Creative Writing PhD student Rowland Bagnall says the course has given him the “freedom and satisfaction to work uninterrupted”. We find out more about his experience as a researcher at the University of Birmingham.
Why did you choose to study for a PhD in Creative Writing?
“Applying for a PhD in Creative Writing came as a surprise to me. My academic background is in English Literature, so I always assumed that – if I ever did a PhD – I’d simply carry on in that direction. I’d been finding time to work on my own writing alongside my academic studies for many years and had grown accustomed to the idea that my creative projects existed alongside essays, deadlines and dissertations as a kind of optional side-project, something like an extra-curricular activity that I could pick up when I found the time. A few years ago, however, a friend asked me whether I thought about writing every day. When I told him that I did, he said, “I guess that makes you a writer,” which is when I realised that the writing which I’d always thought existed ‘alongside’ everything else was really what I wanted to be doing all the time. It wasn’t long after that conversation, following the publication of my first collection of poetry, that I started thinking seriously about a PhD in Creative Writing, which seemed like an obvious way to bring writing to the forefront of my life."
Why did you choose to undertake research at the University of Birmingham?
“Birmingham was the only place that I applied to for a PhD. I was lucky to feel clear about what I wanted to achieve over the next few years and so – for me – it was more a case of choosing who rather than where. Birmingham’s Department of Film and Creative Writing has a deep roster of practicing writers and artists, whose specific expertise and interests cover a broad sweep of creative disciplines. It wasn’t difficult to identify the people who I knew would shape and guide my practice-based research and – only one year in – I’ve already been the beneficiary of more creative insight, encouragement, and criticism from my supervisory team than I could have hoped for when I made my application."
What are the best things about your course?
“The importance of being part of a creative environment which both challenges and encourages your work is difficult to overstate. The effect of my supervisors on my motivation and productivity has already been enough to make the course worthwhile, not to mention their specific guidance and support with my research project. More than this, having the time and space to read and think has been more valuable to my practice than I can realistically put into words.”
What is life like as a researcher at the University of Birmingham?
“While there have been some unexpected and unusual challenges as a result of the recent global health crisis – not least the campus and the libraries being temporarily closed – for the most part, life as a researcher means the freedom and satisfaction to work uninterrupted, pulling the threads that you wouldn’t otherwise have time to pull. At its most exciting, being a research student is a bit like being a detective."
Outside of your research, what experience have you gained and how will it help you in the future?
"I think the simplest benefit the course has had so far – in addition to the actual work and the relationships I’ve fostered – is to show me the trajectory of my writing life in years to come. The course has helped reveal what it is I feel ambitious and enthused to write about and has already shaped the outlines of a handful of new projects which have grown organically from my research and which I hope will form the basis of the work which I continue once the course is done."
Find out more about our PhD Creative Writing programme over on our course pages.