Premier’s Lend Lease English Literature Scholarship
Raising the profile of poetry in schools
Louise Wakeling
Baulkham Hills High School
Sponsored by
Introduction
Focus of the study tour
Creative writing programs are not a new phenomenon in the United States, although they
are relatively recent in Australia. The University of Iowa’s prestigious program, for
example, was established in the 1930s. These days, writing programs proliferate across
America, attracting many well-known writers in every genre as lecturers and writers-inresidence. For students competition to secure a place in such courses is often fierce.
During my study tour, I was concerned to find out from writer-professors about their
approaches to the teaching of creative writing at the undergraduate and graduate level,
since this seemed to be a good way to learn about best practice in the classroom. Many
of the teachers I interviewed on my study tour are graduates of such degrees, and most
have had extensive experience in the programs which have sprung up in more recent
years. Since I teach in a selective context, I was interested to extend my knowledge of
creative writing programs in the United States, and to put this to good use in developing
a more challenging learning environment for students in –
 Extension 2 English in the New South Wales Higher School Certificate
 creative writing components in modules studied for Preliminary and Higher
School Certificate Extension 1 studies
 composition modules in the junior school English curriculum.
I am grateful to the New South Wales Education Department and to Lend Lease for the
opportunity to extend my knowledge in this area, and to develop further resources in the
form of articles and ideas for classroom activities. My thanks go, too, to the many
helpful teacher-writers I met across twelve states, and who passed me on to other,
equally generous, writer-teachers. My study tour was undertaken over five weeks
between May 28 and June 2, 2007. I conducted a number of interviews about the
methodology of teaching creative writing (with a particular focus on poetry) with poetprofessors and teachers in a range of tertiary, secondary and community institutions from
the Pacific state of Hawaii to Maryland on the east coast.
At the university level these included:
 New Zealand/Samoan writer-in-residence, poet and playwright Albert Wendt
and Gary Pak (Coordinator, Creative Writing Program, University of HawaiiManoa, Honolulu)
 American-Vietnamese prose fiction writer Dr. Aimee Phan and poet Dr. Matt
Shears (Washington State University, Pullman campus)
 Poet and short fiction writer, John Keene (Director of Creative Writing,
Northwestern University, Evanston, Chicago, tenth in the top ten research
universities in the States, and the only private university in the group) and Averill
Cordy, a poet/critic who has worked with Edward Hirsch editing anthologies of
poetry.
 Brett Johnston (Coordinator, Creative Writing Faculty, Harvard University,
Boston, Massachusetts)
 Gale Nelson (Coordinator, Creative Writing Program, Brown University, Rhode
Island)
 Poet and novelist Steven Sherrill and poet Lee Peterson, (who both teach creative
writing in undergraduate and masters programs (PennState University in the
Alleghenies, Altoona campus, Pennsylvania)
On May 19-20 , I travelled to Altoona, to the campus of PennState University,
Pennsylvania, where there are seven poet-professors on the English faculty, teaching
both poetry and prose writing. I attended a poetry reading given by these poets in the
Edith Davis Eve Memorial Chapel as part of the Blair County Arts Festival. Since my
return to Australia, I have begun to follow up these visits with on-line interviews and
discussions with poet-professors, including:
 Erin Murphy (PennState, Altoona, Pennsylvania)
 Marvin Bell (currently at Washington State University, Portland, Washington
state)
 Liberian-American Assistant Professor and former refugee, Patricia Jabbeh
Wesley (PennState, Altoona, Pennsylvania)
 Dr.Todd Davis, a progressive Mennonite poet (PennState, Altoona,
Pennsylvania)
During my tour I met several writers teaching creative writing for community literary
organisations, such as the poet and fiction writer Wendy McCall. She gives classes at
Richard Hugo House, Seattle’s poetry centre in Washington State, which has an extensive
program of poetry, drama and other genre workshops, and runs an annual literary
conference in the north of the state. I have also interviewed novelist and poet-teacher
Maureen McQuerry, who trains teachers of advanced placement classes in Richland in
the same state. Later, at the Cecil Country Arts Council in Elkton, Maryland, I was
invited to give a workshop and an informal reading and talk on my most recent poetry
collection to a group of local writers who meet regularly to discuss their poetry. This
afforded a valuable experience and a useful exchange of ideas with writers in this region,
particularly on how to give feedback on poetry in a workshop situation.
This experience in turn led to further contacts with such poets as Mary Agner in Boston,
Massachusetts, who publishes poetry both in print journals and in a number of online
journals, and has agreed to be interviewed for an article I am writing for Five Bells. I have
set up email interviews with several of these writers, in which they have outlined their
philosophy and teaching approaches, for which I am immensely grateful.
Included in my itinerary were interviews with
State and private school teachers in the TriCities/Columbia River region of Washington
State and in North East, Maryland,
themselves writers with professional
publications in poetry, novel or short fiction.
I was given a guided tour by the school
librarian, Margaret Holloway, who arranged
for me to interview teachers such as Carol
Hall and observe Advanced Placement
classes in Hanford High, Washington State, a
magnet school where students may earn
credits for undergraduate degrees by taking
advanced level writing courses. As well, I
was able to interview Kathy Maisoni at the
Tome School, North East, Maryland, who
incorporates many creative writing strategies into her teaching of a traditional English
course, even though the school’s curriculum does not specifically include composition.
She has formerly taught extensively in schools in New Jersey, where creative writing is
specifically taught, and indicated that she needed to be quite inventive to work as much
creative writing into the curriculum as possible.
Hanford High, a state school, caters for a local population of students whose parents are
largely employed by the local nuclear facility in Hanford. It is extremely well-supported
financially by the local community and parent body. The Tome school, by contrast, is a
privately endowed school established in1889 by the industrial magnate, Jacob Tome. The
school is committed to a scholarship system for many of its students, who would not
otherwise have access to a private school.
At Hanford High, I read poetry written by Advanced Placement students employing the
strategy of writing backwards poems, in which students write a first draft of a poem on
the subject of their choice, and then re-write it from the conclusion backwards,
tightening and re-writing, and cutting as necessary. The finished products showed a
remarkable improvement in the re-drafting, and students in this class were clearly pleased
with the teacher’s positive encouragement of their work. Poems were published in the
classroom, form part of a portfolio of work, and are otherwise displayed and enjoyed by
students and teachers and the school as a whole.
(above) the new Hanford High School,
Washington State
English teacher, Carol Hall, Librarian, Margaret
Holloway and the author in Richland, Washington
State
Poetry is often perceived by students, and even some teachers, as impenetrable compared
with fiction, or worse, as an irrelevance in today’s world. For this reason I am
committed to raising the profile of poetry in New South Wales schools through sharing
my expertise in creative processes with students and teachers. Poetry is, after all,
arguably the oldest literary form. Many of my interviewees agreed that poetry is very
important in any creative writing program because of its close attentiveness to language.
In fact, many American universities teach poetry composition as a compulsory unit
before other genres. Moreover, through composing their own poetry, and critically
reflecting on writing, students can more effectively grasp ideas about many complex
aspects of life. It is clear that their study of literature in general is very much enhanced
by this process.
Significant learning
My tour was a wonderful opportunity to explore aspects of creative writing methodology
and classroom praxis, and to deepen my understanding of how poetry and short fiction
strategies can be used in a challenging way at every level. My discussions with writerprofessors about their approaches sparked off many ideas for classroom learning, and
demonstrated the importance of the following aspects of teaching creative writing in
general, but especially in teaching the composition of poetry:

