Switchboard’s Grief Meets project and New Writing South are teaming up for a series of online creative writing workshops for LGBTQ people who’ve experienced a bereavement.
Dates: Mondays 12th and 26th October, Mondays 9th and 23rd November 2020
Time: 6.30 – 8.30pm
For more information and to book your free place please visit New Writing South’s website here.
Grief can affect LGBTQ+ communities in many complex ways, as we face a number of additional challenges when it comes to bereavement, in addition to universal experiences of grief, pain and sadness. This can include discrimination, a failure to acknowledge our relationships, estrangement from our families, legal and financial issues, and exclusion from discussions and decisions made by family members and health care professionals.
Grief Meets provides a dedicated, confidential and supportive space for LGBTQ people to explore experiences of grief and loss through writing. Being creative, letting words flow without any judgment or resistance gives us the chance to express ourselves, to navigate through grief and to try to make sense of our experiences. You will be gently guided to put pen to paper to find ways to translate grief into a form that can help you heal, as well as offer comfort to others.
We will use a variety of creative writing exercises and reflective activities to unlock inspiration and provide different perspectives on our experiences. No previous writing experience required. Participants who wish to will have the opportunity to share any writing they produce, but this is not required or expected!
These sessions are free and will be led by the following experienced LGBTQ+ practitioners.
Maria Jastrzębska was born in Poland and came to the UK as a child. She was the co-editor of Queer in Brighton (New Writing South 2014). Her most recent collection is The True Story of Cowboy Hat and Ingénue (Cinnamon Press/Liquorice Fish 2018). The Cedars of Walpole Park, her selected poems were translated and published in Poland (Stoważyszenie Żywych Poetów 2015). She is the writer for Snow Q collaborative project and has taught creative writing to community groups, refugees, LGBTQ projects and the Poetry School.
Dinos Aristidou has written and directed for the stage in the UK and overseas. He was writer-in-residence at Mayflower Theatre, Southampton 2017-18 and has written for the Nuffield, Southampton, Contact in Manchester and two commissions for Forest Forge Theatre Company. He is creative learning director for UCAN Productions, working with blind and partially sighted performers and is working with Birmingham Royal Ballet developing an empowerment programme for young people.
To book please visit New Writing South’s website here.