English Department - University of Canterbury

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English Department - University of Canterbury Nau mai! As a community we look to learn from each other - students, academic staff and professional staff alike. Thank you for your cooperation.

This is the official page of the English Programme at the University of Canterbury Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha, Ōtautahi Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand. We offer courses and supervision in a broad variety of fields, and our department has a history of innovative and distinguished scholarship. We have a strong programme in the more 'traditional' areas of English, such as the study of literature (including novels, short stories, poetry, drama and Shakespeare) and creative writing. Members of our department are experts in New Zealand, Pasifika, American and European literature(s), as well as in movements such as Romanticism and Postcolonialism. We also have specialists in more recent and interdisciplinary fields such as young adult and children’s fiction, science fiction and dystopia, horror and the supernatural, popular culture, critical sexualities, critical animal studies, digital literary studies and cultural studies. We are proud of our interdisciplinary and community connections. We house the New Zealand Centre for Human-Animal Studies, teach the core courses for UC’s Cultural Studies programme and are involved in the Digital Humanities programme. We host the Ursula Bethell Residency in Creative Writing, which is co-funded by Creative New Zealand. Our academics teach into and offer supervision within other departments and programmes. We also house the Cinema Studies programme, who teach into our offerings at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. If you are interested in studying with us, whether you're starting out or are interested in a higher degree such as an MA (a Masters of Arts by research), an MWRIT (a Master of Writing), or a PhD, we'd love to hear from you. This page is tended by Erin Harrington (UC lecturer), with contributions provided by academic staff, professional staff, students, and members of the community.

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We're thrilled to hear that pip adam, one of our 2024 Ursula Bethell Writers in Residence, has had other Ursula success,...
21/10/2026

We're thrilled to hear that pip adam, one of our 2024 Ursula Bethell Writers in Residence, has had other Ursula success, winning the prestigious Ursula K Le Guin prize for fiction for her experimental sci fi novel Audition. It's a beautiful book about very serious themes, at the top level about giants in a space ship being sent off world, and more widely about dehumanisation and the carceral state, but also hope and connection. Ngā mihi nui, e hoa! There's a link to the announcement in the comments.

We are really happy to announce the University of Canterbury / Creative New Zealand Ursula Bethell Writers in Residence ...
05/10/2026

We are really happy to announce the University of Canterbury / Creative New Zealand Ursula Bethell Writers in Residence for 2027 - Dan Bain and Rebecca Hawkes.

Dan is an award-winning playwright. His adaption of The Odyssey for three comedy actors won the Best NZ Play, Best Adaptation, and Best South Island Play in the 2024 Playmarket Awards, and he was awarded the Grand Prize at the 2025 Stockholm Writers Festival for his novel-in-progress, Crookback. Many in Ōtautahi will know him as a director, improvisor, actor, drama educator, podcaster, theatre programmer and comedian. Dan is our first writer in residence to have graduated from clown school 🤡. He'll be with us in late January to work on a play involving Victorian scientists and dinosaur reconstruction.

Rebecca is a Pōneke-based award-winning painter-poet, originally from Methven. Her first collection of poetry Meat Lovers was a finalist in the US Lambda Literary Awards and winner of a Laurel Prize in the UK for Best International First Collection. Her illuminated manuscript chapbook HIDE was recently published by ngā pukapuka pekapeka (and it's beautiful!). She recently completed an MFA at the University of Michigan as a Fulbright Scholar, and her next collection Fool's Spring, drawing from that work, will be released by Auckland UP and Yes Yes Books (US) next year. Rebecca will join us in July to work on a poetic mixed-materials project that reflects on her upbringing as the child of two Te Waipounamu geologists.

The application pool was, again, substantial and of a very high calibre. We are really thrilled to be able to host these two writers next year. The panel was also quite tickled that both projects coincidentally involve, to a greater or lesser extent, people trying to find meaning by scratching around in the dirt. Ngā mihi nui ki a kōrua.

Are you thinking about further study in English, Writing, Cinema Studies or Cultural Studies (and would you like to be f...
13/09/2026

Are you thinking about further study in English, Writing, Cinema Studies or Cultural Studies (and would you like to be fed at the same time)? We're holding an info session about graduate options in our programmes on Tuesday 22 September from 10am-noon.

