You can take courses in reading, writing and thinking about texts written in English, from the classics of English and American literature to exciting imaginative writing across the world today.
You can develop sophisticated reading and writing skills and gain an in-depth knowledge of cultural history. You can also take courses that develop your own creative writing skills and interests.
English at the University of Auckland was ranked in the world's top 40 in the 2021 QS World University Rankings by Subject.

We offer supervision in the standard PhD and in the PhD with creative practice.

We welcome PhD proposals in areas including:

• Māori, Pasifika and New Zealand literature
• Global Indigenous literatures
• Literature, evolution and cognition
• Digital arts theory
• American literature
• Medieval literature, culture and drama
• Shakespeare and early modern drama
• 19th-century literature
• Modernist literature, culture and drama
• Contemporary literature
• Contemporary theatre
• Transcultural creative writing
• Poetry and poetics
• Narrative and literary theory
• Trauma and cultural memory