The creative writing curriculum has historically focussed on discipline-specific skills, developing students’ proficiency in literary forms, craft and techniques. However, contemporary writers are increasingly expected to participate in the economy of ideas through festival appearances, debates, and other forms of public speaking–skills that the creative writing curriculum has yet to fully contend with. We argue for the value of teaching debate as a distinct topic of inquiry for creative writing students, and hold that pedagogical innovation is required to address the changing nature of literary cultures and their increasing orientation towards performativity. This article establishes a new pedagogical model designed to introduce creative writing students to the study and practice of debate, comprising four key stages: modelling, scaffolding, debating and reflection. This learning progression not only fosters students’ oral argumentation skills, but also prompts critical reflection on the way key ideas in their field connect with their creative works. We contend that introducing debate into the creative writing curriculum addresses broader shifts in the writing and publishing industry, and that oral argumentation and debate should be considered key graduate competencies for creative writing students in the twenty-first century.