Abstract

As Rosi Braidotti says, writing is ‘a visceral gesture’ and ‘a mode of inscription into life.’ Traditional modes of academic writing and publishing tend to homogenise voices and this especially affects voices minoritised by race, class, neurodiversity, sexuality, disability and so on. In my research and my writing workshops, I encourage researchers and practitioners to use creative writing techniques to practice and develop a writing voice, to bring self and affect into academic writing, and to tell stories that help reclaim their voice. I’ve run these workshops in and around the UK and globally. In this lightening talk, I explore and explain my process, with an eye to underlying theories of writing and decoloniality. This work challenges norms of who gets to write and what they get to write about.

Session and activities

Participants have the chance to understand my research and practice into disrupting traditional norms and modes of academic writing. They can engage with the questions and discussion, think about how traditional modes of writing may homogenise voices, and creatively explore how more experimental forms of writing may allow academics and practitioners to reclaim their writing voice, make writing more accessible and make the process more enjoyable. They can further get in touch with me to organise writing workshops for their teams and students, as part of a decolonial lens and/or as a way of helping students bring themselves more firmly into their work.