Chapter 8: Academic Literacy and the Creative Writer: Why Should Anyone Care What Theorists Have to say About Creativity and Literature?

To the uninitiated reader, academic culture is often intimidating, confusing, and alienating. To these readers, it is opaque and useless; to aspiring writers, it is frustrating and unrewarding because their purpose in writing is unclear, and the audience from whom they wish to gain approval is unresponsive. Consequently, few readers or writers who are not already trained and experienced in academic literacy venture to explore and exploit the wealth of insight and inspiration that is available through a cross-disciplinary study of the natural world, human psychology, and our shared social reality. As the range, scope, and depth of our knowledge continues to expand at an unprecedented rate, this inability to access this reservoir of knowledge and inspiration is a great misfortune and unnecessary handicap for one who is interested in individuals and the society as a whole. Learning a little about the nature and purpose of academic writing can expand anyone’s horizons and open great reservoirs of beauty and knowledge as well as empower the writer to address complicated and controversial issues of personal and public interest.