Writing (MA)

It has been often said that our relationship to time has become increasingly distorted recently, but this has seldom been more apparent to me than it is now, in this year which consists of two years, both of which are now about to take their leave.

One group of students arrived in October 2021, and were the last to join our fifteen-month programme; the other group are the first to join our twelve-month programme, and arrived in September 2022. Both leave us now having written a lot, and read more, and have begun conversations which are likely to continue for many years to come.

Everyone walks their own path, even if we do so side-by-side, and what a distance we have come. We may begin in different places, and at different times, but for this brief passage there is much which we can share: a suggestion for a book to read, or a line to cut; a word of encouragement, or even simply quiet companionship, and the sense of not travelling alone. These might not seem like much, but sometimes they are all that we require.

It is a privilege for us to share these moments, my colleagues and I, to see a work develop, an idea bloom; to see work published and remember when it was first mentioned, perhaps hesitatingly, in a tutorial or crit; to remember what we’ve learned.

— Jeremy Millar, Head of Programme, Writing MA