Bachelor of Arts (Creative Writing)

You will learn how to develop your creative, critical and professional skills as a creative writer in a range of environments including workshops, studios and seminars. You’ll undertake individual projects and work in teams.

Our key staff are authors, screenwriters, essayists, playwrights, reviewers and researchers. They work across online, screen and print writing platforms, and integrate their creative practice with a dedication to teaching and research.

This program offers guest lectures and master classes taken by industry professionals from Australia and around the world. The work you produce will be assessed by peers, guests and you will receive feedback from industry practitioners.

You’ll also have the opportunity to work in studios with students from other communication disciplines to work together on projects such as short films and book production.
Internships and work placements are offered as part of the program to help you develop connections to the industry while you study.

All programs are delivered in English. You can access online and digital resources through the myRMIT student portal. Additional assistance is available from the RMIT Study and Learning Centre.

This program has close ties with Hachette, Hardie Grant Books, Film Victoria, Allen and Unwin, Channel Seven, Text Publishers, Melbourne Writers Festival, Emerging Writers Festival, Sleepers Publishing and leading literary journals such as Griffith REVIEW, Overland, The Lifted Brow and Kill Your Darlings.

You will have the opportunity to meet and engage with guest lecturers and writers-in-residence to gain insight into the world of writing and possibilities of production and publication.

RMIT University is committed to providing you with an education that strongly links formal learning with professional or vocational practice.

You will have the opportunity to participate in overseas student exchange and volunteer for events that expose you to local and international writing opportunities and industry professionals. RMIT’s Creative Writing programs have links with many leading Creative Writing programs in North America and Asia, which students can take advantage of.

In 2014 a number of writing students had the opportunity of participating in the Writers Immersion Cultural Exchange (WrICE) when they visited Singapore and Penang, Malaysia. Prestigious WrICE Student Fellowships are currently offered each year.

Creative writing studios

Each semester, you’ll be immersed in a new creative writing Studio. Across the three years of the program, these Studios will take you from the foundations of creative writing practice to the production of a major folio of work in your chosen form of creative writing. Studios will enable students to learn and apply the forms of four key genres: Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction and Screenwriting, in the context of their histories and the work of leading contemporary practitioners.

You will then be able to choose which genres you would like to focus upon to explore in more detail. You will apply your writing and professional skills in collaborative and real-world industry contexts, as well as develop your own individual career vision.

Contextual studies

You will study one of five contextual strands as part of your degree program. The five contextual strands are: Asian Media and Culture; Cinema Studies; Politics Economies Communication; Literary Studies; Approaches to Popular Culture.

Electives

Creative Writing students can also take advantage of a rich choice of electives offered in the School of Media and Communication, as well as from across the University. You can pursue studies in your areas of interest including screen production, games, journalism, editing, advertising and design, as well as choose from a range of specialist creative writing electives.