Our Autumn Seminar Series continues next Wednesday, 5 November 2025, at 4pm GMT, with a special roundtable event, New Approaches to Writing Women’s Histories.

We are thrilled to welcome Kaia Alderson and Gráinne Lyons to discuss their experiences of “doing” and writing women’s histories in formats which extend beyond the “traditionally academic”, incorporating greater levels of personal experience and creative expression. The aim of the session is to facilitate a discussion with those beyond traditional academia who are writing the histories of women in new, diverse, and meaningful ways. The event will operate using a somewhat hybrid format combining elements of a roundtable with an ‘in conversation with’ format.

Our speakers will explore questions such as:

• What does the research and writing process look like for these types of projects?
• How do you decide which stories speak to you?
• What are the joys and challenges of writing women’s histories in non-traditional ways?
• What do we gain by writing these kinds of histories in this way?
• How do our personal identities as researchers inform and enrich our research? What can be gained from sharing and incorporating our own community/family stories?

Very sadly, Professor Hannah Greig is no longer able to join us due to a personal matter. We are working hard to find a new speaker to chair the event and will update our promotional materials for the event as soon as we have confirmation. We do hope you will still join us for a fantastic session with our two wonderful confirmed speakers.

About the Speakers

Kaia Alderson is a historical women’s fiction author with a passion for discovering the “hidden figures” in African-American women’s history who did extraordinary things, yet didn’t make it into our history textbooks. Her debut historical women’s fiction novel Sisters In Arms was published in 2021 and her second, In A League of Her Own, in 2024. Kaia is an alumna of Spelman College, University of West Georgia, and various creative writing workshops.

Gráinne Lyons is a writer and documentary-maker. Her work has been published in The Irish Times and Aesthetica magazine and she was shortlisted for the Mslexia award for unpublished first novels in 2017. Her travelogue, Wild Atlantic Women: Walking Ireland’s West Coast, was published in 2024. As a documentary producer, she has produced numerous arts and history films. Gráinne holds an MA in Creative and Life Writing from Goldsmith’s University and a BA in English Literature from the University of York.

We are extremely grateful that our speakers have agreed to share their expertise and experiences with us and hope you will consider joining us for this important session.

To sign-up, please click here to be taken to our event registration page.