Big names mean big bucks for universities
If you want more students on your creative writing course, employ a celebrity author
By Jak Peake
Published: 17 May 2007
With the announcement of Martin Amis's professorship of creative writing at Manchester University, hordes of students will be queuing up to get in.
For those considering a creative-writing degree the teacher may play a large part in their choice of institution. My application for a masters at Royal Holloway was influenced by Andrew Motion, who runs the course, the promise of a published anthology and the occasional opportunity to name-drop.
I spoke to postgraduates from other universities and received mixed feedback about their creative-writing masters courses. A graduate of the University of East Anglia's renowned MA said that while she gained confidence as a writer and felt the calibre of her fellow students was excellent, she had reservations about some tutors. The MA was "sailing on its reputation", she said.
The UEA course has undergone seismic changes over the decades. With the deaths of Malcolm Bradbury, Lorna Sage and WG Sebald, and the departure of Andrew Motion for Royal Holloway, it has lost considerable literary clout. The acclaimed writers Michèle Roberts and George Szirtes currently teach there, but are unlikely to attract the same following as Amis.
One benefit of the courses at UEA, Goldsmiths, Manchester and Royal Holloway is the opportunity for high-profile networking. Another UEA graduate recalled "literary agents coming in to flirt" and, on one occasion, a chat with the aforementioned Amis. While I can't claim to have met many big names on my MA, I find it an odd notion that such visits will somehow get ordinary students "connected". The reality is much more drab.
Motion suggested we use the time on our courses to think, experiment and create away from the pressures of the publishing industry. It is a good point – publishers' fads come and go, but good writing, it is hoped, will win out. Since taking the MA, I have noted a marked improvement in my prose and regularly carve out a space each day for writing.
Celebrity tutors obviously have their benefits. An eminent name on your CV can get a literary editor's attention. An established writer can also inflate a university's prestige and purse. Melvyn Bragg's role as president of the National Academy of Writing in Birmingham has brought funding and credibility to the associated vocational course at the nearby University of Central England. The academy showcases an impressive roster of patrons including Nick Hornby, Margaret Atwood and Benjamin Zephaniah.
Certainly, Motion's stature may have had more than a hand in attracting publisher John Murray to produce an end-of-year anthology for MA students. The benefit is twofold: students can publish their writing and the publisher gets a first peek at new authors. Tahmima Anam, who graduated from Royal Holloway in 2005, brokered a deal with Murray for her debut novel A Golden Age.
A big-name author can boost student numbers. After Motion started the Royal Holloway course in 2004, the number of applicants more than doubled. The arrival of Blake Morrison, whose memoir And When Did You Last See Your Father? was made into a film starring Colin Firth, has seen applications at Goldsmiths rise by 23 per cent.
The competition for these courses has led to complaints of élitism, but Bragg claims his academy will "democratise access to professional writing". When initially I applied to UEA I received a rejection letter suggesting that I was a little young and might consider taking other writing courses for experience. So, I took a City Lit evening course and applied to Royal Holloway. With Lord Bragg's academy, perhaps these token CV-boosters may no longer be necessary.
Learning from those who have established themselves is crucial. Being taught by a novelist, if you want to write novels should be paramount. Budding short-story writers may learn from both novelists and poets, who often work with forms more succinct than the novel. I would be wary of a course lacking published teachers. Prospective Amis students will have no worries here.
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