Cirrus@Austlit

Carol Jenkins documents and analyses contemporary Australian poetry anthologies.

'The idea of 'workshopping a poem' can be contentious among practicing poets. The trade and craft implications of the term can be a put-off, as though all unique imperfections of the poem will be sanded back on some production line. Donald Hall surely thought so; as early as the 1980s, the critic scathingly referred to the 'McPoems' made in creative writing workshops, and something of that greasy reputation has persisted ever since. While the biggest arguments against the collaborative writing and editing processes that take place within workshops are that they foster conventionality, timidity, and a loss of individuality, at least some of the concern is about the idea of property ownership - who owns a workshopped poem? What percentage did my colleagues' edit contribute? This process of writing unsettles older, Romantic notions about originality, inspiration and the 'lone artistic genius'. To be frank, it's not good for our creative egos.' (Introduction 37)