Postcards from the Pandemic: Teaching Creative Writing During COVID-19

Postcards from the Pandemic: Teaching Creative Writing During COVID-19

This panel offers perspectives from three creative writing academics on the personal and professional challenges of teaching creative writing during the COVID-19 pandemic. As lockdown began and social distancing became the norm, mainstream media looked to writers for advice on how to work from home, while teachers used to delivering face-to-face instruction devised new strategies for engaging students online. Some of these strategies worked; others didn’t. Unsurprisingly, as many students struggled to adjust, anxiety increased and students' capacity to engage with their studies was affected. In some cases, the type of stories students submitted for assessment also changed. Following the question of how this adaptation, or failure to adapt, inevitably transformed creative writing praxis, this panel explores three practical and pedagogical intersections: managing workloads, making allowances, and maintaining wellness during a pandemic. This paper suggests that while art may absorb chaos and anxiety to aesthetic effect, teachers and students are stretched beyond capacity.