Upcoming Online Events

As writers, we transcribe what haunts us, putting onto paper what may feel ephemeral yet persistent in our memories. However, in transcribing what haunts us, we are not simply passive conduits between an “actuality” of the past and paper. Writing, like the memories which make writing possible, is much more complex than that. This talk focuses on the complexity in writing by dismantling the perceived disparity between critical and creative writing, arguing that such disparity is an over-reductive binary that does a disservice to us as writers and our work. I discuss writing as a liminal space, which is always both critical and creative, opening with an example from my own “critical” book on rhetorical memory theory to demonstrate the creative lines which necessitate the critical argument put forth in the book. This particular excerpt highlights the liminality of memory and ghost narratives: stories which are not necessarily concrete or “real,” but not necessarily unreal either. In doing so, I highlight the ways in which both creative and critical writing enhance, inform, and co-create one another. This talk will also include a Q&A  as well as brief practical writing exercises that encourage an embrace of the synergy between creative and critical.

Dr. Amber Lee is an Assistant Professor in Writing, Literature, and Publishing at Emerson College. Dr. Lee has a background in both creative and critical writing: she earned her MFA in creative writing (fiction) from Emerson College, where she was also the editor of Redivider. She earned her PhD in Rhetoric and Composition from the University of South Carolina, where she also served as the Assistant Director of First-Year Writing and the Honors Program Thesis Advisor. Dr. Lee edited the first-year writing textbook (The Carolina Rhetoric, 2018), and has published numerous articles in rhetoric and composition. Her current research revolves around rhetorical theory and memory, and her book in progress investigates the contours of memory’s protean liquidity and its maddening, intoxicating ability to shape our world. When she isn’t researching, teaching, or writing, she enjoys reading old cookbooks, experimenting, exploring, and laughing with her partner.