Integrating reading with writing as a foundational part of classroom pedagogy,
for example, close critical reading of diverse models of good writing, in English and in
translation, and in all kinds of styles and voices, such as stream of consciousness or
fragmented structures. Examples are taken not just from any supposed literary ‘canon’,
and are not limited to anthologized writers. Critical reading here does not mean reading
critical theory – although several of the writer-professors I interviewed mentioned that
they incorporated such readings into their workshops or seminars. Rather, it means that
students are expected to evaluate what they read, and also be critically self-reflective
about their own creative processes and products

One-to-one and group mentoring, with honest, constructive and encouraging
verbal/written feedback (public forum or private). Students need to learn the basics of
the writing craft – that ‘attention to language’ that most writer-professors I interviewed
see as crucial in the development of writers

Workshopping and reading drafts with peers/teachers, including respectful
questioning of the author about processes and aims: the work is scrutinised in terms of
what it is trying to achieve, rather than whether it is ‘good’ or not

Workshop readings of others’ work, and discussion in which authors are initially
silent. Then students give their own view/defense of what they are attempting to achieve.
Alternatively, students read their own work, remain silent until the class has given
concrete feedback, and then have the right of reply.

Learning the craft of writing through reading, drafting and re-drafting, testing the
writing in the world

Incorporation of non-fiction readings into class activities, for example,
literary/art criticism, philosophy, linguistics, together with compositional exercises
which address this input in an accessible way

The opportunity to improve students’ writing through judicious use of exercises
from writing manuals, especially those by writers themselves

Energising students and raising their awareness through discussion of national
and international current affairs, viewing of films, drama, art works and other visual
material; these are a valuable source of ideas and issues, and students need to write out of
an ideas base

Publication and showcasing of students’ work in appropriate forums and media
eg. magazines, spoken word slams, readings, soirees, notice-boards, newsletters, journals,
anthologies etc.) At my school I have been producing an annual Creative Artsfest since
2002 involving students’ poetry, music and drama, and readings by visiting professional
poets such as Brook Emery, Les Wicks, Joanne Burns, Margaret Bradstock, Judith
Beveridge and spoken word performer Miles Merrill.

Innovative and traditional strategies for stimulating student writing eg.
composing cinquains and sonnets, writing poems in a linear way and then re-drafting
backwards, the cut-up approach, that is, assemblage/collage from word pools, and
writing within constraints.

A deeper attentiveness to language through writing within and then
experimenting with the limitations of fixed poetic structures and features, for example,
the sonnet, iambic pentameter, wordplay, use of sound patterns through composing
within courses focusing on close study of selected poets, both traditional and
contemporary eg. Shakespeare, W.H. Auden, spoken word poet Miles Merrill, writers of
haiku, and contemporary and traditional indigenous poetry eg. Oodgeroo Noonuccal,
Sam Wagan Watson

Students compiling and writing a critical introduction to their own anthologies of
poets/prose fiction writers, then using this selection critically in developing their own
work

Students writing critical papers, and formally reflecting on their writing processes
and finished products, on how writers put together a poem, as a compulsory part of the
learning at every level.

