Dr Adrian Markle
Interim Course Leader, BA(Hons) Creative Writing and BA(Hons) English with Creative Writing
After joining the course team in 2019, Adrian became the Interim Course Leader for BA(hons) Creative Writing and BA(hons) English with Creative Writing in 2025. Originally from Canada, he moved to the UK in 2011 for the MA at Bath Spa. He has since completed a PhD at the University of Exeter, where he also taught, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge, where he is a regular guest lecturer.
He is the author of the well-reviewed novel Bruise, which is about the crisis of identity a prize fighter experiences when his career is derailed by injury as well as dozens of short stories in journals and magazines in Canada, the US, the UK, and Europe (EVENT, Queens' Quarterly, Pithead Chapel, Riptide, Cornwall in Short, the Cornish Short Stories anthology, etc.). Those short stories have earned him Best Small Fictions and Pushcart nominations, as well as a places on university curriculums and, strangely, the Danish National Highschool Curriculum.
He is the editor of two books on the teaching of Creative Writing forthcoming from Bloomsbury: The Creative Writing Workshop in the 21st Century (2026) and Writing Europe - Art, Craft and Translation in Contemporary European Short Stories (2027).
He has academic chapters in academic texts with Routledge and Athabasca University Press, and journal articles in Aethlon: The Journal of Sport Literature.
His practice-based and critical research interests include class, gender, and the body in contemporary long- and short-form fiction.
He is a many-year member of the Sport Literature Association and was previously Association President.
Qualifications
Qualifications
| Year | Qualification | Awarding body |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching Creative Writing | University of Cambridge |
| 2020 | PhD | University of Exeter |
| 2012 | MA Creative Writing | Bath Spa University |
| 2010 | BA - Creative Writing (major) and English (minor) | University of Victoria |
Honors and awards
| Year | Description |
|---|---|
| 2020 | Second Prize, Ruritania Prize for Short Fiction |
| 2019 | Winner, Sport Literature Association’s Lyle Olsen Prize for Best Graduate Student Essay |
| 2019 | Falmouth and Exeter Students’ Union “You’re Brilliant” Award for excellent/inspirational teaching |
Research Interests
Research interests and expertise
- Creative Writing Pedagogy
- Short Fiction
- The Novel
- Social Class
- The Body
- Masculinity and Gender
- Sport Literature
Areas of teaching
- Introduction to Creative Writing
- Fiction Workshops
- Dissertations
- Contemporary Literature
- Global Literature
Research Students
Current research students
Sven Preger
"How we tell true stories: Analysis of storytelling techniques in factual narrative German podcast serials"
Martyn Clayton
"Little Grey Cells: Narratives of Autistic Presence in the Work of Agatha Christie – A Critical and Creative Study"
Previous student supervision
Elena Traina
"Creative Writing in the Threshold: Narrative on Point of View and Perspective, Intertextuality, Place and Setting, and Metaphor"
Falmouth University, 2025.
Number of research students supervised to completion
1Professional Engagement
Engagement with professional associations and societies
Sport Literature Association, 2017–Present
Association President, 2023-2024
Conference Organizing Chair, 2023
Founding member of the SLA Anti-racism committee
National Association of Writers in Education, 2019–Present
HE Committee member, 2024-Present
