WE’RE NOT ALL IN THE SAME BOAT: ON SUPERVISION IN THE FIELD OF CREATIVE WRITING

Abstract

This essay reflects on the ways that supervision in the field of Creative Writing comes with queries and situations that are at the moment perhaps unusual in other academic fields. Some of the aspects of supervision outlined here demand a multifaceted response from a supervisor, particularly in how the boundaries between private, personal, professional behaviour are negotiated and renegotiated on a continuous basis. The shifting sands of these relationships in text and in real life have to be seen as a reciprocal relationship where the student will want to set boundaries, the same as the supervisor. These are human interactions which involves a morass of interaction on many, often parallel, levels, best ameliorated by clear communication.