Creative Writing - Doctor of Philosophy

The Viva Voce and Graduation

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Last November’s Substack post, ‘A Creative Writing PhD’, documented my three-year journey. At that time, I was tidying my thesis and doing final edits. I submitted, as planned, in December 2023. In this post I cover what happened afterwards so, if you haven’t read the previous post you might like to catch up with it first here.

After sending my thesis in digitally, grateful that I didn’t have to print and bind three copies and send it snail mail, I waited for confirmation that my two examiners were appointed. The ideal scenario is that one examiner comes from your own institution (Manchester Metropolitan University in my case) and the other, who works in a similar field, ie creative writing, should come from another university. Both examiners, of course, should not have been involved in a candidate’s progress up to that point. There is some choice around who is appointed. For instance, I could suggest who might be suitable but I couldn’t contact the examiners personally. My primary supervisor made all the arrangements so while this was all going on I was in limbo.

Viva Voce

Eventually, a date was set—20 March 2024. We would meet in Manchester. Interestingly, I could have opted to do the whole thing online since I was already a distance student but I thought it would be better to meet in person. I dreaded the thought that my internet might go down, or that I would mis-read body language and somehow make myself look an absolute idiot on screen!

My examiners were Dr Helen Mort, MMU, and Dr Sonia Overall from Canterbury Christ Church University. I was delighted to have two women—both are highly respected writers as well as academics, and both have a keen interest in Place Writing. They would read all 80,000 words of my thesis prior to our meeting. The format on the day was that we would meet for the viva voce examination, then they would chat while I disappeared for a while, then I would be called back in for further questions. I would be allowed to take my laptop into the meeting and could refer to particular parts of my thesis if I wanted to.

Result

Whatever happens on the day, you get the result there and then. You either pass with no corrections (very unusual apparently), or you pass with major or minor corrections (more common), or you don’t pass at all (I understand that a small percentage, under 5%, fail). As long as you don’t fail, and you agree to make the corrections (which the examiners suggest, and they give you written notes about it), you can immediately call yourself a Doctor! It’s so weird. Three years of hard work and, within a few hours of tense conversation, a handshake confirms success.

I passed with minor corrections which meant that I had to make a few changes to the thesis and resubmit for the examiners to give it a final OK. This happened within the space of six weeks or so and, thankfully, they were happy with my amendments. So, with the final bits of admin done, I managed it all in time to be included in the 15 July 2024 graduation ceremony.

Graduation

I’d already received written confirmation of my status as a Doctor of Philosophy and my certificate had come through in the post, so it wasn't necessary to attend the ceremony, it’s purely for show. But graduation is the nice bit at the end and, for me, it drew a line under my work as a student with the Centre for Place Writing at MMU. Naturally, it’s a chance to share your success with family or friends, and my daughter joined me for the occasion. And it was funny because the ushers and helpers looked at us and sort of assumed it was my daughter doing the graduating. There were so many proud mums there! Haha! We were the exception to the rule.

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Credits & Links:

Photo taken by my proud daughter, Jess Payne.

Helen Mort has her own Substack, A Time and a Place.

Click through for more info on the Centre for Place Writing at MMU.

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I’m honoured to be able to share my passion for creative writing, especially non-fiction Place Writing, through this publication, and I appreciate your presence in this community. Don’t forget to like, comment, re-stack, share, or quote on Notes.