This October, Oxford Lifelong Learning is celebrating two decades of its acclaimed Master of Studies in Creative Writing, a programme that has helped hundreds of writers find their voices – and in many cases, writing success – over the years.
Founded in 2005 by Dr Clare Morgan, the MSt has become one of the University’s most sought-after part-time postgraduate courses. Each year, hundreds of aspiring authors from around the world compete for just 30 coveted places, drawn by the course’s reputation for combining Oxford’s academic rigour with a deeply creative ethos.
Earlier this month, students past and present gathered at Rewley House for a special anniversary celebration. The evening marked not only 20 years of the programme but also the launch of Meridian – a new anthology of poetry and prose by some of the course’s distinguished alumni, curated by tutors Amal Chatterjee, Mary Jean Chan, and Barney Norris. Guests enjoyed live readings from contributors Sophie Jai, Sylee Gore, Manish Chauhan, Heidi Williamson, and Christine Anne Foley, as well as speeches from Dr Alison MacDonald, George Szirtes, and Dr Clare Morgan herself.
The MSt’s story began when Dr Morgan, inspired by her own experience studying under Sir Malcolm Bradbury and Dame Rose Tremain at the University of East Anglia, was invited to establish a creative writing programme at Oxford. Reflecting on its origins in her introduction to Meridian, she writes: ‘The course answered a growing need … for some formal mechanism that would blend the University’s known excellence with a programme of deeply creative emphasis, one that would develop writerly skills but would also seek to foster the emergence of creative beings cognisant of themselves and their role in a world of global upheaval and radical change.’
Two decades on, that vision has only deepened. ‘[The course] is twice the size in terms of the number of students per year,’ says Dr Morgan. ‘The diversity of the applicants – in terms of ethnicity, background, where they come from in the world – has increased exponentially, as has the number of applications – that’s increased fourfold at least.’
Looking ahead, she sees the MSt continuing to evolve: ‘I see it continuing to adapt and reflect the needs of emerging writers and the priorities of the writing world – and our world, really – to think and write in-depth about things that truly matter, as so many of our students and alumni do.’
Watch our interview about 20 Years of Creative Writing at the University of Oxford with Dr Clare Morgan
