I don’t want it to look like I don’t support writers developing their own culture or ecosystem. But, all this focus around formal ways of developing writers like writers centres and writing degrees, I do wonder if it is truly necessary.

The great writers in the English language through time, so many of them were not developed in these kind of formal arrangements. They did practice their craft, but they also lived lives and gained valuable perspective to put into their work. It’s not that they didn’t learn from each other either, but informal writers’ collectives have been impactful too – just think of Frankenstein, an iconic book created from what can be described as an “informal writers’ retreat”.

But writing has often been done within the world, not locked up in an institution that is sterile and requires government funding. Do we really need a writer’s centre to keep writing alive? I’m not convinced.