Successes for Creative Writing MA alumni

Two Edinburgh Napier MA Creative Writing alumni are being published in the prestigious annual anthology New Writing Scotland, which has helped nurture numerous notable writers over the years. Volume 31 features Mark Nicholls' A Disquisition on Inadequacy Among the Salaried Classes, while Rosa MacPherson has contributed a story called The Bleed.

Rosa's story started life as an end of trimester submission for the module Narrative Practice. This challenges students to write a short story inspired by one of three supplied plotlines - a Shakespeare play, a myth, or the lyrics of a murder ballad. Last year the same assessment led to Ever Dundas having her story Pure published in New Writing Scotland 30.

Former writer in residence Robert Shearman is a nominee for best collection in the British Fantasy Awards 2013. Remember Why You Fear Me [ChiZine Publications] is up against collections by Thana Niveau, Joel Lane, and Jonathan Carroll. The winner will be announced at the World Fantasy Convention at Brighton in November - congratulations, Rob.

Much sadder news was the recent death of acclaimed Scottish writer Iain (M) Bank, a great friend of current writer in residence Ken MacLeod. Iain gave his final interview to our reader in residence, Stuart Kelly. It's a wonderful article and worth seeking out (read it here). Rest in peace, Iain.

Open Doors Event 2013 news flash: Ken Macleod extends stay as Writer in Residence

Acclaimed science fiction author Ken MacLeod joined the MA Creative Writing programme at Edinburgh Napier as writer in residence last September, and has been a big hit with our current students. We're delighted to announce Ken's stay has been extended until Spring 2014, so the new cohort arriving this September will have the benefit of his wisdom.

Ken MacLeod photo © Chris Scott

Tomorrow night [Tuedsay, May 28th] is our second Open Doors Event, where we invite people to come along and learn about our unique creative writing MA [free tickets to the event are still available here].

Ken will be giving a special reading at the event. To mark the occasion - and the extension of his stay as writer in residence - Ken has kindly written a guest post about his experiences so far:

When I worked in IT, there was a sequence of events that happened so often we gave it a name. Someone who'd got stuck in a programming problem would go round to whoever seemed most likely to help, outline the situation and then jump up and say 'Oh yes! That's it! Thanks!' and rush out. The person they'd consulted hadn't said a word. We called this 'the cardboard cut-out programmer' phenomenon.

Here at Napier, I've been the cardboard cutout writer lots of times. I've listened to students telling me about their creative problems, and sometimes given advice, but far more often I find that by explaining the problem they've solved it for themselves. That's one of the things the Creative Writing MA course is supposed to do: it helps students to formulate questions about their own work. Asking the right question is often all they need to find the answer.

I've enjoyed my time here even more than I'd expected to.

Sitting in on classes has stretched and broadened my mind -- students here get challenging mental workouts, which have been interesting to watch from the sidelines. I've also learned practical writing skills that I had never quite nailed down before. And I've had plenty of time to crack on with my own work: I've finished a novel and written several short stories.

So thanks to Sam, David and all the students for a great eight months.

Creative Writing Open Doors Event, May 28th

The Creative Writing MA at Edinburgh Napier University has been called 'a radical departure' by The Times newspaper, and 'a life changing experience' by recent students. On Tuesday May 28th 2013 we are having our second annual Open Doors event so you can discover how we could help make writing your career.


This free event features taster sessions that give you a flavour of our unique approach to becoming a better writer. You'll have the chance to quiz current students about their experiences on the course, tour the creative writing suite, and ask the staff anything you want to know about this acclaimed programme.


Open Doors 2013 also offers you the exclusive opportunity for a one-to-one consultation with our reader-in-residence Stuart Kelly - one of this year's judges for the Man Booker Prize - and finishes with a special performance by writer-in-residence Ken MacLeod. Here's the schedule for Open Doors 2013:


• 5.30 Arrive for tea and coffee
• 6.00 Introduction to MA Creative Writing at Edinburgh Napier
• 6.20 Taster session: writing for graphic fiction with David Bishop
• 7.00 Taster session: experimental writing with Sam Kelly
• 7.45 Q & A with staff and current students
• 8.15 Drinks
• 8.30 Reading by Ken MacLeod, writer-in-residence
• 9.00 Close


Book your ticket for Open Doors 2013 here. Places are limited, so book early to avoid disappointment! 

