Participants in face to face courses must comply with any precautionary measures related to COVID-19 that Writing NSW puts in place.

As writers, we must consider questions of freedom of speech and expression as being inextricably linked to questions of responsibility, positionality and context. These are ethical questions but they are also questions of craft, skill and imaginative labour. In order to tell the stories of our time, we often feel the need to create characters or narratives outside of our own lived experiences, whether this difference is related to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, class, disability, linguistic background, religious background, the rural-urban divide or any other category of identity.

Is this course right for you? Read our FAQ >

This course with Roanna Gonsalves aims to think through the fraught questions of cultural appropriation, ethical writing and freedom of speech and expression, using the tools that literature provides. Through a combination of discussion and practical research and writing exercises, participants will work intensively through the day to better understand the role of the writer in the contemporary world.

This workshop takes place at Writing NSW in Sydney.

Expected learning outcomes

Participants will learn

1. To identify key considerations when researching and writing stories outside of one’s own lived experience.
2. To understand the relationship between the writer’s position in the world, their creative work and their social and cultural contexts.
3. To follow established protocols when conducting research.
4. To avoid cliches and stereotypes by designing characters and stories in an ethical way.

Participant requirements

Pen and paper, laptop optional. Please read our FAQ before enrolling.

If you have questions about this course and/or COVID-safe guidelines, please contact us.

More from Writing NSW

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