The University of East Anglia (UEA) is facing a multimillion-pound deficit and wants to reduce staff by 113, in addition to those leaving voluntarily. This has prompted concern among authors who have graduated from UEA’s renowned creative writing course, who hope that the course will not be affected by the planned staffing cuts.
The creative writing course at UEA has been running since 1970 and has produced many successful authors and journalists, including Ian McEwan, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Tracy Chevalier. The course has also played a significant role in Norwich becoming a UNESCO City of Literature in 2012.
Author Emma Healey expressed her concern about the potential impact of the staffing cuts on the course, saying that it is a “real worry”. Erica Wagner, another author and editor, also spoke about the importance of the course in her development as a writer.
The UEA has stated that it anticipates “very few redundancies” in the creative writing department.
However, the announcement that the university is to cut 31 arts and humanities posts – out of a total of 36 academic job cuts – has prompted anger and dismay.
The UEA’s creative writing course has been a highly sought-after institution, and its graduates have gone on to work in a wide variety of professions, including theatre, television and film. The course has been a literary flagship among the new universities that opened in the 1960s, and this year marks its 60th anniversary.
The potential impact of the staffing cuts on the course remains to be seen, but the concern expressed by its graduates highlights the importance of preserving the creative writing programme at UEA.
