Creative writing workshop for researchers and students

9th Nordic Trans Studies Conference, December 8-9, 2025, Örebro University

How can creative writing be combined with academic writing? Who are you as an academic writer? Who would you like to be? We search for answers to these questions in a workshop where the participants take part in creative writing exercises that take inspiration from trans studies texts.

Trans studies and creative writing have a history together, and in the workshop, we will play with some ways of combining the two. We will write, reflect, and discuss. Inspiration for the exercises has been taken from different creative writing courses participated in and held by the facilitator.

The workshop will have maximum 12 participants and is closed for others. No previous creative writing experience is needed; you are welcome just as you are. The workshop will be held in English, but you can write in any language you wish. There will be time to share our creations, but it is not in any way required. In this space, we will not critique each other’s work, but we can share reflections and compliments.

To sign up for the workshop, please send in one paragraph of your own academic text where your voice as a writer is somehow present. It can be from a published or unpublished text, as long as you are willing to play with it a little. This paragraph will be shared with the group.

Bio

Kaarna Tuomenvirta is a doctoral researcher at University of Helsinki. They have held creative writing workshops for trans youth, trans artists, and the participants of their PhD research. They are currently writing an article that is partly in poetic form.