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Writing your memoir with Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff and Nesrine Malik

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As a young, aspiring writer, have you noticed a lack of meaningful stories about lives that inspire you in your local bookshop and in the press, and wish you knew more about filling that gap with your own voice? Have you been dreaming about turning your experiences into memoir pieces but want to learn more about narrative structure and idea development? Perhaps you have a point of view you’re burning to share with the world, but you know little about the publishing industry?

In partnership with gal-dem and Guardian Weekend, hosted by Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik and gal-dem head of editorial Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff, and aimed at all young black women and black non-binary writers aged 16-21, we’re inviting you to this motivating and hands-on free memoir workshop, which will explore both the craft of life writing and the practicalities of putting your work out into the world.

You will discover how to identify and strengthen your narrative voice, how to write in the first person, how to develop concepts for your pieces, what the publishing landscape looks like and how to make your voice heard. Ultimately, you will gain the confidence to fine tune your first-person writing, as well as the unique opportunity to connect with other writers.

Course content

  • Learn the dos and don’ts of memoir writing

  • Find out how to come up with story ideas based on your life experiences

  • Understand how structure, narrative and tone can bring a memoir piece to life

  • Discuss what makes a great personal piece

You will be sent a link to the webinar 1hr before the start time of 6.30pm (GMT).

Tutor profiles

Nesrine Malik is a columnist and features writer for the Guardian. She was born in Sudan and grew up and was educated in North and Africa and the Middle East. She is based in London. She is the author of We Need New Stories: Challenging the Toxic Myths Behind Our Age of Discontent (Orion).

Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff is a journalist, editor, features writer, columnist and creative with focuses on investigations, race, lifestyle, travel, media, youth culture and social politics. She is the head of editorial at gal-dem, a Guardian freelancer and a former weekend editor and writer at Dazed. She has written columns for the Observer, ipaper and Metro and freelance for a variety of publications, including Easyjet Magazine and the Financial Times. Experienced panellist and speaker on radio and TV.

Guardian Weekend x gal-dem writing competition

This free masterclass supports an exciting life writing competition, brought to you by Guardian Weekend and gal-dem, which we invite all young black women and black non-binary writers aged 16-21 to enter.

With The Guardian once again collaborating with gal-dem on a special issue of Weekend magazine in December, we are launching a competition that will enable you to have your writing featured in the issue.

Complete details and rules of entry are available here, but all you need to do is submit a 700-word journalistic essay that showcases your creative talent, on the theme of conversations. Please email weekend@theguardian.com if you have any questions about the competition.

You do not have to attend this masterclass in order to enter the competition. This inspiring writing workshop is designed to support any young black women and black non-binary writers looking to break into the industry - but if you’re thinking about entering and want some help with your competition submission, we’d also love you to join us!

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Information on Guardian Masterclasses

To contact us, click here. Terms and conditions can be found here.

All Guardian Masterclasses are fully accessible – but please contact us if you have any queries or concerns.

Returns policy

Once a purchase is complete we will not be able to refund you where you do not attend or if you cancel your event booking. Please see our terms and conditions for more information on our refund policy.