Eleanor Marsden
‘Your Next Chapter? Insights into the Creative Writing PhD’
(‘You’re doing a PhD in creative writing? … Why?!’) Third-year doctoral student Eleanor Marsden shines a light on the value of a practice-led PhD and shares her own experience of the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ of undertaking this level of research. The talk will highlight the benefits of a creative PhD, aiming to demystify what’s involved and showcasing the many opportunities doctoral research can offer along the way. For anyone personally considering further academic study, or simply those curious to know the answer to the question above, this session will showcase the generative intersection of academic research and creative practice.
Eleanor received her BA and MA in English Literature from the University of Southampton and has just commenced her third year of a part-time PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Winchester, investigating fiction-writing as a therapeutic process. She recently won first place in the University’s 2026 Three Minute Thesis competition (3MT®) and made it through to the national competition to become a UK semi-finalist. She has presented her research to audiences of specialists and non-specialists, both locally and nationally – most recently at University College London’s international Great Writing conference – whilst her short fiction and poetry has been published and won various accolades, including from the Hampshire Writers’ Society and from the Bridport Prize.
I Want to Flourish!’ – Creating a Space Where Your Writing Can Grow
Our guest speaker for the evening will be Carole Burns
The artist Gwen John, when her brother tried to convince her to return to England from her home in Paris, wrote back: “There are people who like plants cannot flourish in the cold, and I want to flourish!” So, what do you need as a writer and artist to flourish? Is an academic setting right for you? How else can one create a fertile environment for your writing?
In this talk aimed at inspiring you to think ahead on how to shape your writing life in the new year, Carole will offer both philosophical thinking and practical tips on how to create a “greenhouse” where your work can grow; how to approach a new piece of writing; how to face the blank page; and how to create the space in your head to see works-in-progress afresh. Carole herself is about to embark on a new novel, so will share her own approach to beginning anew.
Carole Burns is a prize-winning short story writer, novelist and critic for publications including the Washington Post and LitHub. Her most recent book, The Same Country, follows three young women in Obama’s America, who are haunted by the racial killing of their friend twenty years earlier. The winner of Ploughshares’ John C. Zacharis Award, she teaches creative writing as an associate professor at the University of Southampton, and directs their reading series, Writers in Conversation. She once directed the MA Creative Writing programme at Winchester. www.caroleburns.com
https://linktr.ee/PurchaseTheSameCountry
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