Student Successes ...
In the last three years, thirty of our graduates have published books, or been successful in national or international writing awards.
Click here to download a brochure profiling some of our successful students and their teachers...
2017-2020
- Fiona Sussman's fourth novel Addressed to Greta, published by Bateman Books, Nov (Fiona is a graduate of the forerunner to our 30 Week Fiction Course)
- Mandy McMullin wins the NZ Society of Authors Heritage Short Story Award, Nov
- Kathryn van Beek's short story collection Pet published by Mary Egan Books
- Pip Mckay wins 2020 1st Pages International Award, and trip to Paris with judge Sebastian Faulks
- Jude Peters' second novel, Sanctuary published on Amazon
- Fiona Sussman short listed for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, May 2020
- Suzanne Ashmore's novel Meltwater short-listed for the 2020 Booklovers Award
- Jill Varani wins 1st prize in the Sunday Star Times Short Story Award, Dec 2019.
- Mandy McMullin and Leanne Radojkovich win 1st and 2nd prize in the 2019 Graeme Lay short story award
- Heidi North's book of poems We are Tiny Beneath the Light published by the Cuba Press
- Kirsty Powell's novel The Strength of Eggshells published by Cloud Ink
- Eileen Merriman's fourth novel Moonlight Sonata published by Penguin Random House
- Suzanne Ashmore's novel Meltwater published
- Eileen Merriman's third novel Invisibly Breathing published by Penguin Random House.
- Rosetta Allan's second novel Unreliable People published by Penguin Random House
- Nidhi Eipe invited to read at the Cork International Poetry Festival, Ireland
- Jeannie McLean's novel Caught Between short-listed for the 2019 $10,000 Michael Gifkins Prize
- Jeff Murray's novel Melt, published
- Josie Laird's novel All About Kate published by Swooping Kereru Books
- Sidney Mazzi's novel The Art of Hunting Humans published on Amazon
- Fiona Sussman, Eileen Merriman & Kathryn van Beek win 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes in the 2018 Sunday Star Times short story award.
- Julie Ryan's book of poems Last of the Halcyon Days published by Steele Roberts Publishing
- Eileen Merriman's novel Pieces of You published by Penguin Random House
- Colleen Lenihan awarded a place on the Te Papa Tupu Maori Writer's Programme plus a Michael King Writers Centre Residency
- Sarah O'Flaherty's book Fresh Start - A Guide to Eliminating Unhealthy Stress published on Amazon
- Karen Mills' novel Tasting Stars published by Mary Egan Books. (See her TV1 Seven Sharp's interview below in 'Media Comment' below)
- Pip McKay awarded a Society of Authors Complete Manuscript Award
- Sze Ning Ooi awarded a 2018 Society of Authors mentorship
- Colleen Maria Lenihan was first runner up in the national Lillian Ida Smith Award for her collection Cherry Blossom Girl
- Fiona Sussman's novel The Last Time We Spoke won the 2017 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel (Fiona is a graduate of the forerunner to our 30 Week Fiction Course)
- Rosetta Allan was awarded a 2018 Michael King Writers Centre residency
- Andrea Hotere's book Undreamed Of - 50 Years of the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship pub by Oxford University Press
- Kirk Lafferty's story K Road published in the Phantom Billstickers Cafe Reader
- Karen Mills' story Stern Faced Angels published in Headland magazine
- Greg Hall's novel Good Sons - A novel of the Great War published by Mary Egan publishing
- Leanne Radojkovich's short story collection First Fox published by Emma Press UK (Leanne is a graduate of the forerunner to our 30 Week Fiction course)
- Sally Christie's story The Caretaker published in Headland magazine
- Emma Vere-Jones' children's book The Wetter the Better published by Duck Creek Press
- Gina Cole's short fiction published in Jan 2017 issue of NZ Listener
- Heidi North-Bailey won the Hachette / NZ Society of Authors Trans-Tasman mentorship
- Eileen Merriman was a prize-winner in the national Sunday Star Times Short Story Award for the third year in a row.
Media Comment and Graduate Interviews ...
