“English” is for English, Simpson is for Creative Writing!

The Global Future of English Studies by James F. English provided me with valuable insight into the field of creative writing via the section called “Creative Writing for a Creative Economy.”  English’s text provided me with some useful information regarding the statistics of creative writing majors across the United States.  He indicates, “As recently as 1998, MA and MFA programs in creative writing outnumbered BA major programs by nearly 20 to 1.  Of the 55,000 bachelor’s recipients in English in 2009, only about 2300, or less than 5%, emerged from designated subprograms in creative writing.” (158). In addition, he also states, “Creative writing was first introduced as a concentration in 1999 and quickly became the most popular option; today is claims a third of all our majors.  If some of these creative writing concentrators are the kind of English majors who ‘don’t like to read,’ others are among our most avid student-scholars.  And the reading-averse students cannot escape literary studies by choosing the creative writing option.” (162).  Now that my first semester as a graduate student is wrapping up, I prematurely conclude my M.A. English experience and switch gears into the M.Ed. Reading Specialist program at Kutztown University.  The underlying reason for this switch is that I am not a critical reader nor a pleasure reader as the field of English Studies requires.  On the other hand, I am an avid writer and plan to publish my poetry for the first time within the next year.  Unfortunately, I entered the M.A. English program with blinders on because I thought I could fly under the radar when it comes to research and reading and simply take courses geared towards creative writing.  However, I discovered during the first few weeks of the fall semester that my heart was not 100% invested in the program and was told, point blank, that I cannot “master” English Studies without digging my teeth into the research and theory aspects of the field, areas that I abhor tremendously.  Although creative writing is my true passion, I realize that I will need to utilize my love for writing as a supplemental side job and keep my full-time teaching job for the time being in order to pay the bills.  Hopefully, with my master’s degree I can finally climb out of the financial rut I am in and finally reap the benefits of my long educational journey.