Information for Applicants:

International Programme

The Department of English & Creative Writing is increasingly the focus of teaching activity, action research and interdisciplinary academic research in the field of international writing. Our PhD programme recruits students from very diverse cultural backgrounds and their research is linked to a panorama of writings linking issues of location, migration, diaspora and intercultural exchange.

Amongst the projects and major events associated with our international programme are:

Trans-Scriptions - writing culture location: This seminar series offered discussion plus readings from contemporary writers. The focus was on academic and creative writings that have developed in relation to decolonisation - defined variously as post-war European, postcolonial, Black British, British-Asian, first or second-generation migrant writing. The organisers of these events were Dr Graham Mort and Dr Lindsey Moore.

'Mediating Marginalities': Written Narrative and Immigrant Identity in Greater Manchester since 1960: The AHRB has awarded the 'Mediating Marginalities' project £356,547 over 3 years 6 months. Led by Professor Lynne Pearce (Department of English and Creative Writing), Dr Robert Crawshaw (Department of European Languages and Cultures) and Dr Graham Mort (Department of English and Creative Writing), this project will explore the processes whereby specific immigrant communities in the Greater Manchester area have employed - and continue to employ - written narrative (e.g., fiction, poetry, autobiography, drama, screen-play, multi-media installations) to define and affirm their identities. In close collaboration with The Arts Council, local publishers and writers' groups, museums and holders of archives, the project will survey and catalogue the output, since 1960, of individuals and groups associated with Greater Manchester.

Crossing Borders: Crossing Borders is an exciting new initiative that uses information technology to link young writers in Africa with experienced mentors in the UK. The project is funded by the British Council in London, designed and managed by the Department of English and Creative Writing at Lancaster University and enabled by a network of British Council offices in Africa. Participants in the project are drawn from Uganda, Kenya, Cameroon, S. Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Ghana and Southern Africa. Our mentors represent a wide range of cultural backgrounds and writing practice, creating a project that is rich in cultural exchange as well as practical strategies for writing development. Crossing Borders is creating a new, international community of writers who communicate through the development of new writing to share their knowledge and experience.

Beyond Borders: October 2005: some 45 writers from across Africa and the UK were welcomed at the British Council's Beyond Borders Literature Festival, to celebrate the vibrancy and diversity of African Writing. Taking place in the pleasant surroundings of the Sheraton Hotel in Kampala, Uganda, the three day festival (19 – 21 October) was packed full of activities ranging from writers’ workshops to publishers' surgeries, discussion panels, readings, poetry performances and storytelling from diverse backgrounds and experiences from the continent and the Diaspora.

Writers in residence: The Department of English & Creative Writing regularly welcomes international writers in residence.

Information for Applicants:

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International Programme

Amongst the projects and major events associated with our international programme are: