Can Creative Writing Be Taught?

I was reading an interesting article this morning in the DC Examiner that posed the question: can creative writing be taught?

Can it?  I don’t think so.  Creative writing relies on an active imagination, which is fortunately something almost all of us are born with.  Unfortunately, that imagination isn’t always nurtured and many people lose it by a certain age.

On the other hand, I certainly do believe you can teach someone how to write well.  But learning how to write clearly and in an educated manner is leagues away from being able to spin a story.  Then there’s poetry…

I’m not sure what qualities one must have to write a good poem; I just know I don’t possess those qualities and neither do most people.  You certainly can’t write a good poem just by knowing about rhyme scheme and couplets; it requires something more.  Unfortunately, many otherwise good writers go their entire lives thinking they can write a good poem!

So, what do you think?  Can creative writing be taught?