A lifetime working with English

My name is Craig Bolland, and it’s been my life’s work to teach the nuances of the English language to advanced speakers. I’ve taught generations of students how to sharpen and focus their English for clarity, impact and elegance.

I initially started my career building a communication consultancy for corporate clients. As part of this business, I consulted with numerous government departments, mining companies and engineering firms to produce corporate communications like annual general reports, marketing copy, multimedia and films, and speech scripts for executives.

Then came my big break. Since I was a child, I had always wanted to be a writer. I was fortunate enough to win a major playwrighting award and go on to make films. After my first novel I Knit Water was sold in 2001 I decided to follow my passion and I sold my business and became a writer full time.

Following from my creative success and postgraduate study, I was blessed to land my dream job as a university professor (or lecturer as we call them in Australia) in creative writing. This allowed me to teach over 6000 students the elements of how to make already good English expression even better. As a university professor for 23 years, my research expertise was in stylistics —the study of how word choices impact the reader or listener. I am a world expert in this area and as such have unique expertise in how the English language creates impact. You will not find another English coach in the world with my background.

If you would like to see some of my scholarly publications, and also details of the postgraduate students and their projects that I supervised, please browse here. I was a level three mentoring supervisor (the highest level at my institution), won a Dean’s award for excellence in postgraduate supervision, and my students’ postgraduate theses never once came back with more than minor changes required. Several won prestigious university medals. Simply put, I’m more than just an academic editor – I’m a mentor to other supervisors overseeing doctoral and higher degrees.

I’m a warm and encouraging person, love meeting new people, and it would be my great pleasure to help you meet your professional or personal English language goals.

Why work with me?

I bring specialist knowledge of stylistics to individual coaching for academics, executives and advanced learners. We work with your goals, your material and your audience, developing a bespoke curriculum rather than standardised lesson plans.