Power and Identity in the Creative Writing Classroom: The Authority Project (New Writing Viewpoints) [Paperback]

Anna Leahy (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 16, 2005 | ISBN-10: 1853598461 | ISBN-13: 978-1853598463

Power and Identity In the Creative Writing Classroom remaps theories and practices for teaching creative writing at university and college level. This collection critiques well-established approaches for teaching creative writing in all genres and builds a comprehensive and adaptable pedagogy based on issues of authority, power, and identity. A long-needed reflection, this book shapes creative writing pedagogy for the 21st century.

Editorial Reviews

Review

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. Eric Burger, Pedagogy 7:1

About the Author

Anna Leahy teaches creative writing and literature at North Central College in Illinois. Her poetry chapbook, Hagioscope, won the Sow’s Ear Press Award; her children’s activity book, The Insect Workbook, appeared in 1994; and individual poems and prose pieces have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies. She has served as a coordinator of the Pedagogy Forum for the Association of Writers and Writing Programs and has published scholarly work on pedagogy and the profession in several venues.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Multilingual Matters (November 16, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1853598461
• ISBN-13: 978-1853598463
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.6 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #113,169 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful contribution to creative writing theory May 9, 2012

By A Careful Reader

Format:Paperback

This book is a powerful contribution to creative writing theory, an anthology that provokes enormous debate about the experience, the utility, and the critical outlook of creative writing workshops in a volatile field. We need more investigations like this.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars For writers who are (or want to be) teachers December 8, 2008

By S. Jenkins

Format:Paperback

This collection of essays was compiled for teachers of undergraduate and graduate creative writing workshops.

The essays in Power and Identity in the Creative Writing Classroom respond to an AWP pedagogy panel addressing the confusion and questions writers face who "though we may have been hired because we write, are paid to teach" (ix). The aim of the collection is to present possible pedagogical approaches to creative writing. The essays are organized in four sections: understanding the larger influences (referring to the ideas of creative writing students bring into the classroom); the teacher's place, voice, and style; course design; and, in the classroom (anecdotes about specific teaching experiences). While the essays are arranged under these headings, each offers a very specific, individual voice and argument for an approach to creative writing.