Creative Writing students
Isabella (Jiadai) Jiang
Bachelor of Communications (Creative Writing) / Bachelor of Law
The university has also continually provided easy to access pathways through which students can gain experience and socialise, whether through mentoring programs, volunteering, or social events.
What's it like to be a student at UTS?
Being a student at UTS has really given me control over the balance between work and studying. In comparison to my previous experience at another university, I’ve had much more flexibility around my schedule and have been able to pursue both professional and personal opportunities, especially since the campus is so conveniently located! The university has also continually provided easy to access pathways through which students can gain experience and socialise, whether through mentoring programs, volunteering, or social events.
What inspired you to study Creative Writing?
I’ve always loved writing and have consistently tried to include it throughout my education. I really enjoyed being able to write my own suite of poetry in the HSC, and I wanted to continue that aspect of my learning.
What has been a highlight of Creative Writing?
There have been two main highlights of the course. Firstly, I love how we are provided opportunities to not only learn and interact with a variety of materials, but also encouraged, and even pushed, to test our limits. We’re taught the groundwork and then how to use and expand on that ourselves through constant opportunities to produce individualised works. The emphasis on workshopping and constant feedback throughout the semester on our writing really allows you to improve and view your work critically so you can end up with a more polished piece.
The second highlight is how wonderful and supportive the Creative Writing tutors are. They have constantly been willing to provide feedback and I feel privileged to have learnt from them.
What are your career aspirations?
Although writing is a passion of mine, I’m aware that it’s definitely a difficult field to succeed in. That’s why I really appreciated being able to major in Creative Writing in a Communications degree that also covers core communications subjects, as well as doing a Law degree. I believe that the combination of the two has really opened my horizons as to what careers I can pursue. It’s definitely a situation where I want to have my cake and eat it too! I would love to be able to work in a social justice or legal capacity, but also become a published writer!
Neysha Santos
Bachelor of Communication (Creative Writing)
I have loved being challenged as a creative. I have really enjoyed listening, observing and workshopping the writing of my peers.
What inspired you to study Creative Writing?
I chose to major in creative writing as I am enthusiastic about words and their construction. Personally, I have a particular passion for poetry. Writers of poetry have the ability to express experiences and evoke emotional responses from readers through subjective means. I love the immersive power that literacy possesses, and this encourages and informs my own writing.
What is the best thing about studying Creative Writing at UTS?
I have loved being challenged as a creative. The degree is practical in the sense that I am here to re-examine my style and direction as a writer. I have really enjoyed listening, observing and workshopping the writing of my peers. Some of my favourite courses have been, ‘Genre Writing: Poetry’ and, ‘Writing Laboratory’ under Dr. Sarah Attfield, and she is one of the many tutors who have been invested in how I write, both creatively and academically.
What's life on campus at UTS like?
I love the UTS campus because it is engrained in Sydney and I’ve really enjoyed being part of the city as a student. I’ve also really appreciated how campus is in close proximity to great coffee. I feel really lucky to have had access to the new library, have had spent time in the underground and seen amazing works by students in various buildings around campus. The tutors provide practical knowledge on how to build your career as they are often still working in the writing or editing field. All in all, I enjoy being a city student.
What are your career aspirations?
The dream would be to have a suite of poems published. However, I would love to be a part of the publishing industry, specifically as an editor. Reading the work of others allows me to expand my understanding of the world through the perspective of others – be it social, cultural or economic. Writing becomes a lens for empathy, and I wish to be a part of the conduit that helps produce this.
Alexander Galati
Bachelor of Communication (Creative Writing) (Digital and Social Media) / Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation
I cannot put into words how proud I am to be a part of the UTS family. Applying for UTS simply felt right.
What is it like to be a student at UTS?
I cannot put into words how proud I am to be a part of the UTS family. Applying for UTS simply felt right. From the beautiful architecture, modern facilities and progressive atmosphere, UTS defines what a modern university should be; a place where knowledge, people and change come together.
What inspired you to study at UTS?
UTS offered a combined degree of Communications and Creative Intelligence & Innovation. That, combined with my choice of a double major, I felt that UTS was giving me a degree personal to me. I didn’t feel like I was in a box with everyone else like other universities. I felt myself.
What has been a highlight of Creative Writing?
