Yara Rodrigues Fowler is from South London. Her first novel, Stubborn Archivist (Fleet, 2019) was nominated for the Desmond Eliot and Dylan Thomas Prizes and Yara was nominated for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year. Yara’s second novel, there are more things (Abacus, 2022) was nominated for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction and Goldsmiths Prize for formal innovation in the novel. It was one of the Sunday Times, BBC Culture and The New Statesman’s books of the Year. In 2023, Yara was chosen as one of Granta's 'Best Young British Novelists' in their once-a-decade list.
Writing as Political Resistance (Online)
Tue 4 November 2025 - Tue 9 December 2025
Tutors
/ Yara Rodrigues Fowler & Andrés N. Ordorica
Guest Reader
/ Lola Olufemi (Digital)
Course Fee
/
From
£175 per person
Genre
/ Non-Fiction
Language
/ English
Art has the power to transform how we understand the world. By engaging the imagination, writers can subvert existing narratives, transport us in space and time, and evoke a desire for change. For this reason, writing – whether fiction, poetry or non-fiction – has long been used as a powerful method of overt and covert political resistance.
In the face of injustice, what can our writing do and what is our responsibility as writers? How should we engage with historical material and ongoing political resistance? How can we write fiction, non-fiction and poetry about the big questions of our time in ways that are engaging, accessible and personal?
Join us for this 6-week online course to explore these topics and more through poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction. Your tutors, Yara Rodrigues Fowler and Andrés N. Ordorica will be on-hand to guide you throughout, and you’ll be joined on one of the weeks for a special guest reading by Lola Olufemi. During each two-hour workshop, you can expect creative prompts to help take your writing to the next level, reading suggestions to help expand your thinking and opportunities for group discussions with a community of fellow writers. At the end of the five group sessions, you’ll also have the opportunity to speak to one of your tutors to discuss your writing in detail and to receive tailored feedback on your work.
You’ll leave the course with a stronger piece of writing, increased confidence in your craft, a clear message, and a comprehensive understanding the role of writing as political resistance.
This course will adhere to a safe spaces policy, and all participants will be expected to maintain mutual respect throughout.
Please Note: All times are GMT
Structure:
Week 1, Tuesday 4 November
18.45 – 19.00: Everyone gathers online in the course Zoom room. A member of the Tŷ Newydd team will welcome you and the tutors. You’ll get to introduce yourself, meet everyone, and settle in.
19.00 – 20.00: First workshop
20.00 – 20.15 : Comfort break
20.15 – 21.15 : Second workshop
21.15 – 21.30: Closing remarks, and exercise set for next week’s session
Week 2, Tuesday 11 November
18.45 – 19.00 : The Zoom room is opened ahead of the first session to give you time to settle in, ask questions and chat to your fellow participants.
19.00 – 20.00: Third workshop
20.00 – 20.15 : Comfort break
20.15 – 21.15: Fourth workshop
21.15 – 21.30: Closing remarks, and exercise set for next week’s session
Week 3, Tuesday 18 November
18.45-19.00: The Zoom room is opened ahead of the first session to give you time to settle in, ask questions and chat to your fellow participants.
19.00-20.00: Guest reading
Week 4, Tuesday 25 November
18.45 – 19.00: Everyone gathers online in the course Zoom room. A member of the Tŷ Newydd team will welcome you and the tutors. You’ll get to introduce yourself, meet everyone, and settle in.
19.00 – 20.00: Fifth workshop
20.00 – 20.15 : Comfort break
20.15 – 21.15 : Sixth workshop
21.15 – 21.30: Closing remarks, and exercise set for next week’s session
Week 5, Tuesday 2 December
18.45-19.00: The Zoom room is opened ahead of the first session to give you time to settle in, ask questions and chat to your fellow participants.
19.00-20.00: Seventh workshop
20.00-20.15: Comfort break
20.15-21.15: Eighth workshop
21.15-21.30: Closing remarks and celebration of each other’s work. Invitation from tutors to submit a sample of writing ahead of your one-to-one tutorial in two weeks’ time. Timetable of tutorials shared with writers by Tŷ Newydd staff member.
Week 6, Tuesday 9 December
10.00 – 3.00 You attend a 30-minute one-to-one tutorial with one of your tutors during which you’ll receive bespoke feedback on your writing which will help you to keep on taking your writing forward and build a sustainable writing practice.
Tutors
Yara Rodrigues Fowler
Andrés N. Ordorica
Andrés N. Ordorica is a queer Latinx writer based in Edinburgh. Drawing on his family’s immigrant history and third culture upbringing, his writing maps the journey of diaspora and unpacks what it means to be from ni de aquí, ni de allá (neither here, nor there). He is the author of the poetry collection At Least This I Know (404 Ink, 2022) and novel How We Named the Stars (Saraband / Contraband, 2024). He has been shortlisted for the Kavya Prize, Morley Lit Prize, the Mo Siewcharran Prize and the Saltire Society’s Poetry Book of The Year. In 2024, he was selected as one of The Observer’s 10 Best Debut Novelists.
Guest Reader
Lola Olufemi (Digital)
Dr. Lola Olufemi is a black feminist writer and Stuart Hall Foundation researcher from London based in the Centre for Research and Education in Art and Media at the University of Westminster. Her work focuses on the uses of the political imagination and its relationship to cultural production, political demands and futurity. She is author of Feminism Interrupted: Disrupting Power (Pluto Press, 2020), Experiments in Imagining Otherwise (Hajar Press, 2021) and a member of 'bare minimum', an interdisciplinary anti-work arts collective.