History of the International Institute of Modern Letters

The International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML) is New Zealand’s oldest and most prestigious creative writing programme.

A small undergraduate creative writing course, first offered at Victoria University in 1975, has grown over the years into a range of specialised workshops. In 1997 we established New Zealand’s first Master of Arts (MA) in Creative Writing.

In 2000, the US philanthropist Glenn Schaeffer offered us his support to further develop the programme, and the New Zealand headquarters of the IIML was inaugurated at Victoria in March 2001. Partnership links were also established with the Iowa Writers Workshop, the International Center for Writing and Translation at the University of California Irvine, and the creative writing programme at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. The IIML’s US office was subsequently incorporated into the Black Mountain Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Since the IIML’s establishment, we have expanded our MA programme and now also offer a PhD in Creative Writing.