The Place and the Writer: International Intersections of Teacher Lore and Creative Writing Pedagogy (Research in Creative Writing)

The combined experience of authors throughout the ages offers a wealth of valuable information about the practice of writing. However, such lore can also be problematic for students and practitioners as lore can be inherently additive, indelible in abandoning processes that do not work. This adherence to lore also tends to be a US-centric endeavor. In order to take a nuanced approach to the use and limitations of lore, The Place and the Writer offers a global perspective on creative writing pedagogy that has yet to be fully explored. Featuring a diverse array of cultural viewpoints from Brazil to Hong Kong, Finland to South Africa, this book explores the ongoing international debate about the best approaches for teaching and practicing creative writing. Marshall Moore and Sam Meekings challenge areas of perceived wisdom that persist in the field of creative writing, including aesthetics and politics in institutionalized creative writing; the process of workshopping; tuition and talent; anxiety in the classroom; unifying theory and lore; and teaching creative writing in languages other than English. For educators in the discipline of creative writing, the combined experience of authors throughout the ages offers a wealth of valuable information. However, such lore can also be problematic for students and practitioners as lore can be inherently additive; it can be difficult to identify and abandon processes that do not work, to distill efficacious pedagogy from mythology and superstition. This adherence to lore also tends to be a US-centric endeavor. The Place and the Writer examines the spread of creative writing around the world in order to challenge many areas of the received wisdom that persist in the field as well as some that have emerged alongside and because of changes in the publishing industry. By redirecting this dialogue through the perspectives of voices from outside the traditional poles of English-language scholarship, we interrogate the connections between teaching practices and issues of identity, culture, and practice. The chapters in this volume therefore decenter historically dominant views and voices in creative writing. Cover page Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Contents Series Preface Preface Foreword: The Kinship in Creative Writing Consuming the Literary Creative Writing Institutionally The Kinship in Creative Writing 1 Toward a Unified Field: The Complications of Lore and Global Context Stephanie Vanderslice 2 Ukubhukuda: Not Sinking in Language but Swimming Bronwyn Law-Viljoen and Phillippa Yaa de Villiers The Languages of a South African Creative Writing Seminar Poetry: Sampling Culture Through the Craft of Memory (Phillippa Yaa de Villiers) Striking Out in the Prose Seminar (Bronwyn Law-Viljoen) 3 Workshopping to Better Writing and Understanding Fan Dai and Ling Li Introduction Previous Studies on Workshops and on Chinese Culture The Workshop and Critical Thinking The Workshop: Healing and Peer Support The Workshop and Cultural Awareness Conclusion 4 Protagonizing the L2: The Case for “Life Writing” in Creative Writing (SL) Contexts Dan Disney Life Writing as Self-narrativizing “Useful Precepts”? Something Tangible in Our Minds? 5 From the Shadow of a Myth to an Academic Subject: Teaching Writing from a Cognitive Base Nora Ekström Introduction Manifold Impact of Fennomania Finnish Guidebooks for Creative Writers What Qualifications are Required from an Author? Different Generations Meet in the Classroom Literature Research in Guides University of Jyväskylä: Studies in Writing In Education, Diversity is a Benefit 6 Scenes of Judgment: Genre and Narrative Form in Literary Memoir Jonathan Taylor Divided Narratives Divided Narrators Divided Endings 7 Skeptical, Polyglot, Disaggregated: Creativity, Authorship, and Authority in the Australian Context Ross Gibson 8 Creative Portfolios: Adapting AWP Goals for EFL Creative Writing Courses in Japan Holly Thompson Introduction Writing in the Japanese Education System from Elementary School to Higher Education Creative Writing in Japanese Universities Teaching EFL Creative Writing Courses in a Japanese University Scaffolded EFL Creative Portfolio Model Toward Including More Creative Writing in Japanese Universities 9 Through the Looking Glass and Back Again: Writing Reflectively in Creative Writing Maria Taylor The Writer as Daydreamer The Reflected Self Elements of Reflective Writing Spontaneity or Conscious Method? Reflective Writing and Self-identity Immediate Exercises for Self-reflection Reading as a Writer Wider Reading Reflective Writing Throughout the Teaching Year The Big Picture and the Small Details Signposting Writing and Editing Stages Stepping Out of the Looking Glass 10 Teacher Lore and Pedagogy in Creative Writing Courses in Poland Hanna Sieja-Skrzypulec Brief History and Practices that Work Views Beginnings Independence In Search of Teacher Lore and Pedagogy: Blazing New Trails Two Teaching Models There is Only That Which is Biography Breaking Boundaries Conclusion 11 The Long Shadow of the Local Canon: Historical and Pedagogical Influences on Creative Writing in Greece Triantafyllos H. Kotopoulos, Sophie Iakovidou, Iordanis Koumasidis Introduction History of Writing Cultures in Greece The Historical and Cultural