Ex-teacher enjoys creative clean-up

Vivien Fiske Wake celebrated gaining her PhD in creative writing by having a huge clean-up in her home at Jane Winstone Village.

She decided she had far too many books piled up throughout her villa, so she gave them to her old school, Wanganui Girls' College.

The former teacher at Sacred Heart College said it was time to clear the decks and have some space again.

"It really does get to that point when you think, 'What on earth am I doing with all these things? I don't need them'," she said.

Last week Wanganui Girls' College assistant principal Nita Pond and three students carried piles of books out under Ms Fiske Wake's guidance.

Her PhD, official on May 3, was from the Edith Cowan in Perth, Western Australia.

"There wasn't a university in New Zealand that could allow me to do a PHD in writing, unfortunately," Ms Fiske Wake said.

Inspired by E Nesbit's The Story of the Amulet, her thesis novel was about time travellers and was aimed at young adults.

In an earlier interview, Ms Fiske Wake had explained how she had had to write a novel of literary quality as part of her PhD thesis.

She has written and had published two Gothic novels.

Now in her 70s, she said the way ahead was filled with project ideas.

"I'm tossing up between an adult novel and a screenplay ..." Ms Fiske Wake said.