Women, Writing, & Place
Use your writing to explore personal identity and the intersections that shape us.
* This course will take place on the video-conferencing platform ZOOM *
Join writer and poet Abbi Parcell, for an immersive course that explores the intricate connections between women, writing, and place. Drawing from her extensive work in auto-fiction and testimony, Abbi will guide participants through the exploration of personal identity and the intersections that shape it.
Participants will engage with various forms of writing to reflect on how internal processes intersect with external perceptions, creating a rich tapestry of lived experiences.
Through a combination of writing exercises, and group discussions, we will: explore the role of place in shaping personal and collective identities; examine how auto-fiction can serve as a powerful tool in exploring identity and self-expression; connect with a community of writers to share and develop your own stories.
Along the way we’ll engage with the work of authors including Virginia Woolf, Toni Morrison, Jeanette Winterson, Zadie Smith, Alice Walker, Margaret Atwood, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Whether you are an experienced writer or just beginning your journey, this course offers a supportive and inspiring environment to deepen your understanding of the intersections between identity, writing, and place.
2 x half-day sessions, running 10.30am–1pm (GMT), on 1 & 15 Mar 2025. This course will take place on the video-conferencing platform ZOOM.
To apply for a concession rate, please send relevant documentation showing your eligibility for one of our concessions to [email protected]. Conditions of eligibility are detailed here. More information about how our Video Courses work can be found on the Video Courses page. If you have any questions or wish to be added to the waiting list of a sold-out course, please email [email protected].
Image credit: @avinezzati
About Abbi Parcell 
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Abbi Parcell (BA MA PGCE) is a butch writer and poet based in Manchester. She explores testimony of lived experience through auto-fictional practice. Her work explores intersections that shape personal identity, considering how internal processes intersect with external perceptions. Abbi focuses on the importance of establishing lesbian histories, connections, and how radical it has always been for lesbians to simply exist.
She is currently a Writer-in-Residence at the Portico Library and is completing her PhD in Auto-fiction as Testimony at The University of Salford. Abbi has also worked with The Manchester Poetry Library, The International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Manchester City of Literature, LIRG and The Poetry School London. Her poetry collection Hold Your Metaphors Accountable was released in 2023 and was published by Team Trident Press.
"It is always valuable to share and receive feedback on poems with fellow poets. Their careful reading and responses are precious. Through the Poetry School I have read (and met with in class) a wonderful range of different contemporary poets."
Queer Objects: Sidling Up to the Subconscious
Conditions of Invisibility & Creation of the Self, after Gboyega Odubanjo
Fragmentation: Making & Unmaking Poetry