The new AFDA Creative Writing degree programme introduced on the AFDA Johannesburg and Cape Town campuses in 2021 is proving to be a hit with the number of students enrolled for the progamme more than doubling for 2022. AFDA is proud to announce the introduction of the Creative Writing programme on our AFDA Durban and AFDA Gqeberha campuses in 2023.
The South African and global creative industries are undergoing massive growth and diversification, and there is a clear need for creative writing programmes to address and respond to the vast growth of new platforms and media technologies.
The AFDA BA Creative Writing programme is structured to be responsive to this rapidly changing landscape, while offering integrated, rather than isolated creative writing projects. It will deliver multi-skilled writers that can create content for a variety of existing and emerging media platforms.
The degree integrates with other Creative Economy disciplines like Film, Television, New Media, Live Performance and Music.
“We are delighted to welcome the Bachelor Degree of Creative Writing to our campus in 2023,” says AFDA Durban’s Campus Dean, Dr Janet van Eeden. “Speaking from a personal point of view, screenwriting has always been my biggest passion and I’ve taught it consistently throughout the years since we opened in 2013, right up to the time I became the dean. I was also a freelance journalist and playwright for some seventeen years before coming to AFDA. Some of the best writers we have in South Africa have been through our screenwriting course in Durban. Our current head of Screenwriting, Shivana Naidoo, graduated with her Honours in Screenwriting from Durban in 2018 and we are delighted to have her lecture in Bachelor of Creative Writing next year, along with national lecturers such as the esteemed playwright, Malcolm Purkey. Durban’s whole staff body have continuously kept themselves involved in the film industry and many of us, including myself, are consistently doing professional writing work alongside our current roles. Weekends are busy for us! AFDA Durban has a wealth of writing knowledge to share with prospective writing students and we can’t wait to welcome these lucky students to our creative campus, AFDA Durban.”
“I am in the first year of the Creative Writing course and so far, I have learnt how to structure a screenplay, the best ways to develop raw ideas and most importantly that writer’s block is anything but a myth.” Says AFDA Johannesburg student Olerato Motsoane
“Ever since I can remember, I have always had stories to tell and I have always shared them. Most of the time I did this through my writing as a hobby. However, last year I realized I wanted to be a storyteller professionally, somehow. I wanted to write books, movies, plays, shows, you name it but I had no idea how I could possibly get the education to do that. This was the case until I found the creative writing course AFDA offers after looking and looking without finding a perfect fit.”
AFDA’s Bachelor of Creative Writing is one of the few fully-fledged undergraduate degrees in this field on offer in South Africa and supplies students with a broad-based skill set and a network of creative practitioners that will increase options for content production and provide career possibilities in the following fields of profession:
- Screenwriting
- Television Series Writing
- Short Story Writing
- Playwriting
- Documentary Writing
- News & Actuality Writing
- Copy Writing
- Commercial Writing and much more
Applications are open for 2023. We are looking forward to having you on board and growing the Creative Economy with you!
