Writing Studies

Writing research in the School of Communication and Arts investigates ‘writing’ in its broadest sense. We use creative and critical methods to examine the production, circulation and reception of written texts and to make work of enduring artistic merit. Researchers publish individually and collaboratively across a wide range of themes, including audience research; bibliotherapy; creative futurism; ecofiction; fan cultures; feminist rhetorical theory; historical fiction; literary journalism; poetry publishing; rhetoric of science, technology and medicine; prepper subcultures; and trauma studies.

Our team has received competitive research funding and won major literary awards, including ARC Discovery Project and ARC Linkage grants; Creative Australia (Literature Board); the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards; the New Zealand Society of Authors Writer’s Award; the British Fantasy Award; and the World Fantasy Award. 

We welcome applications from prospective postgraduate students in the following areas:

• Creative writing
  • Children’s and Young Adult fiction
  • Creative nonfiction
  • Genre fiction (fantasy, science fiction, horror, crime, romance)
  • Literary fiction 
  • Poetry 
  • Screenwriting
• Publishing studies
  • Book culture
  • Reader-response and reader-reception theories
• Rhetoric and argumentation
• Technical and professional communication
• Writing in academic disciplines
• Writing in digital environments

We host the Centre for Critical and Creative Writing, and we have industry connections with the Asia Pacific Writers and Translators network, AustLit (Australia’s largest literary database), the Fryer Library and the University of Queensland Press. Opportunities for Higher Degree Research students include: The Cecilie Anne Sloane Postgraduate English Creative Writing Research Scholarship; the UQ Creative Writing Fellowship; and the UQP Writing Mentorship. 

Our Writing alumni and honorary faculty features accomplished authors such as Isobelle Carmody, Jack Dann, Shastra Deo, Nick Earls, Candice Fox, Alison Goodman, Sarah Holland-Batt, Bri Lee, Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor and Rebecca Starford. Graduates of our prestigious Master and PhD programs have won nearly all the major national awards, including the Miles Franklin Award, the Stella Prize, the Australian / Vogel National Literary Award, the Queensland, New South Wales and Victorian Premiers’ Literary Awards, and many others.