Anthologizing Craft-Criticism

 "Craft-criticism," a term that has been used by Tim Mayers and others, has been defined as a creative-analytical practice in which writers and artists challenge the inherited "lore" of creative writing: the prevailing ideas, or common assumptions about literary production. Craft-criticism is writing by writers and for writers about the literary craft. It is an opportunity to interrogate cultural, historical, and institutional influences. Focusing on the debates and complexities that affect how writers think about the texts they produce, some of the topics discussed in craft-criticism include issues of appropriation, erasure, representation, readerships, and the relationship between art and activism. 

​The book Critical Creative Writing collects 25 examples of craft-criticism in a single, accessible anthology.