What is experimental non-fiction and how do you write it? Join Anwen Crawford to explore experiments in non-fiction.

One definition of the word experiment is “a course of action tentatively adopted without being sure of the outcome”. In this two-part workshop Anwen will guide participants to approach non-fiction in a spirit of (productive) uncertainty. You will explore how non-fiction might be fugitive, doubting, playful and compounded with other genres, and experiment with the form and functions of non-fiction.

Participants will:

• Be introduced to techniques for writing experimental non-fiction
• Participate in writing exercises and prompts designed to refresh your writing practice
• Read and discuss examples of experimental and/or cross-genre non-fiction
• Think about the function and purpose of factual material in experimental contexts.

This workshop is suitable for non-fiction writers, including essayists and memoirists, ready to extend their practice, and/or writers in other genres with an interest in hybrid forms.

This workshop will be delivered over two sessions: Sunday August 28 and Sunday September 4 (1pm - 4pm both sessions).

—Online events are easy to access! You will need an internet connection and (ideally) a device with a camera – computers/laptops or even phones can be used to dial in. You will be sent a link to join a few days before the event. The link will take you to a private digital meeting where you can join the session. You can test the link at any time to ensure you can log in. Please respect the other participants in your event and mute your microphone at all times while the presenter is presenting. Background noise in houses such as TVs, pets and children can affect the sound quality.

About Anwen Crawford

Anwen Crawford is an Australian writer and critic. She is the author of No Document and Live Through This. Her essays and criticism have appeared in publications including The New Yorker, The White Review and Sydney Review of Books. In 2021 she won the Pascall Prize for Arts Criticism for her writing on popular music in The Monthly, and in 2022 her book No Document was shortlisted for the Stella Prize. She is a long-time zine maker and collaborative visual artist, a graduate of Sydney College of the Arts, where she studied photography, and of the School of the Arts, Columbia University, where she completed a Master of Fine Arts in poetry as the recipient of the John Crampton Travelling Scholarship. She lives in Sydney.

1pm to 4pm, August 28 & September 4.

Members $130 / Non-members $205

This workshop will be delivered via Zoom. Instructions will be emailed to you, please check your spam/junk folders.

—Writers SA members must be logged in to receive the member discount. If you are a member of another state based writers centre, please contact [email protected] at least five working days before the event to get a code for the member price. Our staff don’t work full time and we don’t want you to miss out!