The University of East Anglia's Creative Writing programme is to going to be awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Further and Higher Education.

This very prestigious higher education award is given to those who can demonstrate outstanding work at a world-class level and comes as the university celebrates the 40th anniversary of its world-renowned Creative Writing MA.

The Creative Writing MA, which counts Ian McEwan, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Anne Enright among its alumni, includes MA strands in Prose Fiction, Poetry, Scriptwriting and Lifewriting. In 1987 the department launched the world’s first PhD in Creative and Critical Writing.

UEA's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Edward Acton, enthused, “I am absolutely delighted that UEA has come to be renowned nationally and internationally as a centre of excellence in this now thriving academic discipline. We were the first UK university to offer Creative Writing 40 years ago, and I believe we are still seen as a benchmark for others. It is an honour to be recognised, once again, at this very highest level.”

Director of Creative Writing at UEA, Andrew Cowan, said, “This is a tremendous accolade because it not only recognises UEA's groundbreaking role in establishing Creative Writing as an academic discipline in the UK, and the unrivalled success of our alumni in achieving publication and major literary awards - it also recognises the continuing excellence of what we do. This is a very exciting time in the development of our programme, with many initiatives under way, and this award is hugely encouraging as we continue to innovate and expand.”

The Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Professor David Peters Corbett, commented, “UEA has long been exceptional among UK universities in its willingness to blend academic and creative work. It is a tradition the university proudly continues to this day, and it owes a profound debt to the Creative Writing programme. Over the last 40 years, the programme has been host to a distinguished series of tutors and to a striking number of future successful authors who have come to UEA to study with them. Creative Writing is a jewel in the university's crown and this award is a wonderful acknowledgement of an intellectually dynamic feature of Humanities at UEA.”

The Queen’s Anniversary Prize medal and certificate will be presented by the Queen at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Saturday 24th February 2012.

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Content added on 7th December 2011.

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