History

The Associated Writing Programs (AWP) was formed back in the ‘60s; Australia has had a similar organization since the mid-‘90s. To date, however, Canada has not had a professional organization devoted to supporting the teaching of creative writing.

Recognizing that there are more and more teachers dealing with this subject in Canada both “for-credit” and “non-credit”, a visionary company of writers and teachers (mostly from the University of Calgary, but also with representation from the Banff Centre and York University) conceived the bold project of putting on the first-ever conference of Canadian Creative Writers and Writing Programs (CCWWP) with the intention of testing the waters to see if the will existed to form a Canadian counterpart to the American and Australian programs.

The answer was a resounding yes.

From October 7 to 11, 2010, almost a hundred writers and teachers of creative writing congregated at the University of Calgary and the Banff Centre.

Greg Hollingshead, Aritha van Herk, and Rosemary Sullivan gave keynotes and plenary talks, and over 40 delegates presented papers and participated in 13 different panel sessions. Between sessions, committees on governance, membership, funding and conferencing met to discuss and hone the directions for the new organization. By the time the conference was finished, the first Board had been appointed and charged with the task of carrying out the directives developed by the conference delegates.

Governing Principles

The Canadian Creative Writers and Writing Programs exists to:

• Provide a forum in which Creative Writers and those teaching Creative Writing can meet to discuss writing and how best to teach it.
• Provide a useful national network of individuals with interest and expertise in creative writing and the teaching of creative writing.
• Lobby on behalf of Canadian Creative Writing, Teachers of Creative Writings.
• Promote creative writing and Canadian writing, especially within the academic world.
• Provide up-to-date news related to creative writing and its instruction in this country.
• Provide support and pedagogical advice for those teaching creative writing.
• Generate a conference at which members can meet, exchange information, express concerns and in general stay abreast of the flow of information pertaining to Creative Writing in Canada.

The next conference has already been set for May of 2012 and will be hosted in Toronto by a variety of academic institutions including the Humber School for Writers, York University and the University of Toronto. (Go to Conference 2012).