BATH SPA UNIVERSITY

writing for young peopleThis specialist creative writingMA course enlists the expertiseof our team of writer-lecturers,five of whom are currently publishedin the field of children’s writing. It issupported by visiting speakers fromthe children’s publishing world,including agents, editors, publishersand authors.Leading Children’s Literary AgentRosemary Canter offers an annualprize for the ‘most promising writerfor young people’. We have anexcellent track record of graduatesachieving publication. Novels by ElenCaldecott, Jim Carrington, Alex Diaz,Marie-Louise Jensen, Sally Nichollsand C.J. Skuse have all been publishedin the last four years. ‘Ways to LiveForever’ by Sally Nicholls won theWaterstones Children’s Book of theYear Award and the Glen DimplexNew Writers Award 2008. Marie-Louise Jensen and Elen Caldecottwere both shortlisted for the 2009Waterstones Prize, and Elen is alsolonglisted for the Carnegie awardfor ‘How Kirsty Jenkins Stole theElephant’.Course structure and contentThe course is for writers for childrenof all ages, from the picture-book agethrough to adolescent and ‘crossover’writing which aims at markets amongadults as well as young people.Though prose fiction is likely to bethe main area studied, students willhave the chance to look at writing inall forms, including poetry, picturebook texts and non-fiction.The course supports studentsto create a significant body of writing,with practical plans for its place in thereal world of publishing. It is based onthe principle that most writers learnand benefit from working closely withtheir fellow writers, in a disciplinedsupportive setting, and with tutorswho are practising and publishedwriters in their field.ModulesWriting WorkshopsIn the first semester’s writingworkshop you will explore a varietyof formats and approaches, gaininga sense of the different age- rangesand forms. This is also an introductionto the writing workshop experiencewhich is the heart of the course. In the second semester’s workshopyou will be asked to choose your areaof writing, and use the workshop’sfeedback and encouragement toexplore it in more depth. Full-timestudents take one writing workshopin Semester One and one in SemesterTwo. Part-time students take oneworkshop each year.Context ModulesEach full-time student takes one ofthese in the first semester and onein the second semester. The firstsemester’s context module, Writingfor Young People: Forms, Ages andStages, is concerned with the writer’srelationship with their audience, asense of the history of and issuesraised by children’s writing. Thesecond semester’s module looks atContemporary Children’s Publishing,and aims to give a realistic grasp ofthe choices open to new writers in thefield. Part-time students take one ofthese context modules in each yearof study.ManuscriptThis is the development of amanuscript as near to publishablequality as possible. It is supported bytutorials with a manuscript supervisor.It may be a novel, a book of stories, acollection of poems or picture booktexts.Teaching methods and resourcesThe course is modular and offeredfor full and part-time study. Part-time students take the same courseover a two-year period, taking onemodule each semester. Studentscomplete four taught modules (twowriting workshops and two contextmodules) plus a manuscript (doublemodule).Modules are normally taughtvia tutor-led writing workshops,organised in 11 weekly three-hoursessions on the Corsham Courtcampus. The manuscript is taught viaone-to-one tutorials, working with atutor with particular knowledge of yourfield of work. Throughout the course,there will be special events to bringin writers to discuss their work, plusliterary agents, editors and speakerswith practical advice on publishing.TutorsThis course is taught by publishingwriters and depending ontimetables will include:- Julia Green: her novels for youngadults include Blue Moon, BabyBlue and Hunter’s Heart (Puffin),Breathing Underwater andDrawing with Light (Bloomsbury)- Steve May: author of Dazzer PlaysOn and One Chance (Egmont).- Jonathan Neale: his novels forchildren are Lost at Sea andHimalaya.- Mimi Thebo: author of Wipe Out,Hit the Road Jack, Get Real (HarperCollins). Drawing Together (Walker).- Steve Voake: his novels includeThe Dreamwalker’s Child, TheWeb of Fire, The StarlightConspiracy, Blood Hunters andFightBack (Faber & Faber), plushis Daisy Dawson stories foryounger readers (Walker Books).99