be tutoring on the CPW course, and she plans to study for an MA in Creative Writing at Loughborough University.