A definite second/third to the earlier postings: I have an MA in creative
writing, and have horrible memories of being attacked viciously in my
creative writing classes when I turned in SF. Part of it was the problem of
literature snootiness (SF was not taught as literature), but there was
another big problem which was that since these people NEVER read SF, they
had no idea how to respond. I always wanted to go to one of the CLARION
workshops which focus entirely on writing SF/F, but never could. You might
look into some of those. (I've read a lot of SF/F bios about people who
write their first novel while going to graduate school, so it can be done
even if the program is not behind you.)
Part of the institutional problem is that there are so many writers who
cannot earn a living through writing and so few creative writing positions
(one way to make a living) that the programs, which really parallel some of
the literary snootiness, go for the big published names in "mainstream"
literature. (I doubt they'd think writing "trash" was really writing.)
My department here is a bit different: several of our creative writing/MA
and Ed.D. students have written mysteries and SF/F. I just read the first
completed draft of a "cyberpunk/vampire" novel for a doctoral dissertation.
Granted, the student also has to write a theoretical and a pedagogical
chapter, but he got no problems writing what he wanted. My official title
though is "creative writing and critical theory" (if you are a literature
person, you might be able to appreciate the incredible and wonderful
schizophrenia of that title). We don't have a program as such (I'm the only
on, just an "emphasis" so we have no major investment in the "standards of
literature."
I'd also say be careful when you are looking at programs: sad to say some
of the biggest names in the creative writing programs only teach a little
bit. And the presence of an SF person in Another Department might not have
any impact on your work in a creative writing or literature program. And,
speaking as someone who's been in and out of graduate programs and community
writing workshops, there's a good deal to be said for what I tell my
creative writing undergraduate students: if you really want to write and
publish, get the heck out of the university. Some of the insiders at the
institutions themselves are questioning the value of "creative writing
programs." Apparently they were nice cash cows for schools during the bust
of the seventies. I doubt there's been any studies done on this, but I
wonder just how many published writers actually TOOK any creative writing
classes or graduated in the "field.".......
On a slightly related topic, I found out when applying for Ph.D. programs in
literature that my creative background was a big problem for some.
Apparently the critics who study the creative work don't really think the
people who are alive and writing can be trusted to learn the difficult art
of "criticism"....
Robin
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu May 25 2000 - 19:07:32 PDT