ABSTRACT
The dominant model to “teach” creative writing comes from the University of Iowa’s storied Iowa Writers Workshop, a process where a writer submits a story or poem to the class in advance, giving everyone time to read the work before returning to class the following week. One of the most important advantages of an embodied workshop is its efficiency. Just like class is the only time for discussing creative work, it was often the only time for writing as well. The arts are often relegated to a second-class status in academia, perhaps in part because of the disembodied intellect that’s celebrated there. Prison is punctuated by buzzers sounding and doors slamming and keys jangling and TVs blaring. Bodies are constantly being miscounted and made to shuffle somewhere different. People are uncomfortable in shoes that have been handed down in imprecise sizes, in underwear that is government issued.
