The Reflexive Muse: Online Creative Writing Development in Africa and the UK Academy

In this article I will discuss a major literature development project in Africa mediated through e-learning systems, delineating working practises in Creative Writing education developed in open learning environments and their integration into an academic environment at Lancaster University . I will trace the evolution of 'distance' learning into the concept of 'online' or 'e-learning' and define those changes in terms of new environments and opportunities for learning. The article will discuss the Crossing Borders African writing project, the use of virtual space in e-learning, the aesthetics of pedagogic systems in relation to Creative Writing, the value of cultural exchange inherent in an international programme, the concept of 'action research' applied to creative and educational process and the way that reflexive practice itself creates harmonising nodes on a 'semiotic web'.