What We Talk About When We Talk About Creative Writing

Marking the tenth anniversary of the New Writing Viewpoints series, this new book takes the concept of an edited collection to its extreme, pushing the possibilities of scholarship and collaboration. All authors in this book, including those who contributed to Power and Identity in the Creative Writing Classroom, which launched the series ten years ago, are proof that creative writing matters, that it can be rewarding over the long haul and that there exist many ways to do what we do as writers and as teachers. This book captures a wide swathe of ideas on pedagogy, on programs, on the profession and on careers.

This groundbreaking book brings creative writing to social research. Its innovative format includes creatively written contributions by researchers from a range of disciplines, modelling the techniques outlined by the authors. The book is user-friendly and shows readers: • how to write creatively as a social researcher; • how creative writing can help researchers to work with participants and generate data; • how researchers can use creative writing to analyse data and communicate findings. Inviting beginners and more experienced researchers to explore new ways of writing, this book introduces readers to creatively written research in a variety of formats including plays and poems, videos and comics. It not only gives social researchers permission to write creatively but also shows them how to do so.

Thinking Creative Writing explores the many ways in which creative writing can be critically considered, and understood, as well as the teaching and learning of creative writing. Featuring thematic ideas and practice-orientated thoughts, such as those related to the value of distraction when undertaking creative work, the book also presents contemporary work in the field of what is termed ‘Creative Writing Studies’, and offers an analysis of doctoral research on Creative Writing. Additionally, the book includes reports on cultural and heritage studies of creative writing as a practice, in relation to the literature it brings about and the audiences it engages. Thinking Creative Writing presents a snapshot of contemporary work in and around departments of creative writing in our universities and colleges. It will be of interest to those researching in the field, as well as those with a broader interest in writing creatively. The chapters in this book were originally published as articles in the New Writing journal.

In Creative Writing Scholars on the Publishing Trade: Practice, Praxis, Print, Sam Meekings and Marshall Moore, along with prominent scholar-practitioners, undertake a critical examination of the intersection of creative writing scholarship and the publishing industry. Recent years have seen dramatic shifts within the publishing industry as well as rapid evolution and development in academic creative writing programs. This book addresses all of these core areas and transformations, such as the pros and cons of self-publishing versus traditional publishing, issues of diversity and representation within the publishing industry, digital transformations, and possible career pathways for writing students. It is crucial for creative writing pedagogy to deal with the issues raised by the sudden changes within the industry and this book will be of interest to creative writing students and practitioners as well as publishing students and professionals.

"We live in an Enquirer, reality television–addled world, a world in which most college students receive their news from the Daily Show and discourse via text message," assert Charles Blackstone and Jill Talbot. "Recently, two nonfiction writers have been criticized for falsifying memoirs. Oprah excoriated James Frey on her show; Nasdijj was impugned by Sherman Alexie in Time. Is our next trend in literature to lock down such boundaries among the literati? Or should we address the fictionalizing of nonfiction, the truth of fiction?" The Art of Friction surveys the borderlands where fiction and nonfiction intersect, commingle, and challenge genre lines. It anthologizes nineteen creative works by contemporary, award-winning writers including Junot Díaz, Jonathan Safran Foer, Thomas Beller, Bernard Cooper, Wendy McClure, and Terry Tempest Williams, who also provide companion pieces in which they comment on their work. These selections, which place short stories and personal essays (and hybrids of the two) side by side, allow readers to examine the similarities and differences between the genres, as well as explore the trends in genre overlap. Functioning as both a reader and a discussion of the craft of writing, The Art of Friction is a timely, essential book for all writers and readers who seek the truthfulness of lived experience through (non)fictions.

When fire falls from the heavens... will the whole world burn? Dr. Morgan Sierra, an Oxford University psychologist with a deadly past, doesn’t know the answer to that question — and doesn’t care. All she knows is that her sister and niece have been abducted, held hostage for the stone pendants that Morgan and her sister wear: two of twelve relics once owned by the original Apostles. Forged in fire and wind, drowned in the blood of martyrs, the twelve Pentecost stones have been kept secret for two thousand years. But now the Keepers of the stones are being murdered, and the relics stolen by Thanatos, a shadowy group dedicated to remaking the world into a living Hell. The authorities are clueless; the world lies helpless. And Thanatos grows more powerful with each stone they take. Enter Jake Timber — agent of ARKANE, the British agency tasked with investigating the supernatural. Jake knows some of the secrets Morgan needs to save her family, but can’t stop Thanatos without her help. Only together can they stop Thanatos before the stones are captured, before Morgan’s family is murdered, and before the world is changed forever. From flooded ruins in Italy, to religious sites in Israel, to the far reaches of Iran and Tunisia, Morgan and Jake must race across the world to find the stones before Thanatos gathers the relics and uses their power to turn Earth into a living Hell. But every step they take brings Morgan and Jake closer to the end. To the knife edge between salvation and madness. To the moment when Morgan will have to decide whether she will save her family... or save the world. Time is running out. Thanatos draws near. And the day of Pentecost is at hand. Stone of Fire is the first book in the ARKANE series by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author J.F. Penn. Tap the link, grab your copy, and find the ARKANE in an adventure two thousand years in the making...

The only textbook of its kind, this all-in-one introduction guides you through the history, theories and practices of creative writing you need to know to teach this ever-expanding and infinitely rewarding subject successfully in higher education. Asking you to think reflectively about the discipline throughout, this book offers a bridge between teaching and learning of the subject to help you develop effective and informed methods that will enliven your classroom and help you discover the best practice for you. Based on the author's two decades of teaching and research in creative writing theory and pedagogy, and on feedback from a range of instructors in the field, Stephanie Vanderslice brings forward this essential companion for students and teachers engaging with the study and instruction of creative writing. Written in Vanderslice's trademark cogent, conversational style, Teaching Creative Writing gives you the tools to understand creative writing as a subject and a practice and offers you a ready-to-use blueprint for planning your first creative writing classes. It covers such critical topics as: - How research into the development of the creative writer might influence your classroom environment - The need to free students from damaging myths and pervasive lore - The use of revision and editing - Creating inclusive classroom spaces and workshops - The place of genre in creative writing - Teaching students to work multi-modally - How to assess and grade work - Introducing students to the literary community - Teaching creative writing online Building on what it means to teach creative writing in the 21st century, this book leads you through creating your own syllabi, course plans, and statements of teaching philosophies, features capsule interviews with experts on key topics, and includes an online companion resource which features teacher guides to using the book.