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Head of School
Professor Bill Fish
Turitea Site
Palmerston North
Phone: +64 6 951 6559
Email: W.J.Fish@massey.ac.nz
Contact details +6469517508
Dr Thom Conroy PhD
Senior Lecturer
Doctoral Supervisor School of Humanities Media and Creative CommKia ora koutou. Ko Thom Conroy tōko ingoa.
My main interests are in writing, editing, and teaching/supervising fiction with a speciality in both novels and short stories. I also enjoy interviewing other writers. My teaching philosophy is based, in part, on the pae (steps) of Massey University’s ‘Paerangi Learning and Teaching Strategy’, and I’ll use three of the definitions provided by this strategy to characterize my teaching.
Pae Rawe: The concept embraces qualities of importance, momentousness and significance.
I believe that when we encounter good writing, it changes us in a momentous way. The best creative work re-shapes, surprises, transforms what we thought was possible—for ourselves and our communities.
Pae Wānanga: Wānanga refers to collaborative, active and participatory learning.
The writing workshop is an ideal setting to witness the concept of wānanga in action. In a workshop, knowledge is spontaneously co-created, sentence by sentence, speaker by speaker, and workshop by workshop.
Pae Ako: Teaching and learning work in a reciprocal relationship with each other.
The workshop and forum discussion spaces in creative writing assume that both students and tutors will take on the roles of learner and teacher at different points during the course of the semester.
I hope that you write and ultimately, publish your work, but my deeper hope is that you experience the wonder of the written word more often, that an idea or a character you encounter in a story or a poem or an essay unlocks something inside and shows a new way to think, to see a connection, to imagine a new solution to an old problem.
I look forward to reading, creating, and talking about writing with you! Mā Te wā!
Thom Conroy is the author of The Salted Air and The Naturalist (Penguin Random-House) and he edited the essay collection Home (Massey University Press). He has wide experience supervising creative writing research projects at the Master’s and Doctoral levels. He has published short fiction in the United States, New Zealand, and Australia. He is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Massey University, and he serves as Chief Editor of the journal Headland. In 2025, he had the honour of serving as the convenor for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize in Fiction.
Professional
Contact details
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Ph: 0221855317
Location: Room 4.60, Sir Geoffrey Peren Building
Campus: Turitea
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy - Ohio University (2002)
Prizes and Awards
- New Zealand Society of Authors Heritage Week Book Awards, Finalist, 2015 - New Zealand Soceity of Authors (2015)
- Semi-Finalist for Iowa Short Fiction Prize (manuscript prize) - (2012)
- My short story ‘The Evening’s Peace’ (NRO 2) was selected by series editor Heidi Pitlor from 4,000 publisher-submitted short fiction entries to Best American Short Stories 2011. My story was chosen to be among 80 included as ‘Distinguished Stories of 2010’. - (2011)
- Distinguished Story in Best American Short Stories 2011 - (2010)
- 2010 Academic of the Year - (2010)
- view more...
Research Expertise
Research Interests
FICTION, THE NOVEL, SHORT FICTION, NARRATIVE ETHICS, CREATIVE WRITING
Thematics
21st Century Citizenship
Area of Expertise
Field of research codes
Languages, Communication And Culture (200000):
Literary Studies (200500):
New Zealand Literature (excl. Maori Literature) (200505):
North American Literature (200506):
Studies In Creative Arts And Writing (190000):
Stylistics and Textual Analysis (200526)
Keywords
FICTION, THE NOVEL, CREATIVE WRITING, SUPERVISION, SHORT STORY, NARRATIVE ETHICS
Research Outputs
Book
[Authored Book]Authored by: Conroy, T.
[Authored Book]Authored by: Conroy, T.
[Chapter]Authored by: Conroy, T.
[Edited Book]Contributed to by: Conroy, T.Edited by: Conroy, T.
[Edited Book]Edited by: Conroy, T.
Journal
[Book Review]Authored by: Conroy, T.
[Journal article]Authored by: Conroy, T.
[Book Review]Authored by: Conroy, T.
[Book Review]Authored by: Conroy, T.
[Journal article]Authored by: Conroy, T.
Thesis
[Doctoral Thesis]Authored by: Conroy, T.
Teaching and Supervision
Teaching Statement
123 Creative Writing
285 Fiction Writing
380 Starting your Manuscript
703 Creative and Crtical Research
765 Creative Writing Workshop
Graduate Supervision Statement
As a postgraduate supervisor, I believe a safe learning environment and the health and well-being of students and staff are the first steps to successful learning outcomes. Honest and transparent relationships between student and supervisor as well as between co-supervisors are also crucial to the overall success of any project.
