Nau mai! We house English, Cinema Studies, Cultural Studies and the Writing programme. We are proud of our interdisciplinary and community connections.
This is the official page of the English Department at the University of Canterbury Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha, Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand. As a community we look to learn from each other - students, academic staff and professional staff alike. We offer courses and supervision in a broad variety of fields, and our department has a history of innovative and distinguished scholarshi
p. We have a strong programme in the more 'traditional' areas of English, such as the study of literature (including novels, short stories, poetry, drama and Shakespeare) and creative writing. Members of our department are experts in New Zealand, Pasifika, American and European literature(s), as well as in movements such as Romanticism and Postcolonialism. We also have specialists in more recent and interdisciplinary fields such as young adult and children’s fiction, science fiction and dystopia, horror and the supernatural, popular culture, critical sexualities, critical animal studies, digital literary studies and cultural studies. We house the New Zealand Centre for Human-Animal Studies, teach the core courses for UC’s Cultural Studies programme and are involved in the Digital Humanities programme. We host the Ursula Bethell Residency in Creative Writing, which is co-funded by Creative New Zealand. Our academics teach into and offer supervision within other departments and programmes. We also house the Cinema Studies programme, who teach into our offerings at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. If you are interested in studying with us, whether you're starting out or are interested in a higher degree such as an MA (a Masters of Arts by research), an MWRIT (a Master of Writing), or a PhD, we'd love to hear from you. This page is tended by Erin Harrington (UC lecturer), with contributions provided by academic staff, professional staff, students, and members of the community.
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14/05/2026
Here's a great opportunity for creative writers in years 12 and 13. Click through!
2026 CLNZ | NZSA Secondary School Leavers Scholarship open now
Applications for the CLNZ | NZSA Secondary School Leavers Scholarship are now open. This inaugural initiative offers five grants of $2,000 each, split between the successful student and their school; to support the next generation of Aotearoa New Zealand writers as they transition to tertiary study.
The scholarship targets Year 12 and 13 students planning to enrol in a Level 5 or above arts degree in 2027. To apply, students must be nominated by their school (up to two candidates per school) and submit an original short story or work of fiction between 500 and 2,000 words.
Applications open Friday May 1st, and close Wednesday July 1st
Go to
21/04/2026
Attention fantasy fans! The wonderful Andrea Eames, author of A Harvest of Hearts (and UC alum!), is going to be appearing in conversation with our friends at UBS - University Bookshop Canterbury this Thursday, 5:30pm. Some of you may have seen Andrea appear at last year's WORD Christchurch festival, where she gave some great insight into her most recent book, A Harvest of Hearts. You can expect more of that here - cosy fantasy, romance, plucky protagonists, magic, and big secrets... We'd love to see you there.
19/04/2026
It was a real privilege to attend the launch of Ariana Tikao's poetry collection Pepeha Portal last week at Scorpio Books. It was a very moving event that was packed out and our photos featured a lot of the backs of people's heads, so instead here's a link to the work, which has just been published by OUP. Ariana was working on this project while here as the University of Canterbury / Creative New Zealand Ursula Bethell writer in residence in 2023, returning to Ōtautahi after some time away and reflecting on the changes to the city and the land. We love seeing how people's time here supports the creation and development of new, important and transformative work - especially work grounded in this place. Ngā mihi nui Ariana!
Pepeha Portal - Otago University Press
shining like light on water a path for the next generation From ‘Intonation’ Pepeha Portal is the keenly anticipated debut poetry collection from New Zealand Arts Laureate Ariana Tikao. Rooted in Kāi Tahu identity, the collection chronicles a homecoming and offers a moving account of memory, pl...
08/04/2026
Massive congratulations to Alan Wright, whose book Film and the Natural History of Destruction: Walter Benjamin for the Anthropocene is out today! The book is open access, so if you are interested in film, memory and ecological thought check it out.
🥳HUGE CONGRATULATIONS🥳to Paul Millar, who has just been announced as a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi. This is just about the top honour a NZ researcher can achieve, and this recognises Paul's extensive and cutting edge work in NZ literature, literary archives, digital humanties (including with the UC Digital Arts Lab), and post-disaster humanities research. He's also a terrific colleague, as well as a champion for students and early career researchers. Click through to read more about his work.
