Come and Write Mothers With Me

We spent a fascinating hour together on Monday night discussing writing both motherhood and daughterhood. I’m so grateful to those who came and read and shared so generously.

To those who are free subscribers, but signed up to the workshop, I’ll be sending out a link to the recording later today. For paid subscribers, you will find the recording beneath the paywall at the bottom of this page.

I think what really came across to me, both from the readings and extracts we looked at, and the thoughts that were shared by those who joined, is just what a complex relationship we have with our mothers, yet how much we want to pin that relationship down in words, to understand it, to heal from it, to celebrate it, honour it.

Often those things are not mutually exclusive, and one thing that we looked at in the workshop was leaning into those contradictions, and how they can elevate and add texture to our work.

In this short introduction to the longer course, we looked at the work of several writers: Maya Angelou, Hala Alyan, Jazmina Barrera, and Rachel Yoder. I also wanted to help you think outside of the box when it comes to writing mother/daughter narratives, whether that is via fiction or memoir, and how using imagination, metaphor, oral histories or archival material and objects can all enhance your work.

This was a little taster of the longer course that I will be running in the autumn, and I’m delighted to let you know that I’m opening places to sign up to that today.

Over four weeks in September, we will meet online once a week, to discuss and work together on all things motherhood/daughterhood.

Over that time we will be looking at different aspects of writing mothers, including:

• Writing from the body, exploring our own experience of writing from our changing and transforming bodies, but also looking at writing from the body that carried and delivered us into the world. How do we use this very sensory way of writing to explore our mother/daughter relationships? We will explore exercises that help us unlock these practices and work towards producing longer pieces of work.

• We will look at the ethics of writing about our mothers, of what is holding us back and what we would write if we granted ourselves permission. We will explore if there are ways of writing that protect identities whilst still being true to the story we want to tell.

• We will look at transformation in motherhood narratives, how we can use magical realism in our own stories, either as a form of autofiction, or as metaphor or container for some of these strong emotions.

• We will take a closer look at how contradictions in narratives can elevate our prose and how the fallibility of memory is something that we do not need to fear and how it can actually build trust between writer and reader. We will also look at imagined narratives, and how this play can enhance our work.

• We will look at what archival material is available to us, how it can enhance our narratives and where we can seek archival material even when we feel there isn’t much in our possession. We will look at how pictures/photographs/objects and other text can be in conversation with our words.

Each week you will receive reading material that we will discuss in more detail in our workshops, and we will write exercises together, as well as set extensions of these for you to continue writing at home in the week that follows. We will also have a group word count document, to encourage us all to make progress during our month together.

Over the course of the four weeks you will:

• Develop of body of work to compliment your current project, or start you off on a new one

• Gain knowledge of the techniques used by other writers when writing about their mothers and learn how to put them into practice

• Grow your confidence in writing your own motherhood/daughterhood narratives

• Do all this within a supportive community of like-minded individuals

I know that it will be an incredibly supportive and intimate community of women who are all working towards the same goal, and I will be there not only to meet with you once a week, but to offer support daily in our Slack group. We will encourage each other, make progress on our words together, and I know there will be fascinating weekly discussions, just like the one on Monday.

The four-week course starting on September 9 IS NOW SOLD OUT.

I want to keep this course small and intimate and so I have capped the numbers of participants, and so a second class will run from October 4 on Sunday nights, 7.30pm BST, and each class will be 90 minutes long. But if you are not available to join the live class or it does not work for your particular time-zone, you will receive a recording link to download the next day. But I do encourage you to join live if at all possible as it will be a fascinating discussion.

The cost for the four weeks we will spend together is £225. You can secure your place and sign up today at this price by clicking this button below1:

Writing Mothers (full payment) £225

I’m really excited to run this course and I know, as always, it will be packed with thoughtful, intelligent women who will provide a supportive environment. I am really looking forward to getting to know you and your stories better through this work we will do together.

I know many of you have already expressed an interest in joining, so do sign up asap to secure your place. And if you’re still in two minds, do have a watch of the taster session and see if it whets your appetite for more similar discussions.

I’d love to have you there.

And now here comes the paywall, you will find the recording from Monday’s session below it.

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