Ken MacLeod's Intrusion is a finalist for the prestigious Arthur C Clarke Award

Congratulations to Ken MacLeod - writer in residence on the Edinburgh Napier Creative Writing MA - whose novel Intrusion is a finalist for the Arthur C Clarke Award. The award is given to the best science fiction novel published in Britain each year, although the author need not be British.
Intrusion is one of six finalists alongside Nod by Adrian Barnes, Dark Eden by Chris Beckett, Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway, The Dog Stars by Peter Heller, and 2312 by Kim Stanley-Robinson. More than 80 eligible novels were submitted for consideration by the judges.

The 2013 winner will be announced at the 11th SCI-FI LONDON festival in May. Previous winners have included The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, The City & the City by China Miéville and Zoo City by Lauren Beukes.

Ken has previously been nominated five times for the Arthur C Clarke Award but has never won. Perhaps the sixth time's the charm? Fingers crossed!

David Bishop @ AWP 2013 in Boston this week

Edinburgh Napier MA Creative Writing lecturer David Bishop is going to Boston this week for the 2013 AWP  conference. He will be representing our course at the Association of Writers & Writing Programs' annual gathering, talking about its unique focus on genre fiction, and discussing how we've replaced the traditional workshop with a new and innovative approach to teaching.

Anyone attending the conference who wants to discover more about our acclaimed MA program can email David - d.bishop@napier.ac.uk - to arrange a chat while he's in Boston. Or find him via Twitter - @davidbishop. Or Facebook. Or you can wander the event, searching for his distinctive black and white checkered winklepicker shoes [see photo, below left].

UPDATE: David will be helping at booth #214 - Bookfair Plaza Level, Exhibit Hall A - from 10am until noon on Friday March 8th, that's the NAWE stand [National Association of Writers in Education (UK)]. Come and ask him about the modules he teaches in writing graphic novels or writing fantasy, horror, crime and science fiction on our Creative Writing program.

The Times newspaper in London calls our course "a radical departure" in creative writing. Since launching in 2009 the program has attracted students from the United States, not to mention Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Finland, Italy. Edinburgh Napier is still taking applications for the 2013/14 academic year, and we've already offered places to several US students.

If you're not going to be at AWP in Chicago, you can find out more about our course by checking the links on the right hand side of this blog. Depending on which version of the course will best suit your needs as a student, click either full-time or part-time to apply.

Writer in residence up for BSFA best novel

Congratulations to Ken MacLeod - writer in residence on the Edinburgh Napier Creative Writing MA - whose most recent novel has been shortlisted for the 2012 British Science Fiction Awards.

Intrusion is one of five books nominated in the Best Novel category, alongside Dark Eden by Chris Beckett, Empty Space: a Haunting by M. John Harrison, Jack Glass by Adam Roberts, and 2312 by Kim Stanley-Robinson.

Organised by the British Science Fiction Association, the prestigious BSFA Awards have been running for more than 50 years. The winners will be announced at the 2013 Eastercon in Bradford at the end of March.

Ken has previously won the BSFA best novel award for The Sky Road (1999) and The Night Sessions (2008), along with many other accolades.

Reader in residence becomes Booker Prize judge

Stuart Kelly • photograph © Chris Scott, www.chrisdonia.co.uk

The Edinburgh Napier MA Creative Writing programme's reader in residence, Stuart Kelly, is one of five judges for the 2013 Man Booker Prize for Fiction.

The Booker is one of the famous and prestigious literary prizes, with the judges' choice attracting worldwide attention. Next year will be the 45th year for the £50,000 prize. It was won in 2012 by Hilary Mantel's Bring Up the Bodies.

The other judges are BBC broadcaster Martha Kearney; biographer and critic Robert Douglas-Fairhurst; author, broadcaster and classicist Natalie Haynes; with award-winning author Robert Macfarlane as chair.

Stuart Kelly has been reader in residence for the MA programme since it launched in 2009. His unique role includes devising personalised reading lists for students and offering research advice.

A former literary editor of Scotland on Sunday and guest curator for the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Stuart is author of The Book Of Lost Books: An Incomplete Guide To All The Books You'll Never Read and Scott-Land: The Man Who Invented A Nation.

The MA Creative Writing programme congratulates Stuart on his exciting new role as a Booker Prize judge, even if it means we might see a little less of him over the coming months...