The International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML) hosts Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington's Creative Writing programme, offering both undergraduate and postgraduate courses. We are part of the Wellington Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University.
Application deadlines
We have specific application deadlines for undergraduate workshops in each trimester, and for our MA and PhD programmes.
Writer in Residence 2026
Applications are now open for our full-year Writer in Residency (apply by 30 September 2025), and our three-month Emerging Māori Writer in Residency (apply by 31 October 2025).
Both residencies are supported by Creative New Zealand and will be based at the IIML in 2026.
Undergraduate courses
Discover your individual voice and develop your imaginative capacity within a lively community of writers.
Master of Arts in Creative Writing
Join the Creative Writing programme with a national and international reputation for developing many of New Zealand's best writers.
PhD in Creative Writing
Our PhD programme is designed for those who wish to write creatively and think in focussed and original ways about the critical contexts of their writing.
Tamara Tulitua—MA graduate
'Of all that I gained…I most value the thickened resolve to prioritise writing time that the year's work cultivated: the space is cleared and fenced. '
Tina Makereti—Senior Lecturer
'Stories are portals to other worlds, often real worlds that exist right alongside our own without our knowing, which means they have the power to change lives.
Morgan Bach—current PhD
Morgan is examining the book length lyric essay and its utility for situating personal experience in the broader sociohistorical context.