The Abergavenny Writing Festival
Writing from the Margins Workshop
Last weekend I had the privilege of teaching a workshop called “Writing from the Margins” where we explored identity and intersectionality at the Abergavenny Writing Festival. Last year I participated in the hybrid open mic hosted by Dominic Williams of Cerddi yn Cwrw fame.
I was truly blown away by National Poet of Wales Hanan Issa’s work (and love of Sci-Fi.) She was the featured poet of the evening and performed a 20 minute set. I’ve ordered her collection and am eagerly awaiting delivery of My Body Can House Two Hearts.
The evening rounded off with up and coming comedian Mel Owens who gave us a taster of her new solo show (her most recent run at Edinburgh Fringe Festival sold out.) It was so lovely to be in a full house of people who were so excited about spoken word.
There were so many cool offerings on, from a physical phone inviting people to record their poetry for archiving, to live podcast recordings, author interviews and workshops on memoir, nature writing, and poetic forms.
My workshop “Writing from the Margins” was so fun to facilitate. We has people from three continents, spanning 40 years of age, and living with experiences and conditions that made them feel in one way or another marginalized. I chose two poems to act as prompts and conversation starters. Kathryn Bevis’s My Cancer as a Ring Tailed Lemur uses metaphor to explore health issues and the medical establishment’s poking and prodding. Meleika Gesa-Fatafehi’s Say My Name proudly celebrates her island heritage, pushing back against colonialism.
I never imagined belonging to a so many marginalized groups. Being able to speak about my experience as a disabled person, as an immigrant, and as a women is empowering. I met so many lovely writers and can’t wait for next year’s festival.