In this essay, the author argues that the current superficial reading practices in creative writing programs are serving not only to marginalize the discipline from the larger body of English studies, but also to stifle the creative, intellectual, and professional progress of its students. Reading for creative writers must be viewed as a critical practice, one informed and complicated by context, history, and theory, in part so that they can actively participate in the intellectual community of English studies. (Contains 7 notes.)