Professor
Steve May
- Emeritus Professor - Creative Writing
- Email: s.may@bathspa.ac.uk
- School: School of Writing, Publishing and the Humanities
Emeritus Professor
Personal statement
After 20 years as a freelance author and musician entered Bath Spa as an hourly paid lecturer in Creative Writing, departed as a Provost. Wrote the ten Higher plays for Radio 4 (2008-15), satirising life in a new university.
As Chair of NAWE (National Association of Writers in Education) HE Committee steered the Benchmark for Creative Writing through QAA validation, and later served on REF2021 as a member of subpanel 27 (English Language and Literature).
Since leaving Bath Spa, Steve has returned to his old life as a professional writer.
Academic qualifications
- PhD in Medieval Drama, University of Bristol
Research and academic outputs
Doing creative writing
book
May, S (2007) Doing creative writing. Routledge, Abingdon. ISBN 9780415402385
Revelation, transgression, disclosure and the tyranny of truth
book_section
Albers, R and May, S (2015) 'Revelation, transgression, disclosure and the tyranny of truth.' In: Harper, G, ed. Creative writing and education. Multilingual Matters, pp. 17-28. ISBN 9781783093533
Writing for sound/radio
book_section
May, S (2013) 'Writing for sound/radio.' In: Harper, G, ed. A companion to creative writing. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, pp. 86-97. ISBN 9780470656938
Undergraduate creative writing provision in the UK: origins, trends and student views
book_section
May, S (2012) 'Undergraduate creative writing provision in the UK: origins, trends and student views.' In: Beck, H, ed. Teaching creative writing. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, pp. 65-72. ISBN 9780230240070
Investigating the Means of Production: a fresh approach to contextualising elements in creative writing degree programmes
book_section
May, S (2010) 'Investigating the Means of Production: a fresh approach to contextualising elements in creative writing degree programmes.' In: Cole, C, Freiman, M and Brien, D, eds. The Strange Bedfellows or Perfect Partners Papers: the refereed proceedings of the 15th conference of the Australasian Association of Writing Programs, 2010. Australasian Association of Writing Programs, Brisbane. ISBN 9780980757330
Inspiration, deadlines and working to a brief: student views of creativity, coursework and the world beyond
book_section
May, S (2008) 'Inspiration, deadlines and working to a brief: student views of creativity, coursework and the world beyond.' In: Brien, D and Neave, L, eds. The creativity and uncertainty papers: the refereed proceedings of the 13th conference of the Australian Association of Writing Programs. Australasian Association of Writing Programs, Brisbane. ISBN 970980757316
Scriptwriting for radio
book_section
May, S (2006) 'Scriptwriting for radio.' In: Harper, G, ed. Teaching creative writing. Continuum, London, pp. 91-101. ISBN 9780826477279
Fit or faint?
article
May, S (2018) 'Fit or faint?' New Writing, 15 (2). pp. 273-297. ISSN 1479-0726
Creativity in crisis: what is the future for creative writing programmes in higher education?
conference_item
May, S (2012) Creativity in crisis: what is the future for creative writing programmes in higher education? In: Association of Writers and Writing Programs Annual Conference, 29 February - 3 March 2012, Chicago ILL, USA.
Teach a writer to fish
conference_item
Thebo, M, May, S, Albers, R, McNair, P and English, L (2009) Teach a writer to fish. In: Creative Writing In Education : NAWE Autumn Conference, 13 - 15 November 2009, Chilworth Manor, Southampton, UK.
Story - the heart of the matter
conference_item
May, S (2009) Story - the heart of the matter. In: Association of Writers and Writing Programs Annual Conference, 11-14 February 2009, Chicago ILL, USA.
What did scriptwriting ever do for us novelists?
conference_item
May, S (2009) What did scriptwriting ever do for us novelists? In: Association of Writers and Writing Programs Annual Conference, 11-14 February 2009, Chicago ILL, USA.
If I applied for my own job now, would I get it - and, if not, who would?
conference_item
May, S (2009) If I applied for my own job now, would I get it - and, if not, who would? In: Association of Writers and Writing Programs Annual Conference, 11-14 February 2009, Chicago ILL, USA.
Student expectations and experience of the Creative Writing BA
conference_item
May, S (2008) Student expectations and experience of the Creative Writing BA. In: Beyond the Placement: Creative Writing and Employability. English Subject Centre conference, 23 October 2008, Bath Spa University, Bath, UK.
Developing a creative writing benchmark
conference_item
May, S (2008) Developing a creative writing benchmark. In: National Association of Writers in Education conference, 14-16 November 2008, Manchester, UK.
Student responses to creative writing: coherence, progression and purpose
commissioned_report
May, S (2008) Student responses to creative writing: coherence, progression and purpose.
Creative writing subject benchmark statement / Creative writing research benchmark statement
commissioned_report
May, S (2008) Creative writing subject benchmark statement / Creative writing research benchmark statement.
Higher 10: creative solutions
performance
May, S and Bryant, J (2015) Higher 10: creative solutions. In: Afternoon Drama, BBC Radio 4, 6 May 2015.
Higher 9: year of the rat
performance
May, S and Byrant, J (2015) Higher 9: year of the rat. In: Afternoon Drama, BBC Radio 4, 5 May 2015.
Higher 8: privatisation, the final battle
performance
Bryant, J and May, S (2012) Higher 8: privatisation, the final battle. In: Afternooon Drama, BBC Radio 4, 6 August 2012.
Higher 7: clearing
performance
Bryant, J and May, S (2012) Higher 7: clearing. In: Afternoon Drama, BBC Radio 4, 30 July 2012.
Higher 6: rebrand, relaunch
performance
Bryant, J and May, S (2011) Higher 6: rebrand, relaunch. In: Afternoon Drama, BBC Radio 4, 23 August 2011.
Higher 5: restructure
performance
Bryant, J and May, S (2011) Higher 5: restructure. In: Afternoon Drama, BBC Radio 4, 16 August 2011.
Higher 4: the price of partnership
performance
Bryant, J and May, S (2011) Higher 4: the price of partnership. In: Afternoon Drama, BBC Radio 4, 9 August 2011.
Higher 3: inspection
performance
Bryant, J and May, S (2009) Higher 3: inspection. In: Afternoon Drama, BBC Radio 4, 21 August 2009.
Higher 2: partners
performance
Bryant, J and May, S (2009) Higher 2: partners. In: Afternoon Drama, BBC Radio 4, 20 August 2009.
Higher
performance
Bryant, J and May, S (2008) Higher. In: Afternoon Drama, BBC Radio 4, 12 May 2008.
Teaching Creative Writing at undergraduate level: why, how and does it work?
monograph
May, S (2003) Teaching Creative Writing at undergraduate level: why, how and does it work? UNSPECIFIED. HEA/ESS.