Why do we continue to extol the virtues of journaling? What do we learn about identity by reading one of the most popular literary genres, the memoir? How many of us still hold tight to our adolescent diaries and seek to find clues to our present self in those teenage yearnings? Why are we compelled to do so much of this self-storytelling in public now, through Instagram Stories, blogs and vlogs, and confessional Twitter threads?
After considering the many forms our personal and public identity narratives can take, we will interrogate their many purposes, both healthy and questionably ruinous. And we'll think along with some of the great writers of memoir and ask whether all of this constructing and reconstructing is an essential act of truth-telling or a necessary layering of lies that we build to keep us focused, energised, and simply alive.
Want to attend tomorrow's event, and join in discussing the fascinating process of self-construction? Go to the Eventbrite event page and get a ticket there!