Writing from the Roof of the World
摘要
This chapter explores the development and teaching of Creative Writing at the University of Central Asia (UCA), focusing on its integration into a multilingual and culturally diverse context. Founded by the Aga Khan Development Network, UCA serves remote communities in Central Asia, where indigenous languages like Kyrgyz, Kazakh, and Tajik are central to national identity but face challenges in the post-Soviet era. English, as the language of instruction, poses additional challenges, as many students are multilingual, with varying degrees of proficiency in the language. This chapter reflects on the impact of these linguistic dynamics in the creative writing classroom, where students from diverse linguistic backgrounds engage in self-expression through written and digital storytelling. The author, a journalist and documentary maker, details their pedagogical approach, emphasising process-based writing, peer review, and the decolonisation of creative writing by incorporating multilingual literature from Central Asia. Through examples like interdisciplinary film projects and podcasting, the chapter demonstrates how creative writing techniques are adapted for digital platforms and cross-cultural expression. It also addresses the challenges of teaching creative writing to multilingual students, where language proficiency intersects with cultural and personal expression, offering new avenues for creative discovery and cultural reflection in post-Soviet Central Asia.