Joanna Miller
Student spotlight details
Joanna enrolled in the Diploma in Creative Writing to hone her skills in various genres and connect with other writers. Her debut novel 'The Eights' will be published in April 2025, and she is currently researching her second book.
'I live in Hertfordshire, UK, and work part-time in a bookshop. My degree is in English Literature and I was an undergraduate at Oxford in the 1980s, returning a few years later to study for a PGCE. After a career in teaching and advising, I set up a poetry gift business, which ran for a decade.
'During lockdown, I decided to write a novel, enrolling in a six-month course. It is something I had always wanted to try but never dared. Having taught and studied so many brilliant writers and poets, I felt foolish attempting to write anything except rhyming verse. However, my sister, who is a novelist, encouraged me to "just get on with it" and I began working on my debut novel The Eights about the first women to matriculate at Oxford in the shadow of the Great War.
'I applied for the Diploma in Creative Writing when the first draft of The Eights was complete, but before it had sold. I picked up a leaflet after walking past Rewley House on one of my numerous research trips around Oxford and it felt timely. My three children were all independent and I liked the idea of returning to Oxford at the weekends and meeting other writers, hence choosing the in-person study pathway of the course.
'Although I had an agent by this point, I still suffered from imposter syndrome and felt that I had missed out by not studying creative writing. I believed if I honed my skills in all genres, it would help my work – and I was right.
'The Diploma is an experience that I would highly recommend to others, especially if, like me, you do not wish to commit to a master's degree. I found the course stimulating, especially the academic content, the insight of the tutors, and the other students’ contributions. Being a perfectionist, I pushed myself to improve on previous marks, and assignment deadlines proved challenging when they overlapped with book edits. However, there is no doubt the course made me a more confident and questioning writer. I became a better editor of my own work.
'During the Diploma, The Eights sold to Fig Tree Penguin in the UK, and Putman Penguin in the US. The novel is published in April 2025 and will be translated into multiple languages. I am currently researching my second book.
'One of the greatest joys of the course was the friendships made and the camaraderie. We had many meals and outings, overnight stays, long WhatsApp chats and zooms. The summer school, during the blisteringly hot June of 2023, was a highlight; getting up early to walk the empty parks and streets and revisiting my time as a fresher thirty years earlier was magical.
'Watching colleagues’ talent blossom was a privilege and the end of course presentation included work of such a high calibre that it was profoundly moving. After two years, twenty-two Saturdays, six Sundays, a week of summer school, eleven assignments, two portfolios, thirteen commentaries, and an evening of readings, it was a wrench to finally say goodbye.'
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Photo: Lucy Noble Photography
