Difficult Friends

Difficult Friends is an anthology of poems, stories and extracts from longer works, including screenplays and play scripts, showcasing our writers’ engagement with a range of contemporary themes and subject matter, as well as their facility with lyrical description, character development, vivid realism, imaginative fantasy and humour. It’s published as a free pdf and in limited edition print.

Student contributors:

Jazmine Brett, Will Hardy, Robert Harvey, Sara Iddir, Rosa-Maya Koehler, Ellie Lynch, Ava Moylan, Benedict Odobeatu, Avelina Prince, Katelyn Smith, Faith Taylor-Parish, Sam Wigmore, Hafsah Zahoor.

Extract:

“The whole world was salt and green and the holding of breath, the water burning our eyes, the sky waving through the wash, beckoning us up to join it, our legs pushing off the floor to bring us back up towards the light. That three feet of travelling between the floor and the surface, I was a seal, smooth and strong. When my head broke the water, my hair flying back, I knew how the humpback whale felt, thrashing the waves with its spine — ungovernable, eternal.”

—Katelyn Smith, Wish You Were Here, Still

Creative Writing at ARU offers students the opportunity to explore the full suite of writing mediums and genres – from novels, poetry and professional copy to writing for games, film and tabletop roleplay.

One-to-one feedback, workshops and additional guest lectures build range and versatility in our writers, and there is continuous emphasis on reading deeply and passionately to hone attention to detail.

Our graduates are ready to take on any entry level writing or editing job, but have also acquired habits of self-discipline that will see them continue to improve their craft in the decades to come.