Creative Writing MFA Spearheads CityU English Department Mission To Become Regional Centre For Critical Thinking
Core Facts
In 1936, The University of Iowa established the Writers' Workshop, offering aspiring poets and writers the world's first creative writing degree, the Masters of Fine Arts, or MFA. The program has flourished ever since, becoming a significant force in American letters.
Now, 74 years after the concept was born, a Master's education in creative writing and critical thinking is finally becoming established in Hong Kong.
A new Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing degree launched in 2010 by The Department of English at City University will be the first in the world specialising in 'Asian writing' in English.
The initiative is led by Head of English, Professor Kingsley Bolton, an acclaimed socio-linguistics scholar with an ambitious vision to transform CityU's English Department into a leading centre for creative writing, drama and cultural studies, not only for Hong Kong but the entire Asian region.
A flagship of this initiative is the new MFA in Creative Writing -- on a mission to groom "the best writers of Asian prose and poetry". Not only is it providing the groundwork for international creative writing and publishing careers, but any profession requiring writing skills and the ability to think critically and reflectively.
Celebrated novelist Timothy Mo is visiting writer and the faculty mentoring students on the programme features an international cast of prominent authors, poets and editors who “know Asia, live Asia, read Asia, write Asia”: Tina Chang, Marilyn Chin, Luis Francia, Robin Hemley, Justin Hill, Sharmistha Mohanty, James Scudamore, Ravi Shankar, Jess Row and Madeleine Thien.
Better late than never? Hong Kong native author Xu Xi, who is overseeing the programme as writer-in-residence, certainly believes so.
Xu Xi is one of Hong Kong's foremost contemporary English language novelists. Her awards include an O. Henry prize story, shortlist for the inaugural MAN Asian Literary Award, Cohen Award from PLOUGHSHARES for best story, a NYFA fiction fellowship, and South China Morning Post story contest winner.
But though she loved writing short stories as a Hong Kong schoolgirl at Maryknoll Convent, inspired by a teacher passionate about literature and poetry, her full-time writing career was a long time blossoming.
Earning a living took obvious priority, and for 18 years she pursued her writing only in her spare time, amid a marketing career from Cathay Pacific and the ad agency Leo Burnett to Federal Express and the Asian Wall Street Journal.
It was only taking a creative writing degree at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1985 that finally convinced her to embark on a writing career. Notably, it was studying in the United States, not Hong Kong, that convinced her she could make a living from her creativity.
Hong Kong, she laments, has never seriously nurtured a literary tradition. The education system hasn't helped much either, she notes, pragmatically focusing on exam results, rather than the pure essence of education -- to cultivate imagination and critical thinking.
Whatever the explanation, she is hopeful that times are changing; and is convinced that Hong Kong has a unique voice, not only in the city itself, but among the Hong Kong diaspora scattered around the world.
Xu Xi hopes CityU's new Creative Writing MFA will help to recover some of that lost literary spirit.
For one, it is deliberately designed to accommodate the busy schedule of working professionals making a living doing something else, as she did herself while harbouring unfulfilled literary dreams.
This unique MFA, she explains, is designed as 'low-residency' programme, "with individualised learning, tailored to individual talent and focus, and studied mostly via distance learning with writing mentors, supplemented by brief but intensive residencies and workshops over long weekends".
A low faculty-to-student ratio limited to 30 students a year allows for intensive feedback on projects, approximating a professional editor-writer relationship.
With just 45-credits, the degree can be completed in two years, and a maximum of four, and the cost at HK$143,100.
It is essentially a creative equivalent to an MBA, she says.
The programme will begin accepting applications from candidates with Bachelor degrees from January 15, 2010, with the first residency scheduled in the summer. Top criteria for admission is quality of creative work, either in non-fiction, fiction or poetry. A limited number of transfer and graduate credits in creative work can be accepted for qualified candidates towards the degree.
Complementing both CityU's 'creativity' vision and the programme, a 'Symposium for Students and Teachers of Creative Writing' is also being organised by The Department of English and The Asia-Pacific Writing Partnership at CityU on March 9-10. The event is in conjunction with The 2010 Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival.
For further information, please visit http://www.english.cityu.edu.hk/MFA
Quotes
"We think of the English novel and the American novel. China has is its own poetry and literary tradition. Even Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines have their own literature," she says.
"But even though Hong Kong is a relatively wealthy city, we have no literary tradition. We teach dance, art and music, and we are brilliant at making films, but literature has been ignored. Perhaps it's a language thing? Perhaps we were a colony for too long? Or is it possible that writing carried too much concern about political sensitivity, rather than creativity? Maybe there was just not enough money in it?"
"The first thing I would do would be to take the pressure of the exam system off," she says. "We are too driven by it, but not everyone can be top of the class. We don't all need to aspire to be lawyers and doctors, or have MBAs."
"In the US and UK, the MFA degree is like an MBA, a graduate degree recognised in a range of fields where good writing is required, including cultural and arts administration, the creative industries, editing, and publishing. It is also a widely-acknowledged qualification for teaching creative writing at high schools and universities. Graduates are normally offered more opportunity as well. We are providing an opportunity for talented writers to work and learn with established writers, on the assumption that talent can be developed, just as learning to play the violin or to paint."
Though Xu Xi anticipates the majority of applicants will be from Asia, she adds:"Many writers in the West, both of Asian and non-Asian ethnicity, are increasingly drawn to Asia, especially China -- and they are not always best served by MFA programmes in the West, where there’s little focus on either a contemporary or historical Asian perspective or Asian literature."
"Hong Kong people do have their own culture, we are different, with our own distinct heritage," she argues. "And it goes much deeper than food. We take care of ourselves and we know when to run when we need to, but wherever we live in the world, we never lose Hong Kong."
Contacts
Dr. Rodney Jones at enrodney@cityu.edu.hk