Newsroom run stories in April 2020 from our graduates Dr Himali McInnes, and Dr Eileen Merriman, on their work on the Covid front line here
Stuff on Jill Varani's first prize in the Dec 2019 Sunday Star Times Short Story Award here.
Scoop reports our three prize-winners in the Sunday Star Times Short Story Award, December 2018: 'Small Writing Centre Sweeps Board in National Fiction Award' ... read story
National Radio's Karyn Hay talks to Creative Hub Director John Cranna, about the vision that has made the Creative Hub NZ's most successful independent writing centre ... here
John Cranna was interviewed by National Radio's Lynn Freeman about running creative writing workshops for marginalised youth in the Far North. Listen here.
Karen Mills' novel Tasting Stars was widely profiled on TV and in the national media in August 2017. You can read her interview in the Women's Weekly here.
Fiona Sussman won the 2017 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel. You can read an interview with her in the Sunday Star Times here.
Eileen Merriman's novel Pieces of You was published by Penguin Random House in 2017. Read her review in the NZ Herald, and you can listen to her interview on Radio New Zealand.
Read an account by Kathryn van Beek of her experiences on our 30 Week Fiction Course, published on 'Elsewhere' blog, hosted by Graham Reid, former music editor of the NZ Herald.
Our graduate Dr Eileen Merriman has won a place in the New Zealand Society of Authors's mentoring programme. North Shore Times, April 2015
Our graduates regularly win prizes in the Sunday Star Times Short Story Awards. In that newspaper, Creative Hub tutors share their favourite writing exercises. 
Sunday Star-Times Short Story Award (618.21 KB)
Listen to a National Radio interview with Creative Hub director John Cranna, and students on the Advanced Fiction Course here
Click here to read about The Creative Hub in Graham Beattie's Book Blog, Aug 2010.
Click here to read about the launch of The Creative Hub on The Big Idea, the leading website for New Zealand's creative community. August 2010.
Creative Hub students have said ...
Introduction to Creative Writing & Summer Fiction School with John Cranna
"A five-star course!"
"Very useful and enjoyable. It helped to clarify a number of issues I was unsure about, or only subconsciously aware of."
"Excellent. Really enjoyed it. Challenging, fun, exploratory. Enjoyed the fact that things were revealed slowly, week by week." "Informative, enlightening - huge learning curve."
"Found writing in class daunting, but appreciated the challenge. The 'homework' helped establish a writing routine I plan to continue."
"I really enjoyed it. Loved the dialogue workshop and the instruction on scene structure, which I found really helpful."
"I liked having weekly projects to work on as it encouraged me to sit and write when I have a tendency to procrastinate otherwise."
"Really enjoyed hearing the other students' work!"
30 Week Fiction Course with John Cranna plus a number of leading NZ writers
“The visiting writers were great. I also really enjoyed working with the group, and the process of reviewing and being reviewed. The group feedback was extremely useful. We quickly established trust."
“Exposure to a number of NZ writers was not only a highlight - just meeting them - but the ideas they imparted were of great interest. This gave great depth to the course.”
“The critiquing process was helpful in my development as a writer. Reading others' work and seeing how they structure their work and attack problems has been invaluable. It was very helpful to see working writers and hear their insights and to benefit from their skills.”
“I liked the discipline of continuing to write and critique work. I find that process valuable and illuminating. Group feedback was very valuable, and I gained a lot of insights into my work, and it kept me motivated to progress my writing. I wouldn't have achieved much without it!”
“Everything worked. The best thing is the people in the group. We are so lucky. I think the trips to the pub afterwards (and other socialising) is an important part of it ... it builds trust and team spirit. The group to me is like 'The Inklings' - Tolkien and CS Lewis's group. What a model to base us on! We have the same structure ... but of course they had no email, so they read aloud their work!”
“I feel empowered by what I learned on the course ... There is no substitute for the Commendation, Recommendation, Commendation method we got on this course. You can't get that from any book ..."
“The weekly critiquing of work was brilliant. I liked the way theory was interspersed with this ... it was a good refresher. Although I was at first put off by the test idea, it was actually a good way to see what we retained - a surprisingly great deal!”
