Literary citizenship : the case for building literary citizens in our creative writing programs

Abstract

This paper describes the importance of creative writing programs incorporating training in literary citizenship into their curricula. It is my contention that creative writing students need more than just the ability to write well—which is still of paramount importance—they also need an adequate understanding of how to be responsible “literary citizens” in an increasingly technological and social media–focused world. In this paper, I lay out the practical reasoning for training in literary citizenship by examining the history of the creative writing discipline, the changes in the publishing world, and the influence of social media. I suggest several key components in this training, why each is important, and practical ways to incorporate that training into the classroom.