Fowles Center History & Mission

Encouraged by John Fowles and supported by the Wilkinson College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Department of English and Comparative Literature, the John Fowles Center for Creative Writing promotes and advances the discipline of creative writing in all its aspects: fiction, poetry, drama, creative non-fiction and film. The Center enables students and non-students alike to gain a greater appreciation for the "written word"; they see and hear writers explore subjects such as  modern romance and human rights abuses and how those writers shape these and many other subjects into works of literature. Each year a diverse and distinguished group of national and international writers is invited to Chapman University, making access to those writers available not only to the Chapman community, but to the Orange County and, by extension, the Southern California community as well. The Fowles Center for Creative Writing is directed by Dr. Mark Axelrod, professor of comparative literature and former chair of Chapman's English Department.

History

While on a sabbatical in 1996 at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK, I met a professor there who had established the Arthur Miller Centre for American Studies.  One of the distinguishing features about the center was that it invited writers to UEA to speak who happened to be in the UK. I thought that was a marvelous idea for students. Coincidentally, UEA was looking for other institutions that might have an interest in being part of a consortium to run John Fowles estate as a writers’ retreat after he died. I had known Fowles a decade earlier through some correspondence we had and the person in charge of the consortium asked me if I might like to meet with Fowles to discuss the possibility of Chapman being one of those institutions. Of course, I agreed.  

I traveled to Fowles’ estate in Lyme Regis where we discussed future plans for his home and during our conversations I asked him if he would be willing to allow me to attach his name to a center at Chapman that was similar to the one at UEA.  He said, “If it would be helpful to promote creative writing for students, then by all means.”  That was the birth of the John Fowles Center for Creative Writing.  During its twelve-year history, the JFC has invited some of the most distinguished writers in the world including Salman Rushdie, Luisa Valenzuela, Lawerence Ferlinghetti, John Ashbery, Gioconda Belli, Alicia Partnoy, Alicia Kozameh, Hiber Conteris, Raymond Federman, Steve Katz, Ronald Sukenick, Raúl Zurita, Elizabeth George, David Matlin, Laurie Stone, Charles Bernstein, Larry McCaffery, Willis Barnstone, Dacia Maraini, Francesca Duranti, Giuseppe Conte and many more.  Not only has it become a Chapman University institution, but it has gained regional, national and international notoriety and has become a draw for students and community alike.

Mission

Encouraged by the late John Fowles and supported by the Wilkinson College of Humanities & Social Sciences and the Department of English at Chapman University, the John Fowles Center for Creative Writing promotes and advances the discipline of creative writing in all its aspects: fiction, poetry, drama, creative non-fiction and cinema. The Center enables students and non-students alike to gain a greater appreciation of the "written word"; they see and hear writers explore subjects such as modern romance and human rights abuses, and how those writers shape these and many other subjects into works of literature. Each year a diverse and distinguished group of national and international writers will be invited to Chapman University, making access to those writers available not only to the Chapman community, but to the Orange County and, by extension, the Southern California community. The John Fowles Center is directed by Dr. Mark Axelrod.