The equivocal title of Ali Smith’s intimate short story, in which a father unpacks his dead wife’s underwear and remembers their first meeting, provides a cue for a workshop exploring the short story’s particular relationship to the domestic. From the confines of the domestic space and the psychological worlds that uncoil from its locus, to the often derogatory notion of ‘domesticity’ and ‘the small scale’, speakers Juliet Jacques, Mira Mattar, Irenosen Okojie and Anna M. Szaflarski will present a selection of stories for consideration and group discussion.

The stories will be circulated to participants in advance of the event, with contributions welcome during the workshop to an expanded reading list for further ‘unfolding’.

This workshop is organised and moderated by Phoebe Blatton, and is a free event for all. 

To reserve your place, please click here. 

Irenosen Okojie is a writer whose debut novel Butterfly Fish won a Betty Trask award. Her short stories have been published internationally and her short story collection Speak Gigantular published by Jacaranda Books was shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize and is longlisted for the Edgehill Short Story Prize. www.irenosenokojie.com. Twitter: @IrenosenOkojie

Mira Mattar writes fiction and poetry. She is a contributing editor at Mute and co-runs a small press. She recently edited the first critical anthology on Chris Kraus, You Must Make Your Death Public, and co-edited Anguish Language: Writing and Crisis. Her writing has recently been published in The Arrow Maker, The Coelacanth Journal and Datableed. More of her work can be found here: http://her-mouth.tumblr.com/ @her_mouth

Anna M. Szaflarski is an artist, writer, editor and co-founder of the artist book publishing house AKV Berlin. In 2016, she published a collection of essays and short stories in Letters to the Editors with contributing authors (AKV Berlin & Bom Dia Boa Tarde Boa Noite Verlag), and launched the Letters to the Editors Podcast where she hosts readings and interviews with authors and artists working with text-based practises. Other writing projects have included collaborations with institutions including the Hamburger Bahnhof Museum, Berlin, Oldenburger Kunstverein and the Harburg Kunstverein.

Juliet Jacques is a writer, journalist and filmmaker based in London. She has published two books: Rayner Heppenstall: A Critical Study (Dalkey Archive, 2007) and Trans: A Memoir (Verso, 2015). Her short fiction, essays and criticism have appeared in, amongst other publications and websites, Granta, The Guardian, The White Review, Sight & Sound, Frieze, London Review of Books, Wire, and the Washington Post.

Phoebe Blatton is a writer of fiction and criticism, based in Berlin and London. She is editor of The Coelacanth Press. Her latest writing features in Frieze and ArtReview, and a recording of a recent short story and further discussion can be found on the Letters to the Editors Podcast.

Image: Heidi Bucher, Hautraum (Ahnenhaus) installiert in einer Baugrube / Skin Room (House of Ancestors) installed in a building site. c. 1980-82. Copyright The Estate of Heidi Bucher, courtesy the Approach, London. Photo: Vladimir Spacek.