Creative Writing and the New Humanities

by Paul Dawson

This book examines the institutional history and disciplinary future of creative writing in the contemporary academy, looking well beyond the perennial questions 'can writing be taught?' and 'should writing be taught?'. Paul Dawson traces the emergence of creative writing alongside the new criticism in American universities; examines the writing workshop in relation to theories of creativity and literary criticism; and analyzes the evolution of creative writing pedagogy alongside and in response to the rise of 'theory' in America, England and Australia. Dawson argues that the discipline of creative writing developed as a series of pedagogic responses to the long-standing 'crisis' in literary studies. His polemical account provides a fresh perspective on the importance of creative writing to the emergence of the 'new humanities' and makes a major contribution to current debates about the role of the writer as public intellectual.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fairly regularly the media repeats the question "Can Creative Writing be taught?" or "Can creativity be taught?" to which the answer is clearly "Only if you have the right teacher - not everyone knows how to teach!" When I see something in the news to this effect I always feel like recommending the introduction to Paul Dawson's book - the question has already been answered, and very thoroughly too.