Course description
First year (100 points) of the two year program (200 points):
* 3 Compulsory subjects (37.5 points)
* First-year elective subjects totalling 100 points
Second-year (100 points) of the two-year program (200 points):
* Compulsory thesis subject
* Elective subjects totalling 100 points
Subjects are 12.5 points unless otherwise stated.
First-year Compulsory subjects
Subject Semester Credit Points
106-473 Editorial English
This subject focuses on the key communication skill of editing. It introduces students to the linguistic conventions of editorial English, the use and interpretation of copy-editing symbols, and the parameters of a variety of house styles. Students w... Semester 1, Semester 2 12.50
106-471 Structural Editing
This subject focuses on the structural editing of texts in a range of genres, including instructional, polemical, scholarly and narrative works. Students will learn how to analyse the reading practices characteristic of different genres, and will be ... Semester 2 12.50
106-478 Theory For Writing
A survey of critical, philosophical and theoretical writing relating to issues of creativity, creative writing and the publishing industry. Texts from, for instance, Derrida, Lacan, Freud, Foucault, Kristeva, Cixous, Barthes, Althusser, Tompkins, Wit... Semester 1 12.50
First-year Elective subjects:
Creative Writing
Subject Semester Credit Points
760-411 Critical Studies Culture & Creative Arts
This subject introduces students to a variety of critical methodologies suitable for the engagement in, and analysis of, creative arts. Students will consider the theoretical grounding for an arts culture nexus and consider this relationship from the... Semester 1 12.50
106-406 Contested Sites
This subject offers a space for reflection and debate in areas often neglected in postmodern perspectives; that is, in the politics and ethics of writing. Drawing upon a wide range of imaginative, critical and theoretical texts, the subject focuses o... Semester 1 12.50
106-421 Scripts Wanted: Any Medium
In this subject each student will write and craft either a theatre playscript, a live performance script, a radio play, libretto or film/TV script. The student will decide on the particular medium early in the semester during the workshopping process... Semester 2 12.50
106-433 Genre Interventions
The subject teaches an understanding of genres in their social, historical and theoretical contexts. It will focus on the analysis of texts working in a range of literary and non-literary genres (the joke, the blog, the crime novel, the curse, the no... Semester 2 12.50
106-472 Genealogies of Place
In this subject students will engage with creative and intellectual concepts that deal with an understanding of place (and places) and its relationship to individuals, communities and cultural formations. These places may be physical, social or psych... Semester 2 12.50
Publishing and Editing
Subject Semester Credit Points
106-474 The Contemporary Publishing Industry
This subject provides an overview of the major factors affecting the local and global production, marketing and distribution of books, magazines and electronic publications. It considers the impact of political, social and economic conditions, techno... Semester 1 12.50
106-518 Print Production and Design
This subject introduces students to the aesthetics and practice of print production. It outlines the principles of page proportion, the visual characteristics of readable type and the interrelationship of images and text. The subject also surveys the... Semester 1 12.50
106-477 Writing and Editing for Digital Media
This subject focuses on the communication techniques required to publish effectively in the digital environment, in particular for professional websites in the public domain. It examines the communication techniques used for ‘old... Semester 2 12.50
Students must successfully complete all requirements of the first year of the program before commencing the second year.
Second-year: Compulsory thesis subject
Students enrol in one of:
Subject Semester Credit Points
760-553 Minor Thesis - Creative Writing
The student will negotiate a suitable project with a supervisor, attend meetings and supervision sessions as required and present work in progress to appropriate seminars or conferences during the year. Semester 1, Semester 2 50
106-531 Publishing and Communications Thesis
A research topic selected in consultation with the supervisor. Semester 1, Semester 2 37.50
Second-year elective subjects
(a minimum of 25 points must be taken in each subject area in addition to the compulsory thesis subject):
Creative writing
Subject Semester Credit Points
760-433 Arts Law
This subject introduces the general framework of Australia's legal system. It then focuses on three areas relevant to all cultural sectors: contract, copyright and negligence. Aspects of trade practices law and corporations legislation will also... Semester 1 12.50
760-512 Research for the Creative Writer
This seminar subject is designed to enrich writers' understanding of what research involves for extended writing projects, in terms of the thematic material explored, the cultural and socio-political context, and in terms of the conceptual enric... Semester 1 12.50
760-513 Writing the Unconscious
This subject explores the implications of theories of the self and the unconscious for contemporary writers. Work from the late 19th Century, the Modernist period and contemporary Postmodern literature will be surveyed along with theoretical writing ... Semester 1 12.50
760-510 Creative Writing Advanced Workshop
Students will produce drafts of work in progress, engage in peer editing and workshops, present readings, attend seminars conducted by experienced writers, and will have an opportunity to receive professional feedback from publishers and editors. Semester 2 12.50
760-520 Text, Time and Space
This subject will enable the creative writing student to consider how time and space as cultural and structural concepts are involved in narrative and subject construction. The subject will stimulate a creative engagement with critical theory and wil... Semester 2 12.50
760-528 Advanced Arts Law
This subject examines current legal topics in relation to the circulation of the creative arts in the public sphere. The topics will vary year to year and include the legal context of film and multimedia production and distribution; the commissioning... Semester 2 12.50
Publishing and Editing:
Subject Semester Credit Points
106-513 History of Books and Reading
This subject introduces students to the history of the book and its relationship to changing reading practices. It will focus specifically on the changing technologies and aesthetics of book production, the relationships between reading and other cul... Semester 1 12.50
106-516 Advanced Editing for Digital Media
Students will be taken through the process of planning sites at various levels of complexity for different purposes and audiences, with attention to the efficient management of content, the optimisation of access and the establishment of qualitative ... Semester 1 12.50
106-525 Advanced Magazine Editing and Publishing
This subject combines analysis of the magazine industry with intensive exposure to the editorial and business aspects of magazine publishing. It places particular emphasis on the procedures required to manage magazines through each phase of productio... Semester 1 25
106-526 Ethical and Legal Issues in Publishing
This subject addresses ethical issues and legal constraints involved in publishing for print and digital media. It reviews existing ethical codes and the mechanisms established to police them, as well as offering an overview of how publishing practic... Semester 1 12.50
106-518 Print Production and Design
This subject introduces students to the aesthetics and practice of print production. It outlines the principles of page proportion, the visual characteristics of readable type and the interrelationship of images and text. The subject also surveys the... Semester 1 12.50
106-524 Advanced Book Editing and Publishing
This subject combines analysis of the book publishing industry with intensive exposure to the editorial and business aspects of book publishing. A case-study approach will be used to address the issues involved in selecting and commissioning titles, ... Semester 2 25
106-514 The Publishing Industry & Globalisation
This subject addresses a range of political, social and cultural issues associated with the globalisation of publishing. Students will review various interpretations of the emergence of global publishing conglomerates and the integration of print pub... Semester 2 12.5
