We are seeing an increasing awareness of the need to centre of voices of people of colour, disabled, LGBTIAQ+ and many others who have been excluded.

However, the invitations for marginalised folks to speak/write/share can put us at risk as they do not always take into account the micro aggressions and structural inequities which excluded us for generations.

Quite simply, adding more diversity to the status quo isn’t the solution.

But while the structures are unfit and unsafe, we still want to speak and occupy space. In this workshop we explore how to do that in a way that’s effective and safe for each of us.

We’ll reflect on and process the gaslighting, manipulation and abuse of marginalised stories being mined/stolen and shared and how to speak in a way that gets heard without so much hurting.

This FREE workshop is made possible by a Literature Wales and The Royal College of Psychiatrists Wales commission.

We’ll explore questions including: 

– Where is the appetite for our pain? Who is the audience? What’s informed the appetites to date? 

– What’s the cost to us of writing about our pain and trauma?

– How does our story fit into the wider conversations? Where is our value recognised (or not) in the world? 

– How can we centre our joy when we’re only asked about our pain?

– How can we write both pain and joy in a trauma-informed way?

– Equipping for editing: how to handle cuts to our personal history.

This class is in British Summer Time zone. Tuesday 28th July, 10am to 1pm via Zoom.

N.B: There will be a recording provided after the workshop, and a transcript. Just sign up to get the recording.

If you have questions but can’t attend or want to share them in advance, you can submit them via a comment below this post and I will try to answer them in the Q and A.

This workshop is exclusively for marginalised writers. Sign up here.

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About your teacher

I’m a writer and psychotherapeutic counsellor. I write creative non-fiction, focussing on the experiences of connecting with self and others when living with life challenges. 

My writing is found at the intersection between systemic dynamics in relationship, social justice, marginalised identities and the creative arts. 

I have explored and developed my work with the thousands of disabled and marginalised peoples I have been privileged to learn, teach, coach and work with.

My work has been featured in The Guardian, The Metro, The Institute of Welsh Affairs, Literature Wales and The Unexpected Shape.