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Scrittura di Esperienza Writing Workshop with Lucia Farinati and Eleonora Bottini with Alessia Arcuri and Sara Ortolani (Autocoscienza Writing Group)
June 13 @ 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm BST
What is the role of co-narration in feminist practices of consciousness-raising? In what way is it possible to develop new feminist practices through writing? Scrittura di esperienza (experiential writing) is a feminist methodology and a political practice developed by Lea Melandri in the early 1990s as a continuation and reappraisal of Italian feminist practices of autocoscienza (consciousness raising) of the 1970s, including the practice of the unconscious (la practica dell’inconscio). Melandri was one of the first supporters of teaching for housewives through the Italian State-funded ‘150-hour courses’ – a key turning point in feminist education that led to the Free Women’s University in Milan in 1987.
This workshop provides insight into Melandri’s methodology and her long-standing career as a writer, educator, and feminist activist. Through practical exercises, each participant will have the opportunity to reflect on their own writing. The workshop is open to everyone, but it is particularly relevant to those working in the context of pedagogy and research, therapy, violence and abuse prevention, or self-organised initiatives concerned with feminism and writing.
Autocoscienza Writing Group is a London-based collective working with and promoting the work of Italian feminist and writer Lea Melandri. This intergenerational group explores experiential writing as a practice of autocoscienza (consciousness raising) using group readings and writing as a tool for collective sharing, analysis and care. Developed by Melandri in the 1990s, scrittura di esperienza (experiential writing) focuses on the off-topic, the fragment, the embodied, the non-binary and the affective as feminist methods to deconstruct dominant forms of language and knowledge production. Aligned with trans-feminist and queer politics and practices, the group operates between Italian and English languages alongside different art forms. The group was established in May 2022 by Lucia Farinati and Sara Paiola together with Alessia Arcuri, Eleonora Bottini, Valentina Caivano, Filomena Campus, Elisa Fontana, Manuela Galetto e Sara Ortolani (awg.london@gmail.com).