Batchelor Institute creative writing lecturer Sam Carmody has recently completed his doctoral thesis, joining the ranks of academics in the Batchelor Institute’s Higher Education division. His thesis on Western Australian literature was recommended by examiners for a prestigious Chancellor’s Letter of Commendation.

The successful thesis follows the publication of Carmody’s debut novel The Windy Season in August last year.

“I’m rapt to officially join our brilliant team of PhD-holders in the division. Batchelor Institute has a great research culture and they’ve been a wonderful support to me throughout my research,” said Carmody.

Carmody teaches the the Diploma in Creative and Indigenous Writing at Batchelor Institute.  The course provides students with the opportunity to develop writing skills in a variety of genres, and establish a firm knowledge base for the strengthening of Indigenous culture through an understanding of Indigenous and non-Indigenous writing traditions.

In particular, it emphasises how these genres continue to be used by Indigenous peoples in Australia and elsewhere to articulate their own ‘voice’, and to communicate their histories and contemporary experiences to, and within, dominant non-Indigenous powers and the broader society.

Carmody is also a previous recipient of the Mary Grant Bruce Award as part of the Fellowship of Australian Writers (FAW) National Literary Awards.

Batchelor Institute offers two higher degree courses in Indigenous Perspectives by Research, at both the PhD and Masters levels. These are offered in or across the specialisations of Indigenous Education, Indigenous Languages and Indigenous Creative Arts. At the centre of these two programs is recognition of the richness and diversity of Indigenous perspectives, ontologies, epistemologies and methodological approaches.