#24 Talking about writing and teaching with Julia Green
Have you ever wondered if you should do a creative writing course? Until recently, Julia Green was the long-running director of the MA in Writing for Young People at Bath Spa University. Now, she is an Emeritus Professor. She’s also the author of more than twenty novels and short stories for children.
As we’ll hear, Julia's writing and teaching careers developed side by side. I wanted to talk to her because over 60 students on her courses at Bath Spa have gone on to be published writers, some, like Elen Caldecott and Sally Nicholls, with stellar careers.
We talk about Julia’s path to teaching, and how it feeds her writing, the importance of staying grounded and keeping the day job, getting a PhD after a career and bringing up children, and the effect of lockdown on writing. We also discuss the process and the benefits of something like an MA in creative writing. They’re not for everyone, but with the focus on workshops, on experimentation, and on reading as a writer, they have a lot to offer. These are ideas you can take for your writing too, however you do it.
Julia talks about the importance of keeping writing alive, rather than getting too serious about black and white lines on a screen. I like that.
We talk about Julia’s path to teaching, and how it feeds her writing, the importance of staying grounded and keeping the day job, getting a PhD after a career and bringing up children, and the effect of lockdown on writing. We also discuss the process and the benefits of something like an MA in creative writing. They’re not for everyone, but with the focus on workshops, on experimentation, and on reading as a writer, they have a lot to offer. These are ideas you can take for your writing too, however you do it.
Julia talks about the importance of keeping writing alive, rather than getting too serious about black and white lines on a screen. I like that.
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