Have you ever wondered what knowledge your body holds that your mind doesn’t -- yet? In this two-part class, we will explore this question together.

 

In our first week, we will do a close-reading of several fiction and nonfiction texts written from a bodily perspective -- covering themes including food, movement, sex, and pain. Together, we will learn about the strategies that writers across genres have used to successfully tap into the body’s point-of-view -- inhabiting the particular ways in which the body perceives sensation, time, and space, so as to bring the fullness and materiality of its experiences into their writing.

 

In our second week, we will pivot towards generative writing -- while incorporating the theoretical knowledge we gained in week one. Shze-Hui will lead students through a writing ritual designed to help them find the unique voice of their own body -- tapping into its memories and desires to help it "speak" more clearly. The aim is for students to leave equipped with a long-form writing exercise that they can utilize independently, in whichever genre they usually work with (e.g. as part of character design in fiction, or to explore the self more deeply in poetry or memoir).

 

Overall, students will leave this two-part class with experience analyzing literary texts, a syllabus of body-centric writing and books, and a toolkit of exercises that they can use to “drop down” from their minds into their bodies at any given time in their personal writing practices.

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About the Instructor:

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Shze-Hui Tjoa is a Singaporean writer who lives in Edinburgh, UK. Her debut, The Story Game: A Memoir (Tin House Books, 2024), is a genre-bending work about storytelling, siblinghood, the body-mind divide of c-PTSD, and deconstructing/finding the self. It was recognised as a notable book of its release season by The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Book Riot, and Between the Covers podcast. It was also listed as a "Literary MagNet" feature in Poets & Writers magazine, and named one of Electric Literature’s Best Nonfiction Books of 2024.

 

Shze-Hui is the Senior Nonfiction Editor at Guernica magazine. Her writing has received support from various global arts organisations, including the Tin House Summer Workshop, VONA/Voices, the Ceriph Mentorship Program, AWP, Disquiet International, and Green Olive Arts. 

 

Click here to learn more about Shze-Hui.

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LEFT MARGIN LIT'S CANCELLATION/REFUND POLICY:

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If you find that you can't take a class for which you registered, you may request a refund, less a $25 administrative fee, at least 48 hours prior to the start of the first class session. If a class doesn't reach its minimum enrollment, it will be cancelled, and all students will receive full refunds.