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In this workshop, Kim Kelly and Michelle Hamadache will share their stories of writing about and with illness and disability with practical writing advice.
Participants will also be encouraged to experiment with how they might express themselves, and how to give themselves permission to write their truths in the ways that suits them best, be that through life-writing, fiction or poetry – to say the things we can’t say or the things that aren’t heard within doctors’ offices or even among friends.
Living with illness or disability, or caring for a loved one living with health challenges, can be isolating. We’re given lots of medical advice and helpful and not-so-helpful opinions on how to get through, but at the end of the day we’re alone with our thoughts and experiences.
We’re often told of the therapeutic benefits of creativity and sharing our stories, but how do we go about accessing the creative part of ourselves?
There’s also often a little voice in our heads saying, ‘Why bother?’ or ‘I don’t have anything important to say’. But everyone has something important to say about their unique experience of life.
Tea and coffee provided.
About the writers
Dr Michelle Hamadache teaches Creative Writing at Macquarie University and is editor of the magazine Mascara Literary Review. Her story on her father's dementia appears in the anthology Writing Illness and Disability: Poised on the Pointe of Pain: Nureyev’s Foot and Other Essays.
Kim Kelly is the author of several novels. She is also currently in the midst of Creative Writing PhD research at Macquarie University. Her essay on kidney donation appears in the anthology Writing Illness and Disability: Poised on the Pointe of Pain: Nureyev’s Foot and Other Essays. She lives in Millthorpe.
You may also like the following events from Bathurst Library:
- This Saturday, 15th November, 05:00 am, How To: Writing, Editing and Publishing Workshop in Bathurst
- Next Friday, 21st November, 08:00 am, In Conversation - Professor Toby Walsh in Bathurst
- Next Saturday, 22nd November, 05:00 am, 2025 Local Writers' Showcase in Bathurst
Also check out other
Arts events in Bathurst,
Literary Art events in Bathurst,
Workshops in Bathurst.
