Abstract

Marking the tenth anniversary of the New Writing Viewpoints series, this new book takes the concept of an edited collection to its extreme, pushing the possibilities of scholarship and collaboration. All authors in this book, including those who contributed to Power and Identity in the Creative Writing Classroom, which launched the series ten years ago, are proof that creative writing matters, that it can be rewarding over the long haul and that there exist many ways to do what we do as writers and as teachers. This book captures a wide swathe of ideas on pedagogy, on programs, on the profession and on careers.

Anna Leahy is Associate Professor of English, Associate Director of the MFA in Creative Writing, and Director of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity at Chapman University, USA. She has published widely on creative writing pedagogy, as well as creative non-fiction and poetry. She is the editor of TAB: The Journal of Poetry & Poetics.

Dialogue, experiment, variety… These are at the heart of creative writing pedagogy, and reading this book is like eavesdropping on the process at work. Coming straight from the workface of American universities, it raises questions both practical and theoretical, creative and critical, that animate this growing and evolving discipline worldwide.

This is a candid exploration of what happens in the writing classroom, what should and could happen, and how these writer-teachers are themselves developing creatively as practicing artists thanks to their pedagogical curiosities. I found myself continually taking notes and have no doubt these ruminations will greatly influence further scholarship in creative writing studies.