DOCUMENT RESUME ED 366 967 CS 214 218 AUT7OR Bishop, Wendy, Ed.; Ostrom, Hans, Ed. TITLE Colors of a Different Horse: Rethinking Creative Writing Theory and Pedagogy. INSTITUTION National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, REPORT NO ISBN-0-8141-0716-8 PUB DATE 94 NOTE 346p. AVAILABLE FROM National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1096 (Stock No. 07168-3050; $16.95 members, $22.95 nonmembers). PUB TYPE Collected Works General (020) Viewpoints (Opinion/Position Papers, Essays, etc.)(120) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC14 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Classroom Environment; *Creative Writing; Higher Education; *Instructional Effectiveness; Instructional Innovation; Professional Development; *Rhetoric; Theory Practice Relationship; *Writing Laboratories; *Writing Teachers IDENTIFIERS *Composition Theory; Professional Concerns; Voice (Rhetoric);Writing Contexts ABSTRACT In considering exactly what takes place in creative writing classrooms, this collection of 22essays reexamines the profession of writing teacher and ponders why certainpractices and contexts prevail. The essays and their authorsare as follows: "Introduction: Of Radishes and Shadows, Theory and Pedagogy" (Hans Ostrom); (1) "The Workshop and Its Discontents" (FrancoisCamoin); (2) "Reflections on the Teaching of Creative Writing: A Correspondence" (Eugene Garber and Jan Ramjerdi);(3) "The Body of My Work Is Not Just a Metaphor" (Lynn Domina);(4) "Life in the Trenches: Perspectives from Five Writing Programs" (AnnTurkle and others);(5) "Theory, Creative Writing, and theImpertinence of History" (R. M. Berry);(6) "Teaching Creative Writing if the Shoe Fits" (Katharine Haake);(7) "Pedagogy in Penumbra: Teaching, Writing, and Feminism in the Fiction Workshop" (GayleElliott); (8) "Literary Theory and the Writer" (Jay Parini);(9) "Creativity Research and Classroom Practice" (Linda Sarbo and JosephM. Moxley); (10) "On Seeing the Green Parrotand the Green Salad" (Alice G. Brand); (11) "It Is Ourselves That We Remake:Teaching Creative Writing in Prison" (Diane Kendig);(12) "Voice(s) in Writing: Symphony and/or Cacophony" (Carl Leggo); (13) "Crossingthe Lines: On Creative Composition and Composing Creative Writing" (Wendy Bishop); (14) "Voices from the Writing Center:Risky Business/Safe Places" (Julie Neff); (15) "Voicesfrom the Writing Center: Storytelling in the Writing Center" (Beverly Conner); (16) "Voicesfrom the Writing Center: It's Okay To Be Creative--A Role for theImagination in Basic-Writing Courses" (Lea Masiello); (17) "OralLiterature in the Teaching of Creative Writing" (Maxine Clair); (18)"Without a Net: Collaborative Writing" (Linda Tomol Pennisi andPatrick Lawle.:);(19) "Reading the Creative Writing Course:The Teacher's Many Selves" (Patrick Bizzaro); (20) "The MFAGraduate as Composition Instructor: A Self-Analysis" (David Starkey); (21) "The End of Books"(Robert Coover); (22) "Riding the Bus in SiliconValley: Building Virtual Worlds" (Sarah Jane-- Sloane); and "Afterword--Colorsof a Different Horse: On Learning to Like Teaching Creative Writing"(Wendy Bishop). A comprehensive selected bibliography ofresources for teaching creative writing is appended. (NKA) - a Al AL ftM COPY AVAILABLE U S DIP* NEST Of EDUCATION Once of Edecahonal Research and Impzovement "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY CENTER IERICI )11,4'ser document hasbeen reproduced as *wed from the perSon or organization ologmoting o *Amor charms' nve bn mad* to improve rePrOduchOn guelity Pants elven" or opmona Stated m thick:co mem as two mambrody Nommen! Whoa TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES ORMATION CENTER tE Colors of a Different Horse 3 NCTE Editorial Board: Rafael Castillo, Gail Hawisher, Joyce Kinkead, Charles Moran, Louise Phelps, Charles Suhor, chair, ex officio, Michael Spooner, ex officio NCTE College Section Committee: Cynthia Selfe, Chair, Michigan Techno- logical University; Pat Belanoff, SUNY at Stony Brook; Lil Brannon, SUNY at Albany; Doris 0. Ginn, CCCC Representative, Jackson State University; Jeanette Harris, University of Southern Mississippi; James Hill, Albany State College; Dawn Rodrigues, Colorado State University; Tom Waldrep, Univer- sity of South Carolina; H. Thomas McCracken, CEE Representative, Youngs- town State University; James E. Davis. Executive Committee Liaison, Ohio University; Miles Myers, NCTE Staff Liaison 4 Colors of a Different Horse Rethinking Creative Writing Theory and Pedagogy Edited by Wendy Bishop Florida State University Hans Ostrom University of Puget Sound National Council of Teachers of English 1111 W. Kenyon Road. Urbana. Illinois 61801-1096 Manuscript Editor William Tucker Production Editor Michael G. Ryan Interior Design: Tom Kovacs for TGK Graphics Cover Design: Doug Burnett NCTE Stock Number 07168-3050 ©1994 by the National Council of Teachers of English. