Uneasy Bedfellows: Assessing the creative thesis and its exegesis

Abstract

Since creative writing is being formalised in coherent programs and assessment methods are under scrutiny, we must mediate the problematic relationship between this new discipline and the academy more effectively. Honours and postgraduate theses with a creative component are a growing industry in Australian universities. Students write fiction, poetry and drama as well as theorise their practice. Some create picture books and scrutinise the visual and verbal narratives. Students question their own efforts, however, in a manner that varies from literary critics. Whatever "ism" postgraduates favour, they have one thing in common. They are aware during the process of creation of how their understanding of what literature is affects their work. They make conscious decisions based on their critical formulations. Or do they?