Words We Call Home: Celebrating Creative Writing at UBC

Don Precosky teaches English at the College of New Caledonia in Prince
George.

Words We Call Home is an anthology commemorating more than 25 years of
Creative Writing instruction at the University of British Columbia. The
collection is rightfully dedicated to Earle Birney, the man who started
the department.

This large collection is edited by Linda Svendsen (who has also
contributed a preface) and contains a lively, panoramic introduction to
and history of the department by George McWhirter. There is, perhaps, a
bit too much medal-counting in the latter’s piece.

To my mind, the book, in addition to providing a lot of good writing,
reveals two things. First, there is no ubc style or school. As McWhirter
points out, there have been groups within the larger departmental
unit—the Tish bunch being the most famous—but there is no ubc style
identifiable in the way one might identify an Iowa style. Second, a
subtext emerges from the autobiographical material provided by the
writers: you can enjoy a pretty good (dare I say privileged?) lifestyle
with a degree in Creative Writing. It is far from being a quixotic
pursuit and not entirely the “wildcat” way of life McWhirter alludes
to in his introduction.

Congratulations to ubc and its Creative Writing Department. May they
enjoy another 25 years of success.