E Y E W E A R, THE BLOG - FREEDOM MEANS BEING UNAFRAID TO WRITE WHAT YOU THINK

David Orr has a long essay in the February issue of Poetry , ostensibly on a new anthology, Poetry of the Law , which spins off in a number of fascinating directions.  I am most interested in his discussion of creative writing within the academy.  He writes: "Creative writing is not, on the whole, a strong discipline in the way that the university conceives of such things.  It lacks a coherent methodology, shared assumptions about its own materials, perspective on its relationship with other academic departments, and often any kind of historical sense.  It can be pretty loosey-goosey stuff. But it's also supposed to be loosey-goosey stuff." - and then he quotes McGurl, who notes that creative writing's raison d'etre is "as an institutionalization of anti-institutionality " (italics his). Orr then observes how law students and creative writing students share more than at first might meet the eye - they both look to a world where their practice is vali...