Trick or retreat: the value of Creative Writing retreats in H.E.

This paper looks at the writing retreat as a model for Creative Writing H.E. teaching. Initially, the retreat seems to offer a way of encouraging the deep-level learning helpful to students in the development of a writing life. If Creative Writing students benefit from the kind of heutagogical capability development associated with constructivist teaching, then the writing retreat, with its opportunities for independent work and thinking and for quiet time away from the constraints of the usual timetable and the pressures of everyday life, seems to have much to offer. However, considerations of assessment soon call the model to account. How should the writing produced on retreats be assessed? Can assessment requirements ever be managed in a way that doesn’t counteract the freedom of the retreat? This paper draws on staff and student research gained from a Student Academic Partnership project and a level 5 Creative Writing retreat module in an attempt to answer these questions.