• Program summary
• Program overview
• Admission requirements
• Program objectives
• Program structure
• Program requirements and notes
• Enquiries

Program summary

Program titile: Graduate Certificate in Creative Writing
Award abbreviation: GCCreativeWriting
Degree type: coursework
Mode of study: on campus
Duration: 6 months minimum full time, 2 years maximum part-time
Commence: Semester 1 or Semester 2
Fee type 2010: postgraduate coursework places, international fee-paying places 
Total courses: 4
USC program code: AR514
CRICOS code: 058885A

Program overview

The Graduate Certificate in Creative Writing offers an opportunity to:

• develop skills and conceptual understandings in contemporary creative and professional writing
• identify and evaluate audience to determine appropriate style of written communication and delivery
• discuss ideas and stories with an established creative writer
• examine trade novel conventions and reasons for economic success within a global market

In the employment market, the ability to write well and creatively is becoming increasingly important. Employers are looking for people able to write and communicate in a strong, creative and clear fashion. This program imparts knowledge and skills for literary writing and for communication generally, including audience identification, genre trends, and drafting, revising and editing techniques.

Admission requirements

A student entering the Graduate Certificate program will normally be required to hold an undergraduate degree, or equivalent, from a recognised higher education institution. Entry by non-graduates who have extensive relevant industry experience may be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

Program objectives

On completion of this program students should be able to:

• demonstrate proficiency in areas of professional and creative writing
• discuss ideas and stories with an established creative writer
• identify and evaluate a particular audience, and develop the styles of written communication and modes of delivery accordingly
• identify the generic conventions of different forms of trade novels and outline the reasons for their economic success within a global market
• discuss contemporary culture and social outcomes/reactions of trends in popular fiction
• describe the generic conventions of different types of novels such as horror, romance, crime and science fiction
• analyse written and oral communications in order to identify and implement proper drafting, revising, and editing techniques
• graduate and pursue further vocational studies and apply theoretically advanced approaches

Program structure

1 required course:
CMN116 Integrated Management B: Practical Application

Plus select 1 course from:
CMN238 Introduction to Creative Writing
CMN246 Creative Writing D: Paperback Hero

Plus select 2 course from:
CMN213 Creative Writing for Children and Young Adults
CMN235 Editing for the Communications Professional
CMN238 News Writing: Print and Broadcast
CMN247 Creative Writing D: Paperback Hero
CMN260 Creative Writing for the Illustrated Book
CMN266 Creative Writing B: Novel Ideas
CMN267 Creativity and Literature: Chaucer to Romantics
EGL201 Creativity and Literature: Victorians to Moderns
EGL285 Reality Bites: An Exploration of Non-Fiction
HIS230 Wonderworlds: An Exploration of English Literature

Program requirements and notes

1. The Graduate Certificate in Creative Writing is a 48 unit program. Students must complete at least two compulsory specialist courses in creative writing.
2. The courses that constitute the Graduate Certificate in Creative Writing will be existing undergraduate courses and will be assessed in the same way that they are for undergraduate students.
3. The Graduate Certificate articulates into the Graduate Diploma. Students who undertake 48 units in the Graduate Certificate, can apply those units to the Graduate Diploma.
4. Refer to the Academic Rules.
5. Only a full-time study option is available to international students on a Student Visa.
6. International students need to refer to the University's English language proficiency requirements.

Enquiries

How to apply

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Tel: +61 7 5430 1259

Program Leader
Associate Professor Gary Crew
Tel: +61 7 5430 1130
Email: gcrew@usc.edu.au

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