Women's Life-Writing: From ‘Feminine Writing’ to Autofiction

Women's Life-Writing: From ‘Feminine Writing’ to Autofiction

Laura Marcus Life-Writing Workshop

What is ‘women’s’ or ‘feminine’ writing? Who/what do these designations serve?

How might life-writing constitute a feminist praxis?

These questions do not yield an easy consensus. In this workshop, Smriti Verma (English), Dr Jade Bentil (History), and Dr Eleri Anona Watson (English) approach such queries from different angles: Smriti Verma through contemporary women's autofiction and its engagement with form and feminist practice; Dr Jade Bentil through oral histories of Black women's activisms; and Dr Eleri Anona Watson through the lens of Cixous' 'feminine writing'.

Rather than seeking to resolve the question of what 'women's' or 'feminine' life-writing means, the workshop considers what is at stake — politically, formally, methodologically — in the designation itself for writers and scholars today.

This workshop will appeal to those interested in women's writing, feminist histories, literary/critical theory—as well as their role in shaping approaches to life-writing today.

Presentation titles:

Smriti Verma, 'Women's Life-Writing and Autofictional Methodology'

Dr Jade Bentil, 'Towards a Black Feminist Poetics at the End of the World'

Dr Eleri Anona Watson, 'Écriture féminine at Fifty: Readdressing the troubled legacy of Hélène Cixous' "feminine writing"'

Speaker Details:

Smriti Verma is a poet and a doctoral student in English at University of Oxford, where she works on contemporary women’s autofiction, feminist practice and women’s authorship. She's interested in the intellectual history of gender studies and its offshoots in life-writing. Her work is supported by Funds for Women Graduates’ Foundation Grant and Jennifer Ashworth Award.

Dr Jade Bentil holds a DPhil in History from Merton College, the University of Oxford. Situated in Black feminist thought, her scholarship uses oral history methodologies to centre the experiences of Black women of African and Caribbean descent in Britain and their long histories of rebellion. Jade’s debut book, REBEL CITIZEN, uses oral history interviews to explore the lived experiences of Black women who migrated to Britain following the Second World War and is forthcoming from Allen Lane. Her debut monograph, an oral history of the Black Women’s movement, is forthcoming from Oxford University Press.

Dr Eleri Anona Watson is the inaugural Fellow in Queer Studies at the University of Oxford. They are also a postdoctoral researcher in English Literature and Critical Theory and Events Manager at the Oxford Centre for Life-Writing. Their work sits at the intersection of deconstructive thought and queer, trans, and Black literature and theory. Their current research examines the growing hostility towards deconstruction in France, the UK, and the US, both as a product of nationalist, anti-gender politics and as a point of rupture within the very intellectual traditions it has shaped. 

Further Details and Contacts:

This is an in-person event and will not be recorded.

NOTE: this event takes place at the new Schwarzman Centre, not the St Cross building.

Registration is required and will close on the Tuesday before the event. Confirmations of successful registration will be sent on Tuesday evening.

Please note that this event is exclusively open to current members of the University of Oxford. Workshop places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, with priority given to members of the English Faculty. 

Queries regarding this event should be addressed to Charles Pidgeon.