I also embrace a supervisory philosophy that arises out of the same principles as my teaching philosophy. My teaching philosophy is based, in part, on the pae (steps) of Massey University’s ‘Paerangi Learning and Teaching Strategy’, and I’ll use three of the definitions provided by this strategy to characterize my teaching and supervision.
Pae Rawe: The concept embraces qualities of importance, momentousness and significance.
I believe that when we encounter good writing, it changes us in a momentous way. The best creative work re-shapes, surprises, transforms what we thought was possible—for ourselves and our communities.
Pae Wānanga: Wānanga refers to collaborative, active and participatory learning.
The writing workshop is an ideal setting to witness the concept of wānanga in action. In a workshop, knowledge is spontaneously co-created, sentence by sentence, speaker by speaker, and workshop by workshop. Frank, honest discussion between candidates and supervisions likewise relies on collaboration and participatory learning (ie, learning through practice).
Pae Ako: Teaching and learning work in a reciprocal relationship with each other.
As a supervisor, I assume that both students and supervisors will take on the roles of learner and teacher at different points during the course of the learning experience.
Dr Thom Conroy is available for Masters and Doctorial supervision.
Summary of Doctoral Supervision
| Position | Current | Completed |
|---|---|---|
| Main Supervisor | 4 | 2 |
| Co-supervisor | 2 | 1 |
Current Doctoral Supervision
Main Supervisor of:
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Lal Medawattegedara
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Doctor of Philosophy
Site of Bliss and Seam of Loss: The Modes of Creating ‘Pleasure’ in Novels, an Exploratory Study -
Donna Banicevich Gera
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Doctor of Philosophy
Ahipara (The Sacred Fire) -
Joan Jia
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Doctor of Philosophy
Ecofeminist Consciousness in ‘Prelude’ and Tales of Hulan River ---A Comparative Study of and beyond Katherine Mansfield and Xiao Hong -
Athena Knight
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Doctor of Philosophy
Wild Beasts: A Gaijin Female Identity
Co-supervisor of:
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Whiti Hereaka
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Doctor of Philosophy
Ariā -
Ros Lewis
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Doctor of Philosophy
Invisible Courage: How do memoirists write about trauma ?
Completed Doctoral Supervision
Main Supervisor of:
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2020
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Gina Cole
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Doctor of Philosophy
Wayfinding Pasifikafuturism: An Indigenous Science Fiction Vision of the Ocean in Space -
2017
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Rebecca Styles
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Doctor of Philosophy
Inherited Body
Co-supervisor of:
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2020
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Jessica Richards
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Doctor of Philosophy
Illusions, Transformations and Iterations: storytelling as fiction, image, artefact.
Media and Links
Media
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27 May 2016 - Online
Weekend Name Drop: Thom Conroy
Author profile by blogger Antony Millen -
09 Aug 2014 - Radio
Interview on Saturday Mornings with Kim Hill
Kim and I discuss my historical novel The Naturalist. -
05 Jun 2016 - Radio
Interview with Lynn Freeman on Standing Room Only
Lynn Freeman and I discussed my novel The Salted Air. -
04 May 2016 - Online
"The Salted Air – a new novel by Thom Conroy"
Press Release from Massey University by Jennifer Little -
04 Jun 2016 - Newspaper, Online, Video
What Words Weave:
An article and associated video featuring my novel The Salted Air (Fairfax Media) - view more...
Other Links
- Headland Lit Journal - Since 2020, I've served as Chief Editor of Headland, an online publication featuring the best short stories and creative nonfiction from Aotearoa New Zealand and around the world.
- Conroy et al. “20 best New Zealand books of the 21st century: as chosen by experts”. The Conversation. September 10, 2024. - 20 best New Zealand books of the 21st century: as chosen by experts
- A Kōrero with Laurence Fearnley
- Conroy, Thom, Christina Sanders, and Jo Grochowicz. “Interpreting History Through Fiction.” Public History in Aotearoa New Zealand. Edited Fiona McKergow, Geoff Watson, David Littlewood, and Carol N - In ‘Interpreting History Through Fiction: Three Writers Discuss their Methods’, creative historical authors Thom Conroy, Joanna Grochowicz and Cristina Sanders engage in a conversation about the inter
- “Returned from the Future: An Interview with Bryan Walpert.” Headland. Issue 19,
- view more...