‘I think of it like a sort of magpie way of writing where I collect things that seem shiny to me and build a nest around them…’ Jenny Offill

Life is by nature fragmentary. As the poet and author Maggie Nelson once said: ‘We can’t see the whole until we’re dead, and then we can’t see it.’ When writing about our experiences, we must accept that the picture is incomplete. How do we piece together what we know so far, assemble the shards of memory to create a compelling and comprehensive narrative?

In this class, we'll explore the possibilities of the fragmented form and play with structure and genre through writing prompts. From Nelson to Chimamanda Adichie Ngozi, Ocean Vuong and TS Eliot to Teju Cole – we'll read extracts from works of creative non-fiction, fiction and poetry, to learn different applications of the fragment and discuss their effects.

Writing a life in fragments opens us to inspiration. Anything can be a tool for creation: an anecdote, a dream, a diary entry, a photo, a text message, a quotation, a souvenir, a lost object. Students will be guided in generating ideas from the fragments of their life, seeing the unfinished or abandoned as something worth preserving.

26 February, 11am-1pm. Zoom delivery, cost £25

Nazrene Hanif explores ideas of (not) belonging, creating narratives that reflect her existence in between cultures, language and class.

Her creative non-fiction has been published by Ache magazine and received special mention in the Spread The Word Life Writing Prize 2021. 

Nazrene is based in London, often found elsewhere and sometimes on Instagram: @nazrenehanif.