He was 20 years old when he started calling himself a poet. But only 12 years later, Robert Berold published his first writing. Why was that? “It was safer to walk around with the potential of being a poet than to put the whole thing to the test,” says Berold, who is the coursework co-ordinator for a new MA in Creative Writing at Rhodes University.
He was 20 years old when he started calling himself a poet. But only 12 years later, Robert Berold published his first writing. Why was that? “It was safer to walk around with the potential of being a poet than to put the whole thing to the test,” says Berold, who is the coursework co-ordinator for a new MA in Creative Writing at Rhodes University.
Six books later, Berold is no longer afraid of publishing. Students doing the one-year Masters programme will also be encouraged to submit written work for publication during the course.
“The writer has to learn to go through rejection, hence the requirement of sending work to publishers,” says Berold.
The Masters programme has taken the director of the Institute for the Study of English in Africa (ISEA) Prof Laurence Wright two and a half years to get off the ground.
Having gone through the national accreditation process, the programme will inject a new degree into the Rhodes mix.
In addition to poetry, drama, novels and short stories, the programme will feature non-fiction genres such as memoir, biography and autobiography as possible areas of concentration.
“With its history of writers and artists, its connections with journalism and publishing, and the intellectual resources of the University to hand, Grahamstown is ideal for this venture,” says Wright.
He is the overall coordinator of the course, which will be run from the ISEA and features an impressive list of published writers as teachers and supervisors.
Mxolisi Nyezwa, Joan Metelerkamp, Jeff Peires, Anton Krueger, Silke Heiss, and Berold himself are on the list.
Prerequisites for the MA course are an honours degree in any discipline and a 20-page portfolio of writing, although candidates with extensive writing experience or outstanding potential may also be considered.
Although the course is not theoretical, it will include elements of literary theory and a reflective component on one’s own writing.
It will also include practical aspects like how to go about finding a publisher and marketing one’s work. Focus is also placed on extensive reading for pleasure and inspiration.
The introduction of the Rhodes course follows a recent trend in South African universities to offer creative writing classes, but it is uniquely grounded in the Eastern Cape so work can be offered in English, Xhosa or Afrikaans.
Supervisors for Xhosa writing include Mzi Mahola and Russell Kaschula. “You can’t really teach people to write, but you can get people aligned with their real passion and interests,” says Berold.
In the first semester, students will be guided in finding their own voice, style and rhythm through weekly seminars in a range of genres, weekly assignments and an ongoing reflective journal.
In the second semester, students will be expected to produce a substantial body of work under the guidance of a supervisor of their choice.
This may be a novel, poetry or short story collection, a screenplay or work of creative non-fiction. Berold warns that writing is a lonely activity, and stamina is vital.
Talent is not enough, he says: “To be a writer, you have to really want to write, and you have to have the ability to keep at it.
Neither of those issues are grounded in talent.” Berold has taught 30 short creative writing courses in as many years.
He hopes that the MA course will empower students to find their voice and find the forms of writing they are best at. As he himself has shown, it is never too late to get your name in print.
