This writing course, Online: Writing Trauma with Meera Atkinson, takes place online.

The prospect of writing trauma can be both daunting and compelling. Award-winning author Meera Atkinson invites those writing or looking to write trauma in any genre to explore this terrain over two weeks.

Participants will learn to write ‘literary trauma testimony’ – writing that uses creative strategies to testify to traumatic experience. It features close readings of selected texts and explores the ethics and potential dangers of writing trauma.

We will also complete writing exercises with the aim of producing a piece of literary writing that illuminates individual, collective, and/or transgenerational trauma in some way, and have the opportunity to give and receive peer feedback.

Expected Learning Outcomes

In this workshop, participants will:

1. Gain a nuanced understanding of trauma and its operations in literary writing
2. Gain increased clarity around the challenges and responsibilities of writing trauma
3. Produce new writing that demonstrates an engagement with traumatic affect.

Participant Requirements

Internet access and confidence using basic computer software are essential for this program.

Is this course right for you? Please read our FAQ> for important information before enrolling. 

If you have questions about this course, please contact us.

NOTE: This course involves substantial engagement with texts that testify to traumatic experiences, and participants are asked to peer review each other’s writing. While participants have the option of opting out of peer review and skipping any set readings they feel may be damaging, it is best suited for people with established support who feel they can cope with exposure to their own and others’ trauma.

Reviews

‘The lectures and writing prompts were excellent!’ — Participant, 2022

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