Power and Identity in the Creative Writing Classroom

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.

Power and Identity in the Creative Writing Classroom, edited by Anna Leahy, serves as a fine example of this expanding, improving conversation on the teaching of creative writing. This book is generative, ranging and substantial. It is a book I wish I had read before I taught my first creative writing workshop. This is an impressive collection. Among other issues, The Authority Project addresses power dynamics in the classroom, assumptions about the roles of students and teachers in creative writing, gendering in creative writing, and how best to teach students in this complicated classroom space. To its credit, the collection provides no prescriptions. Authority, as all teachers know, is a central dynamic in the classroom, and this collection should be of use to creative writing teachers and others who want to learn more about it.

• Foreword - Anna LeahyPart 1: Understanding the Larger Influences1. Personal Therapeutic Writing vs. Literary Writing - Nancy Kuhl2. Who Cares—and How: The Value and Cost of Nurturing - Anna Leahy3. Inspiration, Creativity, and Crisis: The Romantic Myth of the Writer Meets the Contemporary Classroom - Brent Royster4. Reinventing Writing Classrooms: The Combination of Creating and Composing - Evie Yoder Miller5. The Double Bind and Stumbling Blocks: A Case Study as an Argument for Authority-Conscious Pedagogy - Carl VandermeulenPart 2: The Teacher’s Place, Voice, and Style6. Teaching and Evaluation: Why Bother? - Mary Cantrell7. Who’s the Teacher?: From Student to Mentor - Audrey Petty8. The Pregnant Muse: Assumptions, Authority, and Accessibility - Rachel Hall9. Dismantling Authority: Teaching What We Do Not Know - Katharine HaakePart 3: Course Design10. Contracts, Radical Revision, Portfolios, and the Risks of Writing - Wendy Bishop11. An ‘A’ for Effort: How Grading Policies Shape Courses - Suzanne Greenberg12. Gender and Authorship: How Assumptions Shape Perceptions and Pedagogies - Susan Hubbard13. Writing the Community: Service Learning in Creative Writing - Argie ManolisPart 4: In the Classroom14. Where Do You Want Me To Sit?: Defining Authority through Metaphor - Cathy Day15. Duck, Duck, Turkey: Using Encouragement To Structure Workshop Assignments - Mary Swander16. How To Avoid Workshop Dilemmas: The Use of Myth to Teach Writerly Concepts - Amy Sage Webb17. Writing in the Shadows: Topics, Models, and Audiences that Focus on Language - Sandy FeinsteinAfterwordThe Reason It Is: the Rhyme It Isn’t - Graeme Harper and Stephanie Vanderslice