Power and Identity in the Creative Writing Classroom: The Authority Project (New Writing Viewpoints, 1)

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 Product Description Power and Identity In the Creative Writing Classroom remaps theories and practices for teaching creative writing at university and college level. This collection critiques wellestablished approaches for teaching creative writing in all genres and builds a comprehensive and adaptable pedagogy based on issues of authority, power, and identity. A longneeded reflection, this book shapes creative writing pedagogy for the 21st century. About the Author Anna Leahy is the author of the poetry books What Happened Was:, Aperture, and Constituents of Matter and the nonfiction book Tumor. In addition to Tumor, which she wrote to make sense of cancer, Leahy cowrote Conversing with Cancer to help patients, caregivers, providers, and communication specialists develop strategies to negotiate cancer care. She and Douglas R. Dechow wrote Generation Space: A Love Story. Anna Leahy is the editor and coauthor of What We Talk About When We Talk about Creative Writing and Power and Identity in the Creative Writing Classroom. She edits TAB: The Journal of Poetry & Poetics and teaches at Chapman University. Excerpt. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Power and Identity in the Creative Writing ClassroomThe Authority ProjectBy Anna LeahyMultilingual MattersCopyright 2005 Anna LeahyAll rights reserved.ISBN: 9781853598470ContentsAcknowledgments, Foreword Anna Leahy, Part 1: Understanding the Larger Influences, 1 Personal Therapeutic Writing vs. Literary Writing Nancy Kuhl, 2 Who Cares and How: The Value and Cost of Nurturing Anna Leahy, 3 Inspiration, Creativity, and Crisis: The Romantic Myth of the Writer Meets the Contemporary Classroom Brent Royster, 4 Reinventing Writing Classrooms: The Combination of Creating and Composing Evie Yoder Miller, 5 The Double Bind and Stumbling Blocks: A Case Study as an Argument for Authorityconscious Pedagogy Carl Vandermeulen, Part 2: The Teachers Place, Voice, and Style, 6 Teaching and Evaluation: Why Bother? Mary Cantrell, 7 Whos the Teacher?: From Student to Mentor Audrey Petty, 8 The Pregnant Muse: Assumptions, Authority, and Accessibility Rachel Hall, 9 Dismantling Authority: Teaching What We Do Not Know Katharine Haake, Part 3: Course Design, 10 Contracts, Radical Revision, Portfolios, and the Risks of Writing Wendy Bishop, 11 An A for Effort: How Grading Policies Shape Courses Suzanne Greenberg, 12 Gender and Authorship: How Assumptions Shape Perceptions and Pedagogies Susan Hubbard, 13 Writing the Community: Service Learning in Creative Writing Argie Manolis, Part 4: In the Classroom, 14 Where Do You Want Me To Sit?: Defining Authority through Metaphor Cathy Day, 15 Duck, Duck, Turkey: Using Encouragement To Structure Workshop Assignments Mary Swander, 16 How To Avoid Workshop Dilemmas: The Use of Myth To Teach Writerly Concepts Amy Sage Webb, 17 Writing in the Shadows: Topics, Models, and Audiences that Focus on Language Sandy Feinstein, Afterword The Reason It Is; the Rhyme It Isnt Graeme Harper and Stephanie Vanderslice, About the Authors, CHAPTER 1Personal Ther