Women Writing Socially in Academia: A Susan Manning Workshop at IASH
On 21 May 2024, a group of five women and non-binary folx gathered in IASH to explore the question of writing. Building on the success of the recent publication Women Writing Socially in Academia: Dispatches from Writing Rooms, this workshop addressed specifically gendered anxieties about writing for researchers from postgraduate through to professors.
We took a creative approach to these problems: creating a safe space to be vulnerable about our writing anxieties, we shared thoughts and ideas in a Padlet ideas board.
After a coffee break, we embarked upon a practical exercise, making zines and vision boards to express ourselves in a tactile and colourful way.
[Zines created by participants of the workshop]
Lunch was generously provided by IASH, and a writing workshop offered in the afternoon to work on existing projects. We were excited to welcome Professor Rowena Murray, author of multiple publications about writing, such as Writing for Academic Journals, The Handbook of Academic Writing: A Fresh Approach and Writing In Social Spaces: A Social Processes Approach to Academic Writing. Rowena spoke to us about her experience as a writing facilitator, and tactics for writing success, such as partner writing meetings and retreat models.
Participants then partook in a structured afternoon writing retreat, facilitated by Professor Murray.
[Participants hard at (creative!) work]
IASH was the perfect host for this event: thanks to the Susan Manning Workshop Fund, we were able to make full use of the beautiful, collegiate space offered by the Institute, and to take time away from our day-to-day obligations to think about a much-overlooked and undervalued part of the academic process: writing.