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Breaking the pattern: Established writers undertaking creative writing doctorates in Australia
Abstract
The focus of this article is an examination of the experiences of established writers who have recently completed, or are currently undertaking, a creative writing doctorate, against a background of change within the publishing industry. Is it primarily financial/career or creative control concerns that are influencing established writers to undertake creative doctorates in recent times? And how do these writers fare within the degree program? To explore these issues through individual stories, interviews were conducted, by email and phone, with six established professional writers who had recently completed, or were still undertaking, a creative doctorate as well as with four established creative writing academics, most of whom are authors themselves. Questions of motivation and experience, as well as outcome, are canvassed in this piece of original research, which provides an interesting snapshot of the current situation for established writers in Australia undertaking creative writing doctorates.
... A mid-career or established writer might choose to enrol in a PhD program for many reasons -perhaps financial (if a stipend is on offer), for personal or professional development, to begin or maintain a career in academia (as a practitioner-researcher and teacher), or perhaps to gain more creative control over one's practice, as publishing and commercial circumstances shift and change (Masson 2016). As identified in this paper, the creative writing PRS doctorate offered at RMIT University has similarities to the Professional Doctorate such as a DCA (where a candidate has substantial experience in a well-grounded creative practice and is focused on bringing that 'practitioner agency' into the postgraduate study), but it is notably different (there is no substantial coursework and the focus is not on a single creative project). ...
... Through placing pressure on 'practice' and offering a regular space for candidates to be vulnerable and open about ideas, experiments and writing processes, the PRS provides a peer-to-peer program of learning through which candidates can become '"better informed"' writers (Davis qtd in Masson 2016), so that, no matter their intentions post-PhD, they can return to their practice with new insights on practice, community and industry, therefore potentially enriching literary culture in turn (Masson 2016). ...
With PhDs in creative writing becoming more valued and valuable in both local and international contexts, the question of models that are fit for purpose has never been more pressing. This paper discusses a case study of an approach to PhD pedagogy underway with writers from across the Asia-Pacific. It is a model of advanced practice-led research in creative writing, which helps established and mid-career writers to deepen their oeuvres and careers. The model poses the question: What if a PhD in creative writing focused its site of research on a practitioner’s ongoing practice as a writer? How might this deepen the practitioner’s engagement with the processes of and contexts for writing, and enable shifts in and for their future writing practice? This paper invites educators and writers to reconsider how a PhD by practice in creative writing contributes new knowledge – on literary approaches, forms, genres and cultures – to the discipline, at the same time as it provides a writer with insights to transform their practice. Faculty and student perspectives of a trans-cultural, multidisciplinary, low-residency program, based in Vietnam and Australia, reveal how this unconventional approach is making a difference to PhD pedagogy and creative practice research.
... In the case of those with a scholarship, having funded writing time may be another reason. However, the significant dedication of time and effort required to complete a research higher degree is (at least sometimes) also undertaken in the hope of improved or expanded career opportunities (Kroll and Brien 2006, Webb and Brien 2007, Masson 2016, Sempert et al. 2017. It is now well established in the literature that initial and ongoing employment success for graduates of creative and performing arts programs is particularly challenging (Throsby and Hollister 2003, Australia Council for the Arts 2010, Daniel and Daniel 2013). ...
For over two decades, the number of candidates undertaking, and completing, research
higher degrees in the discipline of creative arts has continued to grow, yet the anxiety
associated with the exegesis, or critical component, to the award has not dissipated. This
article reports the views of a small number of research higher degree candidates and their
supervisor in response to questions posed by the TEXT ‘Exegesis now’ call for papers.
In this sample, the exegesis was perceived as a necessary and useful component to the
award by all respondents, who are completing diverse creative projects. However,
respondents also express some anxiety and uncertainty over what is required in the
exegesis in terms of formal, structural and compositional elements. Discussion of the
views expressed by respondents identifies common challenges and proposes a number
of strategies that may provide greater certainty and alleviate some of the anxiety for
candidates and their supervisors. It includes a template for a comprehensive exegesis and
two ways the exegesis can be structured to form a rigorous frame around, and supportive
complement to the creative work.
... Our own research degree candidates often re-enter the academy after a number of years working as practitioners and/or educators in industry and/or teaching settings; many are mature-aged, with family, and other life and work commitments to negotiate; and, in contrast with candidates in other disciplines, some might not have Honours or Masters qualifications. This tallies with research that candidates may enter doctoral programs with less of a research identity than those in more traditional research disciplines (see , Finlayson 2012;Masson 2016;Wilson 2018). A core part of the research training context for these candidates, then, is the formation of a new identity: that of the practitioner-researcher. ...
This article focuses on both the process and the results of a recently completed research
project that concentrated on what are commonly seen as peripheral aspects of the
doctorate; that is, aspects of candidature that lie beyond, and outside of, the core work
of what is widely understood to be research training. The project saw 18 candidates
from the creative arts and humanities – and creative writing in particular – gather to
reflect upon their learning journeys, and then analyse and theorise the ‘human’
dimensions of undertaking a doctorate. These often peripheral aspects were revealed to
have a major influence on undertaking a research degree, as well as affecting
candidates’ progress and satisfaction with their studies, and career potential beyond the
research degree. This article first outlines how candidates were able to develop a
language with which to identify some of the major human dimensions – the lived
experience – of undertaking a doctorate that emerged from the project. It then explores
how candidates were able to articulate their own growth in the form of producing an
edited collection of essays in order that others might benefit from this reflective
learning.
