Creative degree 'write on course'

Graduates of the MA course include poet Seamus Heaney

Aspiring authors are being offered the opportunity to work with some of Northern Ireland's leading writers.

Queen's University in Belfast said its MA in creative writing had made a major contribution to the literary scene.

Students enrolling on the course will be able to work with novelist Glenn Patterson, poet Medbh McGuckian and playwright Daragh Carville.

They will also have their work externally examined by Poet Laureate Andrew Motion.

Queen's said the four-year course was a successful training ground for new writers.

Graduates of the course include Seamus Heaney, author Bernard McLaverty and poet Paul Muldoon. It now attracts an annual bursary of £1,000 to support a student's work.

Collaborative element

Current student Sinead NiCoitir recently won the first fiction prize in the Hennessey awards.

Daragh Carville said the course organisers were keen to emphasise the professional demands of writing.

"Students need to learn how to present their work, they need to learn about the importance of developing good relationships with publishers, editors and agents," he said.

"They need to understand that there is a collaborative element to writing of all kinds.

Poet Laureate Andrew Motion is the external examiner

"There's no point just sitting in a garret working away at something no-one's ever going to read. You need to get the work out there."

Students do not necessarily need an academic background and tutors said they were more interested in the writing itself.

"The ultimate idea is that the students will come out of the course ready to start work as professional writers," said Mr Carville.

The course is based in the Heaney Centre at Queen's University.