Abstract
A significant challenge to decolonizing/Indigenizing University-level Creative Writing and Literature classrooms lies in the conflicting goals of well-meaning non-Indigenous, or settler, instructors. On the one hand, they seek to include Indigenous authors, teachings, and ways of approaching craft into their curricula; on the other hand, they risk causing offence by misinterpreting Indigenous writing. Synthesizing the work of Indigenous and racialized writers and scholars of pedagogy—including Elissa Washuta, Theresa Warburton, Gregory Younging, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Billy-Ray Belcourt, Sandra Styres, Alicia Elliott, Lou Maraj, and Matthew Salesses—as well as drawing on decades of creative writing teacher experience, this paper seeks to offer practical advice to the non-Indigenous classroom teacher. Humility, contextualization, research, questioning dominant craft paradigms, close attention to biases in language, and learning to embrace Indigenous ways of knowing—for instance, relationships to land, circularity, relationality, and accountability—are the tools a settler instructor needs to approach the teaching of Indigenous literature in an informed, humble, thoughtful way.
Presenters
Annabel LyonProfessor and Director, School of Creative Writing / Faculty of Arts, The University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Canada
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Literature, Creative Writing Craft, Identity and Difference, Decolonization, Indigeneity, Settler
