(Re)Writing Craft: Composition, Creative Writing, and the Future of English Studies

by Tim Mayers

(Re)Writing Craft focuses on the gap that exists in many English departments between creative writers and compositionists on one hand, and literary scholars on the other, in an effort to radically transform the way English studies are organized and practiced today. In proposing a new form of writing he calls "craft criticism," Mayers, himself a compositionist and creative writer, explores the connections between creative writing and composition studies programs, which currently exist as separate fields within the larger and more amorphous field of English studies. If creative writing and composition studies are brought together in productive dialogue, they can, in his view, succeed in inverting the common hierarchy in English departments that privileges interpretation of literature over the teaching of writing.

Genres: Nonfiction, Writing

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes you go through a book feeling like that author's patsy. "Yes," you write in the margin. ":)," "you sing it, brother!" all the way through and you wonder if you aren't being entirely taken advantage of. Maybe you aren't as smart, or critical as you thought you were. Thank heavens for sudden drop-offs. While I kept buying in 100% to Mayers' argument about how creative writing and composition need to team up against/for-the-sake-of interpretation-heavy literary studies in English, the last chapter, about applications of this philosophy to actual classes, hiring practices and department course listings flew wildly off track into the land of fantasy. Rather than a marriage of AWP and CCCCs, it is far more likely tht "a new writing centered professional organization"(165) will emerge, not as a precursor, but as an alternative solution. Still, this book makes a bold, intriging claim in restructuring English away from interpretation-only focus, and acknowledging that maybe "cash English" (mandatory composition classes and popular creative writing classes) shouldn't be stigmatized or stunted. An extremely thorough summary of the other works within the emerging creative writing studies world, and the origin of the term "craft criticism" as the sort of scholarly work that process-focused creative writers can do.

[Mark Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's easy to find articles and books bemoaning in varying combination the failure of: MFA programs, Creative Writing, and contemporary literature. What is less common is finding a book that proposes solutions in detail. Mayers suggests that to overcome the isolationist nature of most creative writing departments particularly in relationship to literary studies, creative writing should work more closely with composition, accept the importance of theory, and make further use of "craft criticism." Mayers goes into extensive detail on all three, as well as problematizing the status quo of creative writing in the academy, such as the notion that neither Creative Writing nor Composition requires any training to teach. Especially for criticism, this is a relatively easy book to follow and provides some important questions and problems creative writing needs to address.

[Joel]

Two things:

1. This book starts a conversation I want to have with my peers in the emerging postevangelical literati, mostly associated with the SPU MFA, who teach college writing.

2. Mayers' lucid introduction lays out the tangled intersections and conflicts between literary studies, creative writing, and composition, which is great -- but I feel like I'm standing on the periphery raising my hand, clearing my throat, and timidly saying "Um, hi, I'm an applied linguist. Can I come in?"

[John Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an awesome consideration of the English department and Creative Writing's relationship with Composition. Chapter 2 is on point.