This session aims to encourage writers with any level of experience to delve into arts criticism. Sign up here!
Please be mindful when booking. This is a workshop for Black writers and writers of colour based in Scotland (or for people who, pre-COVID, would have normally been resident in Scotland).
Join Aisha Josiah for this 1.5-hour, online writing workshop!
This workshop is designed to introduce participants to a fundamental form of arts journalism: reviewing. Writers of colour are currently underrepresented in the field of arts criticism; this is detrimental to minority artists, whose work is often overlooked and misunderstood by established critics who lack contextual knowledge. It’s also a missed opportunity for emerging writers, who can enrich their creative practice and develop their professional profile through exposure to new work.
This session aims to encourage writers with any level of experience to delve into arts criticism. As a playwright and editor of Fringebiscuit, a review platform that has covered the Edinburgh Fringe and other theatre festivals since 2010, I’m a proponent of making arts journalism more accessible — especially at a time when theatre, film, music, dance, performance, and visual art have never been more available to the average person.
The session will cover the following areas:
- Setting up as a reviewer: Paths into the industry.
- Skill development: What makes a good review?
- Types of reviews: Traditional and alternative models.
- Reviewing ethics: How to become (and stay) reputable.
- Reviewing as a creative: Incorporating reviewing into your practice.
- Hands-on workshop: Writing a review in real-time.
The workshop will last 90 minutes with opportunities for participants to ask questions and get feedback.
Essential items include: access to the internet, a working camera and mic, and pen and paper
The Details
- There is a max of 22 spaces.
- This workshop will be hosted online using Zoom (instructions will be sent to participants closer to the event date).
- There are two types of tickets: Free tickets for writers on low-income and Pay What You Can (Suggested £5+).
- Our free events are very popular and have a waitlist. If you have registered for a ticket but then are unable to attend please do let us know so we can offer it to another person on the waitlist. Thank you!
- If you have any accessibility needs or requirements, please do let us know by writing in at scotBAMEwriters@gmail.com at the earliest and we shall do our best to meet your requirements.
- All SBWN events will adhere to our safer spaces policy. You can learn more about our policy here.
Access & Tech
Before participating in this online event, please note the following:
- To participate you will need an internet/wi-fi connection, a desktop or mobile device to join by audio and/or video and writing materials/device.
- Events are hosted online using Zoom (instructions will be sent 2 days before each event or can be accessed via the Eventbrite Online Event page).
- Automatic live captions and transcripts are provided via Otter.ai. Please add your access requirements during registration (for example BSL/in-person captioner) and we’ll do our best to provide.
- You can also email any access requirements to us: scotbamewriters@gmail.com
About Aisha
Aisha Josiah is a multi-disciplinary writer, producer, and dramaturg from London. Her plays include Dickless (Fundamental Theater Project), for which she received the 2017 Peter Shaffer Award, Outsourced (Brick Theater), and Kindling (Etcetera Theatre). In 2009, Aisha received the North London Film Fund Award for her original screenplay Welcome to Neverland.
Aisha has written for a variety of publications including Media Diversified, The Upcoming, and Mouthlondon. Since 2014, she has served as editor of Fringebiscuit, the independent theatre blog.
Aisha is an alumna of New York University, where she received a BFA in Dramatic Writing. She has also studied at the University of Ghana, the University of Paris, and has a postgraduate certificate in Playwriting and Dramaturgy from the University of Glasgow.
As a creator, Aisha enjoys disrupting familiar narratives, creating compelling antiheroes, and laughing through grief. Her current interests include postmodern explorations of gender, identity politics, and postcolonial narratives.
Pronouns: She/her
Personal Links
Website: www.aishajosiah.com
Twitter: @aishajosiah
Instagram: aishajosiah
Fringebiscuit Links
Website: www.fringebiscuit.com
Twitter: @fringebiscuit
Instagram: @fringebiscuitmagazine