We'll be talking about honours (BA(Hons)) and masters pathways (the taught 180-point MA, and the MA by thesis). We'll also talk about our unique Master of Writing (MWRIT) degree, which offers courses in creative, nonfiction and professional writing, and which allows you to undertake an extended writing project in a genre and style of your choice.

We'll be in James Logie 613 (the big seminar room), and then we'll have some kai in the tearoom on the 6th floor of Karl Popper. It would be great to see you there, whether you are about to graduate or you're just sniffing out your options for further down the line. Feel free to bring a friend. We'll have some current and recent students in these programmes there too, if you'd like to ask more specific questions one-on-one.

If you'd like more info, get in touch with Philip: [email protected].

This week poet and creative writing senior lecturer Vana Manasiadis appeared at a very full event at the Great Hall in T...
11/09/2026

This week poet and creative writing senior lecturer Vana Manasiadis appeared at a very full event at the Great Hall in The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora with our colleagues Patrick O'Sullivan (Classics) and Peter Field (History), discussing the enduring appeal of The Odyssey. They talked about how Nolan has adapted it to speak to 21st century audiences: the film’s directorial and narrative choices, where it succeeds and where it stumbles, its relation to its Homeric model, what is at stake in retelling a 3,000 year-old myth, and more... Thanks to all who came along, especially the large numbers of Classic teachers and students from schools around the city, and to Peter for supplying the speakers with some w**e.

More big news this week - congratulations to our colleagues in Philosophy Department at the University of Canterbury, Li...
09/09/2026

More big news this week - congratulations to our colleagues in Philosophy Department at the University of Canterbury, Lizzie and Carolyn, for finally completing this ridiculous puzzle in the Karl Popper 6th floor tea room. They've done about 95% of the work on this over at least 6 months / 84 years, with occasional assistance from less hardy folk, continuing even when they were offered something less infuriating because philosophers never surrender. Thanks or no thanks to Chevy for dropping this in at the end of last year.

It's been a really big weekend at WORD Christchurch for many of our us, but we're particularly proud of the launch of Em...
06/09/2026

It's been a really big weekend at WORD Christchurch for many of our us, but we're particularly proud of the launch of Emergence, the new collection of writing from the Master of Writing programme, which took place last Thursday night at The Piano. The collection, which features work from 26 writers, was edited by Juliette Sauvage, with support from Vana Manasiadis, Paul Millar, Dan Bedggood and Nicholas Wright, and officially launched at a sold out event by our last Ursula Bethell writer in residence, Shehan Karunatilaka. It was wonderful to be able to celebrate this event with many of the contributors, their whānau, and wider members of the English programme's community, right at the time we've had the 100th enrolment in the MWRIT programme. Thanks to Aaron Beehre for his beautiful design and Canterbury University Press for publishing the work. You can find the collection at UBS - University Bookshop Canterbury and other bookstores, or CUP's website. Click through to the comments for a link to a piece in The Press last week about the collection.

Happy WORD Christchurch week! We were really happy to see such a great write up about our last Ursula Bethell writer in ...
30/08/2026

Happy WORD Christchurch week! We were really happy to see such a great write up about our last Ursula Bethell writer in residence, Shehan Karunatilaka, who is appearing across the festival.

Hot off The Press, read all about the witty and brilliant Shehan Karunatilaka - WORD guest and Christchurch local. Tickets are still available for all his sessions at the festival THIS WEEK.

A special hat tip to our partners University of Canterbury, AKA the reason we've got so many amazing writers who have moved to our city.

21/08/2026

🚨DEADLINE EXTENDED🚨 Applications for the University of Canterbury / Creative New Zealand Ursula Bethell Writer in Residence positions for 2027 are currently open. The closing date has been *extended* by a week - applications now close Sunday 30 August. Please click through for more info.

We're so proud of MWRIT alumna Charlotte Bell, whose first book One Year Out, published by Folly Press, has been receivi...
21/08/2026

We're so proud of MWRIT alumna Charlotte Bell, whose first book One Year Out, published by Folly Press, has been receiving rave reviews up and down the country. Congratulations Charlotte! If you want to see why people are so excited about the book, you can find copies with our friends at UBS - University Bookshop Canterbury.

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Level 6, Karl Popper Building, University Of Canterbury, University Drive
Christchurch
8041

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