Programme

Since the launch of the DeathWrites Network, the organisers have been working to offer a variety of different events and opportunities for Network writers.  

In April 2022, the first of two DeathWrites ‘Expanding and Deepening the Field’ Symposia took place, entitled “Objects as Catalysts to Recording and Gathering”. This first symposium ran as a hybrid all-day event, and included a fascinating keynote talk from visual artist and writer Sam Clark, as well as three short workshops on the critical response process; the objective correlative; and the aims and goals of Network members across the next two years.  


The team have also hosted a series of collaborative skill-building writing workshops designed to offer our Network writers new perspectives on their chosen projects. In June, Dr Sherezade Garcia Rangel gave the workshop “Making a Deathly Literary Podcast”, drawing on her experience running her fascinating podcast On The Hill. Carrie Foulkes then gave a workshop on “Collisions and Collages” exploring montage, narrative and text-image dialogues, and Kris Haddow gave “The Listening Spectrum” which utilised effective listening skills from therapeutic practice as a creative tool. In August, Sinéad Hargan gave a workshop on “Writing Into Outdoor Spaces” which encouraged our writers to engage with outdoor elements to inform their writing.

In October 2022 the second DeathWrites ‘Expanding and Deepening the Field’ Symposium took place, entitled “Diary as Form and Opportunity”. Building on the foundations of the last six months, our second symposium included keynotes from writer Hannah Lavery and curator Elaine Addington, as well as two collaborative workshops on podcasting, publication and performance. Read more about the event in our End of Life Studies blog post.

In November 2022 we received a workshop on embodied practice with Em Strang.


Poet and Performer Hannah Lavery giving her keynote     
 2022 Network Symposium, Glasgow Women’s Library



The Network programme continued until spring 2024 with further opportunities for our writers to come together and to engage critically and creatively with DeathWrites themes via our programme of events.

         
We ran regular digital Writing Spaces, which offered Network members a focused online space to write, and Work-in-Progress feedback groups where members could share work with one another.  

Our final event was a Transmission Symposium in Glasgow on June 7th 2024, the DeathWrites Collective Living Archives. This was a celebratory event, open to the public, stakeholder organisations and Network members, and showcased work produced during the project. Network members were invited to give readings, performances and exhibit their work. We also launched the DeathWrites newspaper, a collection of writing by Network members.

The final symposium will also act as a catalyst for seeding and networking further projects.