The net effect of the early experiences of writing "compositions" which involved either describing the circumstances of a student's life or recounting the kinds of events encapsulated in that proverbially hack title, "What I Did on My Summer Vacation," has been a tendency for older teachers to devalue nonfiction as an object of serious and sustained literary study. The focus of this paper, however, is not on student-centered writing "per se," nor on the value (educational, therapeutic, or otherwise) of involving students in such writing. Rather, the paper wishes to make a case, based on current cultural directions and on historical precedent, for "creative nonfiction" (which has become a favored term embracing the personal essay mode) having a place alongside the more established"literary" forms--novels, poems, plays--within the English curriculum. At the same time, it wishes to suggest that the inclusion of creative nonfiction as a site of literary study can revitalize the discipline itself by expanding understanding of that elusive category "Literature," and thus opening up further possibilities for work within that field. According to the paper, creative nonfiction has become a major growth area in late 20th/early 21st century writing, as witnessed by the proliferation of outlets in print and online for informed personal opinion pieces. It traces the genre's pedigree and considers what some scholars have written about the genre. It also discusses the work of several early writers of creative nonfiction, including Leigh Hunt and E.B. White. (Contains 13 notes and 24 references.) (NKA)