WHOSE STORY IS IT? Writing About Lives That Aren’t Our Own
In collaboration with Port Magazine
About the event
We live in an age of extraction – where vulnerable communities are mined for content, their
pain packaged into narratives that serve everyone except them. This workshop draws on co-
production, a research methodology that repositions communities not as subjects to be written
about but as partners in shaping their own stories.
Using examples from fieldwork with Palestinian and Syrian refugees, and Jordanian host
communities, alongside literary works that centre communities rather than extract from them,
we’ll work through the practical and ethical questions every writer encounters:
How do you build trust across difference?
When does bearing witness become exploitation?
And how do you hold complexity without flattening it?
For writers, journalists, and anyone whose work takes them into lives that aren’t their own.
How to attend
Whether you’re a guest staying with us or a member of the public, please submit your email address and download our mobile app to RSVP. If you already have our app, you’ll be directed to this event to book your spot.