Erin O’Connor points to this delectable essay on teaching poetry by Tom Henihan. O’Connor goes on to observe,

There are some things that cannot be taught. Inspiration is one, creativity is another, having a “feel” for language a third. Skills can be taught, and those are certainly necessary if one wants to be a writer of any caliber. But too often creative writing courses are about far more than the teaching of skills–there is a dishonesty to them, as Henihan notes. Their premise is that everyone enrolled in the course can write; their guiding principle is that deep down, we all have a poet or a novelist in us just waiting to come out. We don’t. But in premising themselves on the notion that we do–and on the notion that coursework can bring it out, that all we need is practice and encouragement (and a few good contacts)–creative writing courses encourage a level of self-deception and communal pretension that are positively damaging to the art.

Being a Creative Writing student and all…if you were expecting me to react with outrage and disagree vehemently with these opinions, you thought wrong. Some things just can’t be learned in a classroom.

So then why the heck am I majoring in this field? To learn more about one aspect of modern “literature.”

(Maybe this is why I’ve never been able to get my Poetry section up and running yet!)

UPDATE: Jay has more thoughts on the art of writing.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Jason comments at ABA. Pretentious? Me? Surely you jest, Jason…