‘Texts of Poetics’ and historical fiction: authors’ critical reflections on their work

Richardson, Heather (2012). ‘Texts of Poetics’ and historical fiction: authors’ critical reflections on their work. Writing in Education(56) pp. 34–37.

URL: https://www.nawe.co.uk/DB/wie-editions/articles/te...

Abstract

For the Creative Writing student, critical reflection is a necessary adjunct to their creative work. This can range in style and scope from the analysis of personal process required at undergraduate level to the more traditionally 'academic' critical thesis component of the doctoral submission. However, it is not only students who feel compelled to produce a reflective companion piece to their creative work. Many established novelists have written extensively on the motivation, process and method by which their novels were produced. These texts make fascinating and necessary reading for all students and teachers of Creative Writing.

In this article I will consider two novels, Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose and Kate Grenville's The Secret River, and highlight what can be learnt from the non-fiction companion pieces - what Eco calls the 'texts of poetics' - that accompany them.

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