Students accessing real-world experiences as an essential part of the writing life,
not merely learning about writing in the classroom
Ongoing application and development of teaching
strategies and resources
I have adapted many of the above strategies in both junior English and Extension
courses, for instance, developing guidelines and criteria for the assessment of reflection
statements. As well, my current Preliminary Extension class has produced a portfolio of
work based on a range of these strategies, out of which they developed ideas for a MiniWork as part of their assessment. In teaching composition in this course, and in the
Higher School Certificate Extension 1 module, Postmodernism, I have used the Beat
Generation’s “Cut-up method”. This is similar to John Cage’s use of assemblage in his
musical compositions, and I have modelled the strategy with Allen Ginsberg’s poetry to
show how students might extend their range with language through pushing the
boundaries of traditional grammar.
This method incorporates the principle of randomness into the creative process,
encouraging students to be more inventive and less rule-bound. Students explore their
potential for lateral thinking, and transform language, for example, through moving on
from conventional use of figurative language to more innovative and experimental
structures and combinations. I hope to further develop these strategies as teaching
resources as a follow-up to my study tour.
I have found that strategies used with senior students can also be modified to provide
challenging creative writing lessons for junior students, and have already put some of the
insights I have gained into practice in my teaching of a Year 8 unit of work on
composing. My emphasis here, however, is on increasing students’ facility with traditional
elements of poetry first, before they experiment with form, for example, developing
higher-order thinking through writing sonnets, practising how to write in iambic
pentameter, and how to hear and analyse the rhythms of poetry and the sonnet form.
After this, students move on to free verse, concrete and kinetic poetry and contemporary
forms which break or bend the rules, such as in models such as Joanne Burns’
contemporary sonnet, “marinations”.
In my interview with Gale Nelson at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, I
discovered that the graduate program, with its cutting-edge approach to inter- and crossdisciplinary studies, allows students to select their own areas of specialization, and often
their professors/mentors as well. This is an extremely useful approach, especially at the
Extension 2 level, where, for example, my students are encouraged to research diverse
disciplines for their Major Works, such as poetry and environmental studies and ecology,
or short fiction and historical and religious arguments on speciesism. This transdisciplinary approach encourages extension students to consult mentors and explore
challenging connections between areas of knowledge and interest in their chosen genre.
At Brown University, students in the creative writing programs choose what they want
to focus on from very different faculties and schools, and a blurring of genres and
disciplines is actively encouraged. Ideally, any combination of subject areas is possible in
the graduate program, where students can pursue their particular interests and work with
those professors whose projects and areas of interest mesh with their own writing
interests, eg. literature and musicology, poetry and environmental studies. The graduate
program is highly selective, catering for only about 14 students, mainly from within the
States, though thousands of applications are received each year. Usually only one student
from the undergraduate program gains entry into the Masters program, and the
university, surprisingly enough, waives all course fees for these fortunate students.
Even more significantly, the creative writing program at Brown is committed to
engagement with the real world, bringing writers to the United States who are suffering
under regimes where human rights abuses go unchecked. This outreach activity makes it
possible for such writers to live and write without fear of imprisonment or death, and
frequently results in their acceptance as refugees.
I have often incorporated current affairs into my teaching of creative writing at every
level, insisting that students should engage with events and ideas in the real world, both
national and international. This approach was affirmed by many of my interviewees as
very important in teaching creative writing. Albert Wendt, for example, talked frankly
with me about how he discusses current affairs and controversial events, politics and
values, film and books with his students, as a prelude to writing. He believes that
students cannot write well if they have not thought about the world in broad terms, and
