Dr Nicola Matthews-Browne

Who am I?

 I have published a number of books for young children as Nicola Matthews and teen fiction as N M Browne.

I am also working on adult fiction. I watch quite a lot of rugby. I sing in a choir, dance whenever I can and read pretty well all the time. 

Why do I teach?

I teach because writing can be lonely and isolated and make a writer feel disconnected from the world. I enjoy working with other writers because we are all in our different and separate ways engaged in similar battles with our work.Teaching creative writing is less like being the conductor at the front of an orchestra, directing students and telling them what to do and more like being a first violin, very much part of the orchestra, still practising.

As writers we can share our insights on what makes writing 'work', develop an insight into our own process and inspire each other into working harder, taking more risks, and generally producing better material. Almost all the students I've taught have build their own creative communities to support each other even after their courses are over and I love that. I love it when students learn to do something or perceive something new about their writing and I love it all the more when it feels like I've helped them.

Words of wisdom

Writers write and read. A lot. 

How I’ll teach you

I hope I am encouraging. I am certainly ethusiastic and I want students to find their voices, explore their strengths and work hard on their weaknesses. I am quite a tough critic, but when I say something is 'good' I mean it.