Emily Perkins Offers Insight To AUT Students

Emily Perkins Offers Insight To AUT Students

Acclaimed New Zealand author Emily Perkins will join AUT University's School of Languages this year to teach two new creative writing papers in the Bachelor of Arts English Studies major.

Emily, the author of Not Her Real Name and Other Stories and The New Girl, says the papers are ideal for people who already write creatively and are ready to commit themselves to exploring their writing further.

She says while the papers will cover the components of what makes a work publishable, there is no magic formula.

"Publishers are always looking for fresh voices that can speak to our times, and students will be encouraged to discover and develop their own unique literary voices," she says.

She describes a career in creative writing as a daily leap of faith and says she is excited at the prospect of guiding aspiring writers through an important stage of their writing development at AUT.

"What I'm looking forward to is the chance to start at ground level with these creative writing papers at AUT - to be able to encourage new writers to work experimentally and freely, and to see what grows."

Emily says writers develop in a group environment. "In a creative writing paper you can hear your own voice grow alongside others. Learning to critique your own and others' work is an essential part of becoming a writer."

This is Emily's first involvement with AUT. She has tutored at Goldsmiths' University in London, on Arvon Foundation courses in Britain, at the Hay Literary Festival in Wales and at Auckland University.

As the 2006 Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship recipient, Emily spent last year in residence at the Sargeson flat in Auckland working on her latest book, Novel About My Wife.

AUT's programme co-ordinator for the Bachelor of Arts in English Studies, Dr Paul Mountfort says the creative writing papers represent an exciting development within the degree.

"The degree offers a mix of language, literature and culture papers with a contemporary focus," he says. "Creative writing is one of the biggest growth areas in the arts, particularly in the United States and Britain. From biography to dance choreography, from travelogues to screenplays, being able to plot storylines is vitally important in a number of creative industries where narrative plays a leading role."

The papers will be offered in a block session on Friday afternoons from 2-5pm to encourage a broad demographic of students. "The papers are available as stand-alones for participants who don't wish to study towards the whole degree," Paul says.

"AUT is making a clear sign of commitment to New Zealand writing by offering papers such as these," Emily says.

"I hope that with each paper we'll develop an enthusiastic, robust, enquiring group in which to work hard and expand our voices."

ENDS

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