Memoir & Life Writing Feedback Clinic with Jessica White

Receive personal & insightful feedback on your writing in an intimate, supportive class environment.

This intensive, small-group session is for writers seeking feedback on a work or excerpt of memoir or life writing (up to 2,500 words).

Critical comments will be provided on structure, voice and audience engagement, as well as on stylistic and other aspects of prose writing, to ensure your stories are engaging and impactful - whether you're writing for just yourself, your family, or looking to share your experiences with the world.

Each participant will receive written and oral feedback from the convenor, as well as benefit from peer input by reading and responding to the work of all participants.

During the 90-minute online session, the work of all attendees will be openly discussed. Critique will be carried out in a respectful and supportive way, while being mindful of the necessity for clear discussion on the strengths and weaknesses of each submission.

Additional information

Applications for the course will close, and draft works will be due for submission to Queensland Writers Centre, by 20 November. Applicants may submit one piece up to 2,500 words in length (minimum word length is 1,500 words); work may be incomplete or in draft form but should be developed enough in order to benefit from advice. Submissions will also be circulated to all participants.

As well as oral feedback on the day, the convenor will provide written comments on the stories via Track Changes (though not detailed edits, nor corrections as such), and these will be provided following the session.

Staff or tutors from Queensland Writers Centre will assess all applications and will select writers for the course. In the event your application is unsuccessful your course fee will be refunded in full. For more information, contact Queensland Writers Centre on (07) 3842 9922 or at info@qldwriters.org.au.

Learning outcomes

• Receive personal, professional feedback
• Acquire critical skills in memoir and life writing
• Understand narrative structure more deeply
• Develop self-editing skills
• Apply knowledge gained in clinic to future work
• Hear feedback on other writers' work

About Jessica

Jessica White is the author of the award-winning novels A Curious Intimacy and Entitlement, and a hybrid memoir about deafness, Hearing Maud, which won the 2020 Michael Crouch Award for a debut work of biography and was shortlisted for four national awards, including the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Nonfiction. Jessica has received funding from the Australia Research Council, the Australia Council for the Arts, Arts Queensland and Arts South Australia and has undertaken national and international residencies and fellowships. She was a 2020-2021 Juncture Fellow for the Sydney Review of Books and is a 2022-2023 Arts Leader for the Australia Council for the Arts. Jessica is currently a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing and Literature at the University of South Australia.

For more information about Queensland Writers Centre’s Program of Events and answers to FAQs, please visit: www.queenslandwriters.org.au/program-info