All meetings are Monday at 16:00. Interested participants should sign up ˚.

Like everyone who writes, I struggle with writing. Writing defines what we do as scholars–and it is often quite difficult to do.

In this coming academic year, I’m convening a new group dedicated to the craft and practice of writing. Anyone in the Faculty of Arts–faculty and students at all levels–are invited. Three times per term, we will meet to read a paper dedicated to some aspect of the writing process, to discuss the progress we are making, and to reflect on any issues and challenges that we are experiencing. We will discuss the role that ChatGPT and other generative AI technologies can have in assisting our writing; we will consider writing, EDI, and what it means to occupy the position of “the writer.”

I’m convening this group under the auspices of the Arts E&I Forum. Tied to institutional prestige, writing and the freedom to write define citizenship within our institutions. What are our preconceived notions of what a writer looks like? And how can these notions hold us back as we attempt to occupy this space? As we develop as a group, we’ll reflect on how we as writers can empower others to write. As this group progresses, my goal is to eventually build a network that will lead to some sort of accreditation certificate. But even in this first instance of the group, participants will leave with an inventory of skills and techniques that they will be able to share with others.

In this initial trial of this group, we will meet six times through the academic year, always Mondays at 16:00 in Teams. In summer term, we’ll meet up for a hybrid collective writing event, in which we’ll produce a statement of writing practice and empowerment.

Our first meeting will be Monday, 9 October at 16:00.

Autumn term:

1. First meeting, Monday 9 October, 16:00: goal-setting, planning
   Marcus de Sautoy, “Three Types of Creativity”
2. Second meeting, Monday 30 October, 16:00
   Julia Cameron, “The Basic Tools” (this is the 2020 edition of The Artist's Path, pp. 30-43)
3. Third meeting, Monday 13 November, 16:00
   Jane Alison, “Primary Elements,” from Meander, Spiral, Explode

Winter term:

1. First meeting, week three, Monday 22 January, 16:00
   Joe Moran, “The Ape that Writes Sentences,” from First You Write a Sentence
2. Second meeting, week five, Monday 5 February, 16:00
   Cathy Rentzenbrink, “Introduction” and “Part One: Preparation”
3. Third meeting, week eight, Monday 26 February, 16:00
   Writing with ChatGPT, readings TBD (possibly as yet unwritten)

Summer term:

Wednesday, May 1: Two-hour hybrid collective writing event: recap and our statement of writing practice