Context of Greek Literature in the Twentieth Century Creative Writing in Contemporary Greece “Democratic Writing” 12 An American Walks into a Bar(with her British Creative Writing Students) Lania Knight 13 Teaching Chinese-Language Creative Writingin Hong Kong: Three Case Studies James Shea Introduction: Three Conceptual Models of the Creative Writing Workshop Methodology Findings Conclusion: Self-Expression as Social Critique 14 Playing Catch-Up: Finding a Voice for Creative Writing in Brazil Bernardo Bueno Introduction Find Your Voice The Value of Our Culture Past and Future Challenges Steps Toward Uniqueness Conclusion 15 Teaching Creative Writing in a Threatened Language Rúnar Helgi Vignisson Land, People, and Language Running a Creative Writing Program in Icelandic Finding a Voice in a Second Language How to be Contributors Index 1. Foreword / by Marshall Moore and Sam Meekings -- 2. Introduction / by Graeme Harper (University of Oakland, USA) -- 3. Toward a unified field: the complications of lore and global context / by Stephanie Vanderslice (University of Central Arkansas, USA) -- 4. Ukubhukuda. 1 Not sinking in language but swimming / by Bronwyn Law-Viljoen and Phillippa Yaa de Villiers (University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa) -- 5. Workshopping to better writing and understanding / by Dai Fan and Li Ling (Sun Yat-Sen University, China) -- 6. Protagonizing the L2: the case for "Life writing" in creative writing (SL) contexts / by Dan Disney (Sogang University, Korea) -- 7. From the shadow of a myth to an academic subject: teaching writing from a cognitive base / by Nora Ekstrom (University of Jyväskylä, Finland) -- 8. Scenes of judgement: teaching narrative form in literary memoir / by Jonathan Taylor (University of Leicester, UK) -- 9. Tuition and the individual talent / by Ross Gibson (University of Canberra, Australia) -- 10. Creative portfolios: adapting AWP goals for EFL creative writing courses in Japan / by Holly Thompson (Yokohama City University, Japan) -- 11. Through the looking glass and back again: writing reflectively in creative writing / by Maria Taylor (De Montfort University, UK) -- 12. Teacher lore and pedagogy in creative writing courses in Poland: a brief history and practices that work / by Hanna Sieja-Skrzypulec (Jagiellonian University, Poland) -- 13. Historical and pedagogical dimension of creative writing in Greece: from conventional to open and distance-learning education / by Triantafyllos Kotopoulos (University of Western Macedonia), Sophie Iakovidou (Democritus University of Thrace), and Iordanis Koumasidis (Hellenic Open University) -- 14. An American walks into a bar (with her British creative writing students) / by Lania Knight (University of Gloucestershire, UK) -- 15. Teaching Chinese-language creative writing in Hong Kong: three case studies / by James Shea (Hong Kong Baptist University) -- 16. Playing catch-up: finding a voice for creative writing in Brazil / by Bernardo Bueno (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) -- 17. Teaching creative writing in a threatened language / by Rúnar Vignisson (University of Iceland) "In creative writing, the combined experience of authors throughout the ages offers a wealth of valuable information about the practice of writing. However, such lore can also be problematic for students and practitioners as lore can be inherently additive, indelible in abandoning processes that do not work. This adherence to lore also tends to be a US-centric endeavor. In order to take a nuanced approach to the use and limitations of lore, The Place and the Writer offers a global perspective on creative writing pedagogy that has yet to be fully explored. Featuring a diverse array of cultural viewpoints from Brazil to Hong Kong, Finland to South Africa, this book explores the ongoing international debate about the best approaches for teaching and practicing creative writing. Marshall Moore and Sam Meekings challenge areas of perceived wisdom that persist in the field of creative writing, including aesthetics and politics in institutionalized creative writing; the process of workshopping; tuition and talent; anxiety in the classroom; unifying theory and lore; and teaching creative writing in languages other than English."-- Provided by publisher The combined experience of authors throughout the ages offers a wealth of valuable information about the practice of creative writing. However, such lore can also be problematic for students and practitioners as it can be inherently additive, making it difficult to abandon processes that do not work. This adherence to lore also tends to be a US-centric endeavor. In order to take a nuanced approach to the uses and limitations of lore, The Place and the Writer offers a global perspective on creative writing pedagogy that has yet to be fully explored. Featuring a diverse array of cultural viewpoints from Brazil to Hong Kong, Finland to South Africa, this book explores the ongoing international debate about the best approaches for teaching and practicing creative writing. Marshall Moore and Sam Meekings challenge areas of perceived wisdom that persist in the field of creative writing, including aesthetics and politics in institutionalized creative writing; the process of workshopping; tuition and talent; anxiety in the classroom; unifying theory and lore; and teaching creative writing in languages other than English.