Learn how to combine real-life narratives with the techniques of creative writing.

How can we adopt creative writing techniques (such as characterisation, rich description, and story arcs) to write about real life events and experiences? This workshop offers practical skills that can be used to enliven and deepen your writing in a wide range of creative nonfiction forms, such as personal essays, travel writing, profile pieces and interviews, and in writing about the arts, food, and culture.

Learning outcomes

As part of this workshop, you will:

Apply imaginative writing techniques to stories that have the truth claims of nonfiction.
Understand the market appeal of real-life narratives.
Develop writing skills that can be used in both fiction and non-fiction.

Format

This is an in-person workshop with a focus on craft; it will be held at Queensland Writers Centre inside State Library of Queensland. This workshop is suitable for non-fiction writers of all levels and writing backgrounds.

About Kári

Kári Gíslason is a writer and academic who teaches creative writing and literary studies at QUT. He is the author of The Promise of Iceland (UQP, 2011), which told the story of return journeys he’s made to his birthplace, and the novels The Ash Burner (UQP, 2015) and The Sorrow Stone (UQP, 2022). He is also the co-author, with Richard Fidler, of Saga Land (HarperCollins, 2017), which won the Indie Book Award for Non-Fiction in 2018. His most recent book, the memoir Running with Pirates was released with UQP in August 2024.

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