Welcome to the IIML blog.

Here we aim to post exercise ideas from our workshops, along with occasional thoughts about writers and writing.

The International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML) was established to promote and foster contemporary imaginative writing.

Our graduates are now among New Zealand’s leading contemporary writers. Increasingly, they are also at the forefront of creative writing development in New Zealand’s tertiary sector and have a growing international presence.

We offer a range of specialised undergraduate workshops including poetry, short fiction, children’s writing, environmental writing and creative nonfiction. These can also be taken independently.

Our Master of Arts (MA) in creative writing offers streams in Scriptwriting and Writing for the Page (poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction) to 40 students annually, and receives applications from all over the world.

In 2008 we launched New Zealand’s first PhD programme in creative writing.

Each year we host Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University’s annual writer in residence and a number of national and international visitors, some of whom lead dedicated master classes.

We administer a number of other scholarships and prizes for emerging writers. We also host the electronic publications Turbine | Kapohau and Ōrongohau | Best New Zealand Poems.