About the course
Work takes up much of the space in our lives, but often doesn’t take up as much space in our writing. Not only do many of us labour for pay, but capitalistic ideas of work seep out and affect our lives more broadly: care work, emotional labour and the various transactions that lace through our relationships with others. We’ll think and write through the way work impacts our selves, relationships and communities.
These workshops will explore the challenges of writing about work: its particular language, its emotional affects and its political implications. This is a chance to unpick your relationship with work, feel out the good and bad of it, and get out your frustration about that pointless task or meeting.
These workshops are particularly suited to poets and short fiction writers, but we’ll also draw on music and non-fiction. You don’t need to have or have had a ‘job’ for these workshops – work is broad and embedded in our world.
We’ll consider writing by poets like Bryony Littlefair and Anthony Vahni Capildeo, musicians like Jeffrey Lewis and The Burning Hell, and make reference to political non-fiction by Ann Boyer and David Graeber.
Across the four weeks, you’ll create work digging into:
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Work and absurdity: Playing with the idiosyncrasies of working practices, pushing them to extremes, recontextualising them.
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Work and form: Exploring the language and forms we encounter in work: job interviews, personal development forms, the work WhatsApp group.
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Work and feeling: Writing into the good and the bad: purpose, intention, disillusionment, exhaustion.
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Work and futures: Speculating on our future roles and relationships in the world, and how they might grow from the present political climate.
About the tutor
Maya Little is a writer and theatremaker. She was a Roundhouse Young Poet 23 – 24 and the winner of the 2024 Creative Future poetry award. She was shortlisted for the 2025 Bridport Poetry Prize. Her poetry is published or forthcoming in Magma and Under the Radar, among others. Her theatre work has been commissioned by Chronic Insanity, and she likes making work about connection, climate, capitalism, and anything that’s a bit weird. She is a regular workshop facilitator for the Oxford Poetry Library and Fusion Arts.
Who is it for?
All underrepresented writers—those who face barriers to opportunities due to mental health issues, physical health/disability, sensory impairment, learning disabilities, neurodivergencce, substance misuse, survivors, carers, working class backgrounds, and those from the LGBTQIA+ community, Black, Asian, traveler, mixed heritage or other global majority backgrounds.
Dates & Time:
Mondays: 2 – 23 March
6-8 pm
This course takes place online via Zoom. Links will be sent seven days prior to the first session, and again the day of the first session.
Access:
You can see our full access commitments here.
- When you book, you can let us know about any access needs you have and we will do our best to accommodate them.
- Workshops will not be recorded, as we wish to ensure a safe and open space for all participants attending.
- Presentations and course handouts will be provided.
Cost:
£50 / £25 concessions
In order to make our resources stretch further, we have to subsidise some workshops with nominal fees well below most online courses. The more who book at full price, the more we’ll be able to offer.
Concessionary places are available for those on benefits, pensioners, unemployed/underemployed or on low wages. We do not ask for proof that you qualify.
If concessionary spaces are unavailable and/or the course is fully booked, we can add you to the waiting list if you e-mail info@creativefuture.org.uk.
Other workshops
We are offering as many workshops and as many places as our resources allow—they are heavily subsidised by our limited funding.
You might also want to have a look at other workshops on offer elsewhere.
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