University of East Anglia's professor Jean McNeil has written 13 fiction and non-fiction books
Photo: Camila Cunha
On Mar 5, PUCRS opened its doors to University of East Anglia (UEA) Professor, Dr. Jean McNeil. The Canada-born scholar has written 13 fiction and non-fiction books, also serves as the international director of the UEA School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing.
McNeil served as a professor of Dr. Bernardo Bueno, who now coordinates the Undergraduate Program in Creative Writing. They have since had a consolidated partnership. Her visit to PUCRS was made possible after an invitation by Bueno. “PUCRS is a leading institution in Brazil in the area of Creative Writing, and UEA was a pioneer in the United Kingdom in the 1970s. It is now the most prestigious literary institution. So we have a lot to learn from their experience ”, Bueno comments.
The visiting professor spoke to School of Humanities students about the UK’s editorial and creative writing market at Living 360º. In addition, Jean McNeil spoke about her experience as a writer and her search for inspiration and knowledge that propelled her to travel around the world: from expeditions to Antarctica and Greenland to ecological projects in Kenya and the Amazon.
Photo: Camila Cunha
“What I try to teach my students is that they should write what they need to write, only what they are able write”, she said. The way Jean sees it, fiction is a process of building a meaningful world. In the end, undergraduate and graduate students were able to ask questions.
In Jun 2020, Dr. Bernardo Bueno will be leaving for the United Kingdom for a congress. He will have the chance to continue discussing research partnerships and workshops, as well as opportunities for student and faculty mobility between universities.