You are warmly invited to some lovely upcoming community events combining poetry and kai presented by our friends at Te Ngaki o Waiutuutu, the UC community garden, and UC Sustainability Community, March 12th & 26th, 5.30-7pm. The events are free, but registrations are essential.
"Te Ngaki o Waiutuutu is excited to present Poetry in the Garden, a relaxed community event of words and kai in our beautiful campus community garden. There'll be pizza and chat from 5.30pm, then at 6pm Ray Shipley will share a nature-inspired writing prompt, followed by an opportunity to write (on the prompt or otherwise) in a quiet spot amongst the plants. From 6.30pm-7pm, we'll gather back together to read our writing aloud - a word, a phrase, a stanza, or a whole poem.
Ray Shipley is an Ōtautahi-based poet, library assistant, writing tutor, and comedian. In 2019, Ray was nominated for the Billy T Award, the biggest award for the rising stars of comedy in Aotearoa. Ray is the current Christchurch Poetry Slam Champion, a title they’ve held five times. Their debut poetry chapbook, published by Ngā Pukapuka Pekapeka, was released in November 2025. Since 2020, Ray has been running Late Night Poetry Hour - a celebration of poetry and feelings and staying up past bedtime - monthly at Little Andromeda Theatre."
Poetry in the Garden
Poetry in the Garden: pizza, a nature writing prompt with Ray Shipley, quiet garden writing time, and optional sharing. Mar 12 & 26, 5.30–7pm. Free, register.
23/02/2026
Exciting news - Pepeha Portal, by poet, singer, Arts Laureate, writer and taonga pūoro expert Ariana Tikao, is about to be published! The work is rooted in Kai Tāhu identity, and explores memory, place and belonging through stories embedded in the landscape. Ariana was working on this when she was one of our 2023 Ursula Bethell / Creative New Zealand writers in residence, and we are so happy to see it come into the world. There will no doubt be launches and other events lined up, so keey and eye or ear out.
Pepeha Portal - Otago University Press
shining like light on water a path for the next generation From ‘Intonation’ Pepeha Portal is the keenly anticipated debut poetry collection from New Zealand Arts Laureate Ariana Tikao. Rooted in Kāi Tahu identity, the collection chronicles a homecoming and offers a moving account of memory, pl...
19/02/2026
Readers and Writers Akaroa is coming up, running from 6-8 March. It's a great little festival that includes panel and discussion sessions as well as a bunch of workshops. You'll see lots of department friends and whanau - past Ursula Bethell writers in residence Nic Low, Tina Makereti and Ariana Tikao, and past student Josiah Morgan. Click through for more info!
About | rawafestival
Welcome to RAWA’s website, Readers and Writers Akaroa, where we welcome lovers of books and writing to the stunning Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū, Banks Peninsula!
19/02/2026
It's always lovely to be able to celebrate student success, so a massive congratulations to the following students who have been awarded the department's major prizes for 2025:
😊Howard McNaughton Prize in Drama: Dylan Woods
🥳Howard McNaughton Prize in Cultural Studies: Georgie Fuller
🤩Winston Rhodes Prize in English (for the top honours graduate): Emily Lyckholm
😁MacMillan Brown Essay Prize (for exceptional achievement and originality in first year coursework): First Prize: Naomi Wilson
😎MacMillan Brown Essay Prize: Second Prize: Rupert Leary
😀Top Master of Writing Student: Tia McCallum
😍John Garrett Scholarship in English (exceptional achievement in 300-level English by BA English majors, for students advancing to honours or masters level study in English or Writing): Isabella Brake and Joseph Gard’ner (joint recipients)
🤠John Tinline Prize in English (a retrospective award for exceptional achievement in 300-level English, for students enrolled in postgrad ENGL study): Ella Paterson
Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou - these awards are the result of a lot of hard work and dedication.
17/02/2026
The Landfall Tauraka Young Writers' Essay Prize is currently taking submissions, and closes at the end of March. This is a prestigious prize, and might appeal to students who have worked on creative non-fiction in some of our writing classes. Click through for more information from our friends at Otago University Press.
COMPETITIONS - Otago University Press
OUP celebrates bold, original voices through 3 prizes - LFT Essay Prize, Kathleen Grattan Poetry Award, LFT Young Writers’ Essay Prize
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