Source: School of Foreign Languages
Author: Professor DAI Fan

The opening ceremony of the English Creative Writing Center of the School of Foreign Language was held on 11th December, 2012. Professor DAI Fan, head of the Department of English, announced the opening of the Center. As the director of the Center, she gave a general introduction to the creative writing course in the Department of English and proposed future plans for the Center’s development. Professor CHANG Chenguang, Dean of the School of Foreign Language, delivered a congratulatory speech. Professor XU Dongli, Jenny Lewis and Rachelle Escamilla, teachers of the creative writing course, LEI Yanni, teacher and writer of English poems, ZHAO Jing, researcher of a project on writing anxiety, WEI Donghua, photographer and member of the Center, Jonas Stampe, Swedish curator, DU Liang, teacher of children’s art, and students of the course were also present. Guangzhou Daily and the Education Channel of GDTV reported the event.

As one of the pioneers of English creative writing courses in China, the Department of English of the School of Foreign Language is leading in the teaching and research of the teaching of creative writing. The opening of this first creative writing center in the country laid a solid ground for the future development of this course and related research. It is now the fourth year since the course was first offered in the summer of 2009. In this course, students write stories after class, two native English teachers of creative writing read and comment on each of the stories, and students discuss the stories in workshops and analyze writing skills together. At the end of the one-year course, each student contributes one self-selected story to the antholoy of the class.

One of the purposes of setting up the creative writing course is to fill a long-time blank in world literature: the lack of a native Chinese voice. The Center for Creative Writing hopes to train more students to tell stories about the ordinary Chinese in English. With the effort of teachers and students, the creative writing course of the School of Foreign Language has become known in mainland China as well as Hong Kong and Macau. Besides, research and teaching collaboration on creative writing has also been established between the school and institutions in the U.S., Australia, the UK, etc.

The opening of the Center will bring about changes in English education. First, students at the undergraduate level in the Department of English can choose to write both a creative piece and a critical essay on writing techniques other than the conventional academic thesis. This course will also be available to non-English majors as one of the general education courses. Secondly, a bilingual M.A. in creative writing strand will also be offered. The Center for Creative Writing hopes to invite writers-in-residence to teach in the School of Foreign Language for one semester a year, as well as to set up an International Writers’ Retreat within the next few years. As the Center develops, there will be more activities such as community reading, creative writing competitions and the launch of a literary journal.

The teaching experience of the past three years indicates that the creative writing course has made teaching and learning more interesting. Students have learned far more than writing per se. The course has become a platform where students not only sharpen their writing skills and improve language proficiency, but also grow as an all-rounded person through the reflection, writing and sharing of their personal experiences.

The opening of the Centre for Creative Writing will strengthen the leading position of the Department of English in the teaching and research of creative writing. It will also become a broader platform for international exchange and add to SYSU’s international reputation.