The best part about Creative Writing at UTS is the absolute freedom you have. As a creative person, I want to be challenged as well as free to do what I want and UTS offers exactly that in its Creative Writing Communications major.
What advice would you give to students considering studying Creative Writing?
Advice I would give is if you have passion to write, and I mean WRITE, then I strongly recommend the Creative Writing major. Writing is a flexible soft skill that is applicable to many things. From business to film or even politics, Creative Writing offers a diverse spreadsheet of opportunities.
What are your career aspirations?
I see myself working in a creative communications role that helps people’s health or education, solving complex issues. Either that being a copywriter, communications coordinator or marketer, I aspire to help others. We need more of that in the world.
Amy Robson
Bachelor of Communication (Creative Writing) (Digital and Social Media)
The thing I always go on about when talking about my degree is just how practical it is. You’re here to develop your own style, to try new ones you’d never thought of, and to write the stories you want to write. What better way to do that than actually writing?
What's it like to be a student at UTS?
Studying at UTS has been a wonderful experience; its the perfect mix between campus and city vibes, with all the benefits of a hundred coffee shops a step away. Having dabbled in a few societies, and spent a year playing social netball, I’ve learnt that UTS students are passionate about their interests, and about each other. Not just the students, either, the tutors are serious about their fields of study, and are usually still working in them, so they have really practical knowledge about current events/information and how to build your career.
I had the incredible opportunity to study in the UK at one of their leading universities for Creative Writing this year, and studying in a new environment has improved my skills and my confidence in trying new things and putting myself forward more to take chances. I’ve also built new connections overseas which has broadened my career scope globally and I have plans to return to England next year to live and work as a result.
What inspired you to study Creative Writing?
I’ve loved writing since my early teens, but was always held back by the classic “you can’t make a career out of writing” line. It was only after completing a semester in a different degree and absolutely hating it, that I thought to myself “No, you’re going to study what you love, and you’re going to prove them all wrong.” I’ve never regretted it, and being able to undertake a second major has given me an edge in a digitising world.
What's the best thing about Creative Writing at UTS?
The thing I always go on about when talking about my degree is just how practical it is. You’re here to develop your own style, to try new ones you’d never thought of, and to write the stories you want to write. What better way to do that than actually writing? The assessments are all relevant, and open to individual direction, and workshopping before submitting is prioritised. The tutors are invested in you and your writing. I’ve never handed in a piece of work I wasn’t satisfied with.
What has been your favourite subject so far?
My favourite subject has been Genre Writing in my second year. Specialising in Speculative Fiction, it gave us a chance to study a genre which is often overlooked in the literary world and reserved for younger audiences. It was an opportunity to study history and theory, whilst also create wonderful worlds and play with the fantastic. The subject also facilitated writing my favourite short story so far, written in a post-humanist frame, which I have plans to continue to work on and grow into something much bigger. Read some of Amy's Creative Writing work.
What are your career aspirations?
My crazy-ambitious goals are to publish a set of novels to be adapted to film, with yours truly working on costume design. Whilst I live and breathe the written word, I would love nothing more than to see the universes I’ve created in my head come to life before my eyes. My meantime, only slightly less exciting, goal is to work as an editor, either with print media or digital fiction.
Gilbert Johnston
Bachelor of Communication (Creative Writing) (Social and Political Science) / Bachelor of Arts in International Studies (Spain)
The best thing about Creative Writing at UTS is the practicality of the course. I’m constantly workshopping with my peers and improving my work in a practical sense.
What's it like to be a student at UTS?
Studying at UTS has been a breath of fresh air for me. As a 2016 high school graduate, the fact that I have total control over my timetable - giving me the freedom to spend time working, studying, and socialising whenever I want - still blows me away. I’m always spending time on and near campus because it’s so convenient to get to the city, being a mere 5-minute walk from Central Station. From my peers to my lecturers, I have met some of the most important people in my life at UTS.
What inspired you to study Creative Writing?
I’ve always aspired to become a novelist; UTS is providing me with the tools I need to reach that goal.
What's the best thing about Creative Writing at UTS?
The best thing about Creative Writing at UTS is the practicality of the course. I’m constantly workshopping with my peers and improving my work in a practical sense. My favourite subject so far has been 'Genre Writing'. In this subject, I was exposed to an incredible wealth of literature and given the opportunity to curate a 3000-word creative piece in a genre of my choosing.
What are your career aspirations?
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