EVENTS
FEMINIST WRITING SCHOOL ON THE ROAD – Online events
TUESDAY 19TH JANUARY (7PM UK TIME) – HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF FEEDBACK FOR JERICHO WRITERS
SATURDAY 23RD JANUARY (6PM UK TIME) – SMASHING SELF-DOUBT FOR WOMX WRITERS FOR WOMEN OF BRIXTON (low cost event with three free places!)
SATURDAY 27TH FEBRUARY – SMASHING SELF-DOUBT FOR WOMXN WRITERS FOR THE FEMINIST LIBRARY (event details to be announced)
I believe womxn writers (including our trans sisters) are gifted beyond measure and that the world needs stories from diverse backgrounds more than ever now to offer hope, inspiration, insight and leadership.
Womxn fill workshops and literary readings and seek editorial support for their work way more than men and yet their male counterparts still get published more, are more frequently reviewed and win the biggest prizes. Men can’t even write about women without lessening their chance of garnering a huge award!
There’s proven gender bias in the literary world then, but, more than that, womxn writers are hobbled by the burdens of work, domestic chores and childcare in the way men aren’t, doing way more emotional labour in relationships too so they have little time and energy left to create. (And let’s not get started on the time spent on beauty regimes which men aren’t said to need!)
Patriarchy also does a number on us by making us doubt our abilities, telling us we need to be perfect in a way which makes us procrastinate and even give up on our creative dreams – dreams patriarchy also says are wrong for womxn to even have as we shouldn’t be ambitious, but must simply just sit quiet and be good girls.
Writing and using our voices then runs counter to our cultural conditioning as womxn, so it’s no wonder we struggle to express our gifts.
There’s a tension then between the infinite talents and artistic aspirations of many womxn writers and the way internalised patriarchy and external misogyny work to undermine our literary careers from both inside and out.
This is the clusterfuck of being a woman writer in a man’s world and, right now, with lockdown, things are even more complex.
And I want to support women to untangle themselves from this toxic mess and become the writers they were born to be.
MY CLASSES GIVE YOU THE PRACTICAL TOOLS, INSIGHTS AND SUPPORT TO SHOW YOU HOW.
HERE’S WHAT I WANT YOU TO KNOW:
YOU CAN WRITE WITHOUT EXHAUSTION, SELF-DOUBT AND OTHER PATRIARCHAL HEADFUCKERY GETTING IN YOUR WAY.
YOU CAN CREATE A WRITING LIFE YOU LOVE, NO MATTER WHAT STAGE OF YOUR LITERARY CAREER YOU ARE AT OR HOW CRAY-CRAY YOUR CURRENT LIFE CIRCUMSTANCES (INCLUDING LOCKDOWN!).
CONTACT ME IF YOU’D LIKE ME TO TEACH, SPEAK OR READ AT YOUR WRITING OR BOOK GROUP OR LITERARY OR WOMEN’S ORGANISATION.
I’M DR SHARON ZINK, A FEMINIST WRITING COACH FOR WOMEN WITH BIG THINGS TO SAY.
I’M A FORMER ENGLISH LIT ACADEMIC WITH A LOT OF TEACHING EXPERIENCE IN UNIVERSITIES, AS WELL AS PRIVATE WRITING GROUPS, POSSESSING A POSTGRAD IN EDUCATION AND MARTHA BECK COACH TRAINING, SO I CANNOT WAIT TO GET BACK IN THE (ONLINE) CLASSROOM!
MY FIRST NOVEL, WELCOME TO SHARONVILLE, WAS LONGLISTED FOR THE GUARDIAN FIRST BOOK AWARD AND I’VE BEEN YOUNG POET OF THE YEAR AND WRITER OF THE YEAR FOR MY SHORT FICTION AS WELL, SO I KNOW FIRST-HAND BOTH THE JOY AND HARD WORK INVOLVED IN CREATING A WRITING CAREER AS A WOMAN LIVING UNDER PATRIARCHY.
I’M ON A MISSION TO GET MORE WOMEN’S BOOKS WRITTEN, PUBLISHED AND OUT THERE CHANGING THE WORLD.
I HOPE YOU WILL JOIN ME. YOU CAN READ MORE ABOUT ME HERE.
WHAT YOU WILL GET FOR JOINING THE FEMINIST WRITING SCHOOL:
ONE INTERACTIVE LIVE TWO HOUR CLASS A MONTH:
YOU’LL GET TIPS AND ADVICE SO YOU’LL KNOW HOW TO MAKE EMPOWERING CHANGES IN YOUR WRITING LIFE AND FINALLY GET THAT BOOK DONE, BUT YOU’LL ALSO GET THE CHANCE TO ASK ME QUESTIONS RELATED TO YOUR WRITING LIFE AND SEEK THE SUPPORT AND INSIGHTS OF THE YOUR FELLOW WRITERS WHO GET WHERE YOU’RE COMING FROM.
FLEXIBLE ONLINE SESSIONS:
THE RECORDED WEEKLY WORKSHOPS SENT OUT VIA EMAIL MEANS YOU CAN JOIN US FROM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD AT A TIME WHICH SUITS YOU.
THESE WORKSHOPS WILL RUN IN A PRIVATE FACEBOOK GROUP SO YOU CAN FEEL PART OF A COMMUNITY OF OTHER WOMEN WRITERS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD WHO UNDERSTAND YOUR FEARS AND SITUATIONS AND ARE HERE TO LIFT YOU UP AND KEEP YOU GOING.
WORKSHEETS TO TAKE AWAY:
WE’LL BE DOING FUN EXERCISES IN THE LIVE AND RECORDED CLASSES TO BUST THROUGH PRACTICAL AND PATRIARCHAL HEADFUCKS AND GET YOUR CREATIVE JUICES FLOWING AND I’LL SHARE A WORKSHEET FROM EACH SESSION FOR YOU TO KEEP AND USE BY YOURSELF ON DAYS WHEN THINGS ARE TOUGH AND YOU NEED TO CLEAR YOUR HEAD AND GET AN OUTSIDE BOOST TO REMEMBER YOU GOT THIS.
THESE WORKSHOPS ARE HERE TO SUPPORT WOMEN WRITERS ACROSS ALL WRITING FORMS. I WORK WITH POETS, MEMOIRIST, PLAYWRIGHTS, NOVELISTS, NON-FICTION, SO ALL WRITERS ALL WELCOME, FROM BEGINNERS TO PUBLISHED AUTHORS!
FEMINIST WRITING SCHOOL – SUMMER 2020
STARTS JUNE 8th – MODULE ONE: SMASHING SELF-DOUBT AS A WOMXN WRITER
STARTS JULY 6th – MODULE TWO: WOMXN’S TIME: HOW TO STAY CREATIVE AND NOT EXHAUST YOURSELF UNDER PATRIARCHY
STARTS AUGUST 3rd- MODULE THREE: PLAYING BIG AS A WOMAN WRITER – AMBITION, VISIBILITY AND CLAIMING OUR PLACE IN THE LITERARY WORLD