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The review at the end of this link says something I feel you might find of interest. It certainly reflects my own feelings: http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/Deprogramming-the-MFA-4071 I can't say I hold with the New Criterion's echt captitalist commitments, a frequently reluctant stockholder as I am myself, or with its brayingly philistine views on modern art. But every so often they seem able to see clearly enough, and opine openly on, what's right under their eyes. They pull no punches out of a pernicious desire not to hurt anyone's feelings, and at least don't dabble in the petty hypocrisies of the little mutual admiration societies called "writing groups," etc. The "creative writing" program, group, class, workshop, et al.: that most effective device (pace Louis Menand, 
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who wrote approvingly on the same subject for the New Yorker) for seducing the originality out of minds young, middle-aged, and old since the invention of~well, take your pick: the Marine Corps, public education, the Communist Party, the PC mafia, church. Regards, Chris Reply from John Haber: Fair enough. We all dislike it when scholarly prose and theoretical sophistication devolve into jargon and gibberish. We all share a concern, too, for the careerism of writing workshops and MFA programs. I can sympathize in much the same way with a dislike of art-world connections founded on who went to Cal Arts or Yale.  |
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