Splinters

Rather than let it remain in relative obscurity in the Comments section, here's Tim Guest's enjoyable story of his time on Andrew Motion's Creative Writing course at UEA. After this affectionate but unflattering study, he says he received a letter from the Poet Laureate with the word "Fuck" in it. I understood this to be a letter with ONLY that word in it. Apparently I misunderstood. What a shame. Still, I think it would have made a good, single-word poem responding to the death of Princess Diana: i.e. "Fuck". A hyper-haiku perhaps. I suppose we'd know if he had done that though, wouldn't we?

I'd like to read more accounts of Creative Writing class experiences. So if you've got any links, don't hestitate to chuck 'em this way. I want to know things like: what level diversity is there; what conflicts arise; how does the course help one's writing exactly; what part does "craft" play, and, if so what is craft exactly?

I often wonder how I'd manage to get through a seminar without alienating the entire group. Reading Tim's account, I suspect I'd be overturning the desks to create barricades against the onslaught of sensitive and poetic storytellers.