... As recognised by these peak bodies, doctoral candidates in the creative arts and humanities present a challenge to 'generic' research training initiatives. This is because they often re-enter the academy after a number of years working as practitioners and/or educators in industry and/or teaching settings, sometimes without Honours or Masters qualificationsat least those completed recentlyand thus enter a doctoral program with less of a research identity than those in more traditional research disciplines (see Finlayson, 2012;Masson, 2016;Wilson, 2018). A core part of the research training context in these disciplines, then, is the formation of a new identity, that of the 'practitioner-researcher', which canat firstbe a struggle for doctoral candidates before such training, hopefully, then becoming liberating and generating a new approach to practice (Batty and Sinclair, 2014;Batty, 2016). ...
This article discusses how doctoral candidates identify and navigate personal learning challenges on their journey to becoming researchers. Our study asked creative arts and humanities candidates to think beyond the research project itself and reflect on emotional hurdles they were facing or had overcome. The findings point to a great deal of ‘invisible’ work that underpins doctoral study, and show that such hidden work can have a major influence not only on the research project, but also on progress and satisfaction with the learning journey. In this article, we outline the key themes that emerged from the study: on the emotional and transformational dimensions of the doctoral journey. Using these themes and the candidate stories surrounding them, we align the doctoral journey with Joseph Campbell’s journeying ‘hero’ and Mezirow’s concept of transformation, and suggest how making such invisible aspects of candidature more visible might enhance research training.
This article uses architectural analogies to explore the complexities of planning and executing a practice-led PhD project in contemporary Australian writing. Many scholars and creative practitioners have conceived of the writing process as a form of building, scaffolding or construction. A PhD always involves some aspect of planning – but to what extent can the creative practice be planned for? What happens when the project outpaces the planning, or when a writer finds herself in unscaffolded space? This article examines practice-led research methodologies drawn from the experiences and insights of three creative practitioners who are also current and recently completed PhD candidates. Their perspectives reveal the multiplicity of approaches available in creative practice research and points to the opportunities to explore the complexities between structure, space and practice in discussions of the creative writing PhD.
Professional authors of imaginative literature, whether fiction or non-fiction, follow creative processes that have been built from a mix of experience and instinct. These are specific and individual to each author, but have been established by them over time, and frequently in an informal, non-analytical, but nevertheless successful way. What happens when a professional author, used to such a process, undertakes the writing of a creative work within the framework of a PhD? What influences come to bear on the creative work from the analytical, academic part of the PhD project? Does creative process change? If so, how? And what impact might it be expected to have on the final work, and the author’s continuing creative practice, even beyond the period of study? Drawing on interviews with writers who are undertaking or have recently completed a creative writing PhD, and with creative writing academics, the author of this paper, an established novelist and PhD student, examines the synergies between imagination and analysis within a higher degree research project, and how this affects the creative process itself.
This paper examines the literary interview as a form, and as a source of research material for creative writing and literary studies. In the article, I discuss theoretical and methodological approaches to conversations with writers and the usefulness of the interview for creative writing scholars. Novelist Charlotte Wood published The Writer’s Room: Conversations about Writing (2016) soon after her award-winning fifth novel, The Natural Way of Things (2015), appeared; the two books were constructed at around the same time. Through an interview I conducted with Wood about The Writer’s Room and her reasons for speaking to contemporary writers, I assess the statements Wood makes in the introduction to her collection and explore the texture of literary interviews. The article examines what information interviews provide about an individual writer’s working methods and looks at the emotions or affect around authors’ writing lives as a means of gauging the utility of the interview for scholars and writers. I argue that while the apparent aim of the interview is to obtain insights into an author’s praxis, related objectives may be to build connections between authors and their readers, and to augment communities of writers.
This paper examines data collected on creative writing doctoral theses awarded in Australia and New Zealand up until June 2008 with regard to demographics, differences between awards, ease of access to theses and publishability. Using this analysis, ideas on further avenues for creative writing research are considered - including focus on popular genres.
This paper responds to calls within the discipline, notably from Webb and Brien’s 2006 paper ‘Strategic Directions for Research in Writing: A Wish List’, to increase the discipline’s strategic understanding of what has already been achieved in order to improve the sustainability of the discipline, provide better information for decision-making and promote the discipline’s ability to deliver high quality research.
This paper presents only a small portion of the research needed regarding qualifications offered in the discipline and shines light on the gaps that remain.
Currently creative writing doctorates are hard to get anywhere in the world. In the northern hemisphere, the Master of Fine Arts is the generally-accepted terminal degree in the discipline. But in Australia, creative writing programs view the doctorate as the ultimate academic writing award.
In the Australian context, the creative writing PhD is subject to ongoing political debate about research worth and cultural values for creative practice. National notions of research equivalence (the debate here often led by the sciences) intertwine with internal university problems in valuing creative projects as valid academic pursuit.
Sydney return to text The Authors' Guild 2015 'The Wages of Writing
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Masson, S 2014 The Adaptable Author: Coping with Change in the Digital Age, Keesing Press, Sydney return to text
The Authors' Guild 2015 'The Wages of Writing', The Authors Guild: https://www.authorsguild.org/industry-advocacy/thewages-of-writing/ (accessed 19 September 2015)