Freed Screed revisited

The only online forum I can find tackling the Freed Screed is the one at the Chronicle of Higher Education's website, where someone posts a response, which I quote in part:

Freed's essay is troubling in several ways. For one thing, she insults her students, who, if they were to read her article, might feel violated -- justifiably so, since she makes her living supposedly teaching them with respect and not the condescension or resentment over some of their being unable to "get" what she tries to convey. For another thing, its having appeared in a mainstream magazine that contains a lot of good work and progressive vision is unfortunate, in that it sullies the articles that appear with it. making the magazine slightly less trustworthy. But then, her embarrassing revelation of her unhappiness, in a lovely writing environment, lucky to be assigned the piece and to have a creative writing teaching job -- well, if only she could voice more gratitude and simple humanity.

Blogger Frances Dinkelspiel has another view:

The worst part about the Harper's article is the title.* It makes it seem like Freed hates teaching because she hates the students. In fact, Freed dislikes the classroom because of the time it takes away from her own writing. She gets so absorbed in teaching she has little room for creativity. The article is a sad confession of her own limitations.

* "Doing Time: My Years in the Creative-Writing Gulag"

And I can't remember if I posted this before, but Galley Cat has a run-down of other reactions, including the most over the top, as well as the parody in the form of a blog, which Galley Cat editor Nathalie Chicha calls "the best blog I've read in weeks."

Lynn Freed, creative writing, creative writing gulag, Freed Screed