This paper reports on a pilot course responding to facilitating academic writing for an academic writing program implemented at a provincial key university in China. Taken from an activity theoretical perspective, it discusses the practical experience collected during a pilot process of designing, implementing, and assessing a genre-based approach to facilitating graduate students' academic writing and assessing their academic writing competence. It argues that it is essential to take varied student interests into account in the structuring, delivery, and assessment to ensure academic success and that EAP programs are fruitful places for nurturing academic writing.