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. It is the policy of NCTE in its journals and other publications to provide a forum for the open discussiont,f ideas concerning the content and the teaching of English and the language arts. Publicity accorded to any particular point of view does not imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, or the membership at large, except in announcements of policy where such endorsement is clearly specified. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Colors of a different horse : rethinking creative writing theory and pedagogy / edited by Wendy Bishop, Hans Ostrom. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index. "NCTE stock number 07168-3050"--T.p. verso. I. English languageRhetoricStudy and teachingTheory; etc. 2. Creative writingStudy and teachingTheory etc.I. Bishop, Wendy.II. Ostrom, Hans A. PE1404.C6171994 808'.042'07dc20 94-7323 CIP 6 Contents Acknowledgments viii Permissions Introduction: Of Radishes and Shadows, Theory and Pedagogy xi Hans Ostrom I. Reconsidering the Workshop 1 1. The Workshop and Its Discontents 3 Francois Camoin 2. Reflections on the Teaching of Creative Writing: A Correspondence 8 Eugene Garber and Jan Ramjerdi 3. The Body of My Work Is Not Just a Metaphor 27 Lynn Domina 4. Life in the Trenches: Perspectives from Five Writing Programs 35 Ann Turk le, Julene Bair, Ruth Anderson Barnett, Todd Pierce, and Rex West II. Theoretical Contexts for Creative Writing 55 5. Theory, Creative Writing, and the Impertinence of History 57 R. M. Berry 6. Teaching Creative Writing If the Shoe Fits 77 Katharine Haake 7. Oedagogy in Penumbra: Teaching, Writing, and Feminism in the Fiction Workshop 100 Gayle Elliott V vi Contents 8. Literary Theory and the Writer 127 Jay Parini III. Creative Writing and Pedagogy 131 9. Creativity Research and Classroom Practice 133 Linda Sarbo and Joseph M. Moxley 10. On Seeing the Green Parrot and the Green Salad 146 Alice G. Brand 11. It Is Ourselves that We Remake: Teaching Creative Writing in Prison 158 Diane Kendig 12. Voice(s) in Writing: Symphony and/or Cacophony 167 Carl Leggo IV. Rethinking, (Re)Vision, and Collaboration 179 13. Crossing the Lines: On Creative Composition and Composing Creative Writing 181 Wendy Bishop 14. Voices from the Writing Center: Risky Business/Safe Places 198 Julie Neff 15. Voices from the Writing Center: Storytelling in the Writing Center 202 Beverly Conner 16. Voices from the Writing Center: It's Okay to Be CreativeA Role for the Imagination in Basic-Writing Courses 208 Lea Masiello 17. Oral Literature in the Teaching of Creative Writing 217 Maxine Clair 18. Without a Net: Collaborative Writing 225 Linda Tomol Pennisi and Patrick Lawler 19. Reading the Creative Writing Course: The Teachers Many Selves 234 Patrick Biz7aro Contents vii 20. The MFA Graduate as Composition Instructor: A Self-Analysis 248 David Starkey V. Creative Writing and the 21st Century 255 21. The End of Books 257 Robert Coover 72. Riding the Bus in Silicon Valley: Building Virtual Worlds 266 Sarah Jane Sloane ..1.fterwordColors of a Different Horse: On Learning to Like Teaching Creative Writing 280 Wendy Bishop Selected Resources for Teaching Creative Writing 296 Wendy Bishop, Katharine Haake, and Hans Ostrom Index 309 Editors 321 Contributors 323 ci Acknowledgments The contributors to this book would like to thank the teachers, theorists, students, and writers who have contributed to this project in ways and forms too numerous to name here. Since we had to limit the number of names suggested in each category, we also want to thank the many additional unnamed individuals who contributed to our development. leachers: Barry Bauska, Elizabeth Browning Anderson, Will Baker, Richard Bausch, Robert Bausch, Wendy Bishop, Vance Boudaily, Fred Busch, Francois Camoin, Sandra Cisneros, the Cleveland State Uni- versity Poetry Forum, Beverly Conner, Sally Creviston, George Cuomo, Tracy Daugherty, Kate Daniels, Lynn H. Elliott, Eugene Garber, Robert r. Gibbs, Albert Guerard, Ehud Havazelet, Bill Hotchkiss, David Huddle. John D. Husband, Judith Johnson, Hank Lazer, Ursula K. Le Guin, Miss Kirtzenknobbe, Ivan Kolpacoff, Carl Klaus, Larry Levis, Susan Lohafer, Andrea Lunsford, Don McAndrew, Hans Ostrom, Linda Pastan, Sheila Roberts, Lex Runciman, George Sessions, Karl Shapiro, Elaine Showalter. Janice Silverman, Myra Sklarew, Eugene Smith, Jerome Stern, Mike Thompson. Alberta Turner, Ellen Bryant Voigt, Esther Wagner, Rudy Wiebe, writer's group membersHelen Cooper, Kate Ellis, Susan Nash, Alicia Ostriker. Theorists: Chris Anderson, Roland Barthes, Rachel Blau Du Plessis, Wendy Bishop, James