Explorations In Creative Writing

These essays, stories and fragments are about writing. They explore the dilemmas of living as a writer, the subtleties and inspirations of reading as a writer, and the contradictions created when a writer tries to teach others how it is done.
Brophy addresses questions such as:
Can creative writing be taught?
What happens in creative writing classes?
How might we read and appreciate apparently impenetrable contemporary poetry?
How much can writers afford to reveal about their own private life?
What makes fiction different to other forms of writing?

Brophy provides both analytical and impressionistic accounts of the experience of teaching and studying creative writing. He offers reflections on the writing life, but also brings to the book the perspectives of a teacher, a poet, a student, a scholar. Inflected with a sense of irony and humour, and peppered with personal anecdotes and autobiographical reflections, this is a writerly and highly readable text.