Against Creative Writing
Against Creative Writing by Andrew Cowan, published by Routledge in August 2022, is a thought-provoking exploration of the complexities surrounding the teaching of Creative Writing. This 248-page book delves into the ongoing debate about whether writing can and should be taught, examining the distinctions between ‘writing’ as a natural act and Creative Writing as a structured educational approach. Cowan addresses the conflicting identities of those who teach Creative Writing, navigating the balance between artistic expression and academic rigor.
Readers will find a critical examination of BA, MA, and PhD programs, alongside a discussion on the divided role of writers who also teach. The book advocates for Creative Writing as a valuable form of literary education, particularly at the undergraduate level, while cautioning against approaches that prioritize non-literary skills over literary values. Against Creative Writing is aimed at writers within and outside the academic sphere, providing insights relevant to both creative and critical practitioners.
Official synopsis Publisher
The rise of Creative Writing has been accompanied from the start by two questions: can it be taught, and should it be taught? This scepticism is sometimes shared even by those who teach it, who often find themselves split between two contradictory identities: the artistic and the academic. Against Creative Writing explores the difference between ‘writing’, which is what writers do, and Creative Writing, which is the instrumentalisation of what writers do.
Beginning with the question of whether writing can or ought to be taught, it looks in turn at the justifications for BA, MA, and PhD courses, and concludes with the divided role of the writer who teaches. It argues in favour of Creative Writing as a form of hands-on literary education at undergraduate level and a form of literary apprenticeship at graduate level, especially in widening access to new voices. It argues against those forms of Creative Writing that lose sight of literary values – as seen in the proliferation of curricular couplings with non-literary subjects, or the increasing emphasis on developing skills for future employment.
Against Creative Writing, written by a writer, is addressed to other writers, inside or outside the academy, at undergraduate or graduate level, whether ‘creative’ or ‘critical’.
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