Ethics and Creative Writing

Thu., Mar 07

Christine Beck (left), who will receive her M.F.A. in poetry from Southern in May, has been chosen to host a panel on March 7 in Boston at the annual conference of the Association of Writers & Writing Programs. The panel, entitled "Why Creative Writing Programs Should Teach Ethics," will include two poet/professors and a professor of ethics in a debate of an issue that confronts every creative writer: When it is it ethical to appropriate the identity or life story of a third party in your writing?

Beck, a lawyer and former professor of law, says that the standard disclosures used by writers, such as "based on a true story," "inspired by true events," or "all characters are products of the author's imagination and do not represent any actual persons," may be sufficient to avoid a lawsuit, but they do not solve the ethical question of "using another as a means," in the words of the ethicist, Emanuel Kant. And, adds Beck, the disclaimer may not even avoid a legal challenge.

The panelists include Professor James Hoch, who wrote a series of poems called "Bobby Almand," about the rape and murder of a boy in his hometown, and Natasha Saje, also a professor/poet, who has said she has a "stack of poems" that make her uncomfortable because they refer to real people or events in ways she finds morally objectionable.  Professor Micah Lott, of Boston College, will be asked the hard question: What ethical "test" should apply to writers who "use" another person for purposes of creating art?

The panel promises to be controversial.  Beck says she is gratified that AWP chose this topic of the hundreds of panel proposals and hopes it inspires a broad debate and encourages a dialogue between creative writing departments and other university disciplines, such as philosophy and ethics.

Further information about the conference is available at www.awpwriter.org.