Unwrapping UPs Creative Writing Programme

Unwrapping UPs Creative Writing Programme

In 2019, Professor David Medalie received an award from the National Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences for his anthology of short stories, Recognition. This is, however, not the first award Prof Medalie has won for his literary works – he has also received numerous accolades for his short stories and his book, The Shadow Follows. While his academic focus centres on early twentieth century literature (especially Modernism) and South African literature, his book Encounters has been prescribed at a number of Independent Examination Board schools and universities, including the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Pretoria.

It is therefore fitting that Professor Medalie heads up the Unit for Creative Writing in the Faculty, which has seen a significant increase in enrolments over the last two years. The unit offers MA and PHD degrees in Creative Writing that combine a scholarly component with the need to create new artistic works such as a novel, a screenplay or poetry. Some of the noteworthy scholars that have come through the Unit and have been supervised by Professor Medalie include: Beyers de Vos who published his novel Talion, and Ashraf Johaardien who has not only published Salaam Stories but has also been appointed the CEO at Business and Arts South Africa.

Under the guidance of Professor Medalie the Unit for Creative Writing has seen a great deal of success and is rapidly gaining a reputation amongst a range of new South African writers. A recent stay by well-known South African writer Niq Mhlongo as an Andrew W Mellon artist-in-residence is one example. Mhlongo recently edited a collection of essays entitled Black Tax, which explores the effects of this fiscal responsibility on black professional South Africans. He is also known for his collection of short stories, Soweto, and Under the Apricot Tree for which he won the Herman Charles Bosman Prize in 2019.

The Faculty is very proud of the achievements that has come out of the Unit for Creative Writing and the work that Professor Medalie is overseeing and we look forward to the many successes yet to come!