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Creative Writing

Our research

colourful books

Where theory meets practice

Creative writing encompasses multiple types of literary art, from poetry to multi-volumed novel series'.

Academics in our Centre have published works across a range of genres, including poetry, plays, and creative non-fiction. They have been nominated for awards such as the Goldsmiths Prize, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and the BBC Audio Awards, and regularly feature on programmes on BBC Radio 4, including "Book of the Week".

Through their work our academics examine aspects of life such as gender and sexuality, climate change, the impacts of artificial intelligence, and mental health. Their works have drawn on areas of history and personal experiences, and looked to the future through science fiction.

Staff also contribute to the creative writing discipline through talks including literary festivals and workshops, and as critics for publications such as the Times Literary Supplement and the British Theatre Guide. They have also contributed to the development of archives consisting of the papers of two writers connected to Essex; Douglas Oliver, and J.A. Baker.

Watch & Listen

The Lascaux Notebooks
In the early 2000s, Professor Philip Terry was given an old crate found in a chateau in the South of France that turned out to contain the lost manuscripts of Jean-Luc Champerret, the discoverer of Ica Age poetry.
Why are oak trees so important to us?
Hear Dr James Canton as part of BBC Radio 4’s “Year of the Tree” series talking about the importance of oak trees on Radio 4's PM.
Essex Book Festival Launch Day 2024
Experience the Essex Book Festival Launch Day 2024 with Sarah Perry.
The Dolittle Machine
The Centre for Creative Writing’s Matthew De Abaitua speculates about building a machine to talk to animals.
The Lodgers
Watch and listen as Dr Holly Pester reads an excerpt from her hit novel "The Lodgers".

Research projects

Memory Maps

Memory Maps is an online writing project delivered by the Centre for Creative Writing which began as a collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Publications

Books

  • Pester, H., (2024). The Lodgers. Granta Books. 9781783789832
  • Champerret, J-L. and Terry, P., (2022). The Lascaux Notebooks. Carcanet Press Ltd. 1800171730. 9781800171732
  • Canton, J., (2020). The Oak Papers. Canongate Books. 1838851526. 9781838851521
  • De Abaitua, M., (2016). The Destructives. Angry Robot. 9780857664747

Plays

  • Kuti, E (2013) Fishskin Trousers. Nick Hern Books. ISBN 9781848423626.

Archives

Members of the Centre for Creative Writing have been involved in using and setting up Library Archives. These archives include:

  • the Douglas Oliver Archive (the archive of the ex-Essex poet Douglas Oliver) at the Albert Sloman Library
  • the J.A. Baker Archive, set up by James Canton in 2016

Douglas Oliver (1937-2000) was a poet, novelist, academic, journalist and translator. He was first associated with the University of Essex in the 1970s. Starting as a mature student, Douglas later became a lecturer in the Literature Department. His collection comprises the notebooks, typescripts, research material, correspondence and printed works, and his Archive has been placed on permanent deposit with the Library by his widow, Alice Notley, and has been augmented by additional material acquired by means of purchase.

The J.A Baker Archive is an important national archive of interest internationally, holding the papers of the seminal Essex-based nature writer J.A. Baker, author of The Peregrine. J.A Baker has had an important impact on the currently resurgent new nature writing.

The archive attracts interest nationally and internationally, with visitors from Cambridge, London, Edinburgh and the United States. The launch event featured leading nature writers Mark Cocker and Jon Fanshawe, and involved public facing talks, and a demonstration of a peregrine in flight.


Explore our archives at Essex
An ombre background from blue to green with "Louder than Words" in black text and the words "University of Essex" also in black with a logo of 5 small black squares on the bottom right.
The Louder Than Words Podcast: The Web of Life

Join Professor Jules Pretty, Professor Sean Nixon, and Dr James Canton as they discuss the importance of the connection between humans and nature, and how that relationship has changed and will continue to change in the future.

Listen to the podcast
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