if they are not engaged with what is going on at some level. Wendt’s strong commitment
to fostering indigenous creative writing was patent, as was his resistance to certain
mainstream values which he saw as predominating in Hawaiian society, often to the
detriment of indigenous culture. These attitudes clearly form an important part of his
teaching philosophy, and not surprisingly, his classes were extremely popular with
indigenous and other minority groups in Hawaii.
As well as adapting my learning to the Australian classroom, I am transcribing the
interviews I recorded, and reviewing my interview material and resources for articles on
teaching composition for the Poets’ Union journal, Five Bells, and for mETAphor, the
journal of the English Teachers’ Association. I have also begun work on an article on
the poetry and teaching approaches of Marvin Bell and Erin Murphy, whose readings I
attended while in Washington State and Pennsylvania. Further information on the
development of these resources can be accessed by contacting me at
lwake@ihug.com.au.
Conclusion
Most importantly, the study tour underlined for me the necessity for teachers to
encourage students to commit themselves to writing as a discipline, through the process
of drafting, researching, re-editing and reading their works, and to model such
commitment themselves in the classroom – even if they are not writers. On the
mainland, at the magnet high school level, teachers use many of the strategies I have
listed above in their own classrooms; they write with students, a strategy also used by
professors at Brown University and in writing classes taught at the Richard Hugo House
in Seattle. In Hawaii, Gary Pak, like John Keene and many of my interviewees on the
mainland, emphasized the importance of students experiencing writing as a lifetime
commitment. He argued that there are other ways of being a writer in society than being
commercially successful, and that by over-valuing marketability, students can shut off
creativity in other directions.
My study tour enabled me to understand how valuable it is for students to have access to
teachers who are themselves practitioners of writing, and who are dealing at first hand
with similar problems and issues. As Albert Wendt commented, his students at HawaiiManoa are keen to know how he has addressed the problems they are grappling with;
they want to understand how the creative process works for him, and how he has written
himself out of his own composing difficulties. Clearly, the students of the poetprofessors I interviewed across a range of institutions value both their teachers’
commitment to the writing life and their generosity in sharing their expertise.
I hope that by transmuting the raw material of my study tour into resources such as CDs,
articles and lectures/workshops on creative processes, I can indeed help to raise the
profile of poetry and poetic composition in New South Wales schools and in the
community. This will be further developed through my poetry and short fiction
workshops for the University of New South Wales Scientia program, and the Parramatta
Library Lecture Program in which I have addressed compositional strategies in the Area
of Study Paper 1 (Question 2). Certainly, it will enable me to share my appreciation of
the discipline of prosody with students and teachers, and to contribute in a substantial
way to the cultivation of the poetic imagination in the Australian classroom.
Bibliography
Charles Bernstein, A Poetics, (Harvard University Press, 1992)
Tony Britten, “Creative Writing and critical documentation” (Premier’s Teaching
Scholarship Reports 2002-3
Suzanne Gannon, University of Western Sydney: Research Project: teachers writing
in/out of school [as a writer-teacher, I was interviewed as part of this research]
Edward Hirsch, How to Read a Poem, (Harcourt Brace, 1999)
Kenneth Koch, Making Your Own Days: The Pleasures of Reading and Writing Poetry
(Touchstone, 1999)
Frances Mayres, The Discovery of Poetry, (Harcourt Inc., 2001)
Hazel Smith, The Writing Experiment: strategies for innovative creative writing, (Allen and
Unwin, 2005)
Louise Wakeling, unpublished English Teachers Association lectures on composition
(Extension 2 and Advanced/Standard Area of Study); “Colours coming out of our
mouths”: the visibility of poetry’, Five Bells, Spring 2002, pp. 4-10;a revised version of
this interview was reprinted in mETAphor, Issue 3, 2005, pp. 61-5;“How Poets Work”,
Five Bells, Summer 2004, pp.27-30; Letter in the Poets Union journal, Five Bells, Vol 12,
No. 2, Autumn 2005, pp. 5-6, [in response to a proposal by the Poets Union (Education
Issue) to redress the low profile of poetry in the English syllabus]
Websites relating to writing programs in the United States (www.fictionweek,
www.webster.edu/schustjm/creative.htm; www.poetryflash.org/Festivals_etc.html