Banking on creativity?

Creativity is now everywhere: it is present in schools and universities, in governing bodies, social institutions, and in cities where it flourishes at work and on play-grounds alike. In the current socio-political climate, creativity is trivialised, commodified and commercialised. Though creativity remains a deeply vexed concept that conjures up issues of creation, knowledge, power, responsibility, and even life-style, it is now essentially valued for its prospective economic return. What does this mean for writers and for both creative writing students and teachers working in the corporate University? In particular, if creativity is a form of knowledge and mode of knowing inherent in practice-led research, should one bank on it? This paper tackles the topic of creativity in seeking to identify some of the pedagogical and ethical uncertainties that arise in the discipline of writing when artistic, economic, and political agendas compete with each other.