"Love and Interest": The Professional Writer in the 21st Century

In a moment where humanities departments are ransacked, and governments openly espouse their prioritisation of STEM subjects and the rights of AI companies, the lure of the life of the writer seems somehow to endure. This is illustrated most obviously in the proliferation of creative writing courses, both within and without the institution. These courses, regardless of their form, all engage in some way or another with issues of professionalising, with learning not only how to write, but also how to be a writer, particularly as universities are encouraged to make their courses linked with or formed by ‘industry.’ However, these notions of professionalism (and inversely amateurism) are complicated by the ways that popular and best-selling writers discuss the profession itself. Using case studies of Zadie Smith and Sally Rooney, I want to think about how both writers harness ideas of ‘love’ as part of their public writerly identity, and thereby help shape public perception of what it means to be a writer in the 21st century.

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Host or Publisher The University of Westminster