Writing Queer Autofiction: Writing on Identity and Trauma

21 Nov 2023 5.30-7pm

Overview

Trauma is defined as precisely that which cannot be told and being able to express trauma is a step towards healing on a journey full of triggers.The fictional part of autofiction can help create a safe space in which the reality of trauma might be expressed, so can formal experimentation.

During the session we will read relevant passages from the autofiction book On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong and In The Dream House byCarmen Maria Machado and try to decipher the techniques they employ to express trauma in writing. Then we will use the the piece Why by Bob Flanagan as an example which we might try to emulate in expressing identity, despite the traumatic triggers such expressions might occasion.

This event is part of a series of 5 events which will explore the many different ways of expressing identity and trauma through autofiction, a form of writing that is situated between the autobiographical and the fictional, a genre that has been favoured by queer writers

The sessions are open to all and no previous experience is required.

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