Creative Writing News and Achievements

In the Welsh Bardic tradition, Creative Writing is thriving at Swansea University and in the city at large.  In addition to the successes of our esteemed staff - Stevie Davies, Nigel Jenkins, D.J. Britton, Fflur Dafydd, Alan Bilton, John Goodby, and others - our students are making their mark on the writing scene today.

Here is a brief listing of some recent and past successes of Swansea University's creative writing students:

This week, Another Country: Haiku Poetry From Wales, is being launched at The Dylan Thomas Centre, (with another launch in Aberystwyth next week). This anthology is co-edited by our own, Nigel Jenkins, and includes the work of many current and former Swansea writing students: Sarah Coles (MA '09), Rhys Owain Williams (BA '09, MA '10), Alan Kellerman (MA '07, PhD '11), Stephen White (MA '11), Leslie McMurtry (MA '07), Eloise Williams, amongst others.

Rebecca John (BA, 2011) has just this month been announced as the winner of The Jones Prize, for her short story collection, Clown's Shoes, which will be published later this year.

Roshi Fernando's (PhD, 2011) novel, Homesick, won the 2009 Impress Prize for New Writers (awarded to a Creative Writing student at a British University), and her short story The Flourescent Jacket, was shortlisted this past weekend for The Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award.

Susie Wild's (MA, 2007) collection of short stories, The Art of Contraception, was published by Parthian last year.

Gemma June Howell's (MA, 2007) collection of short stories, Inside the Treacle Well, was published by Hafan Books in 2009 as part of a series to benefit Swansea Asylum Seekers.

Clint Van Winkle (MA, 2007) - His Gulf War memoir Soft Spots, published by MacMillan, was very well received across the pond in the United States, where he continues to do media appearances on the subject.