Creative Writing Courses and the Pragmatics of Publishing

Teaching creative writing has evolved beyond the workshop; to best serve our students, it calls for a multi-pronged, mixed-methods approach that prepares students not only in terms of critical thinking and craft, but also in terms of skills and vocation. Shifts in creative writing and publishing contexts call for broader inclusion of publishing and writing for publishing in creative writing programmes. This chapter models two undergraduate modules combining creative writing and publishing, and the pedagogical philosophies behind their structures. By exposing students to the variety of publishing options and asking them to evaluate and choose those that best suit their writing and practice, students gain valuable insights into the industry in which they want to work, and experiential knowledge that gives them confidence in their future writing and publishing endeavours.