Intimate creative writing workshop exploring how food memories can become powerful stories of identity, belonging, love, grief and life.

Collective Memory Through Food Writing: Sensory Approaches to Memoir and Life Writing with Zoe Adjonyoh.

Use food memories to unlock powerful stories in this intimate creative writing workshop. No writing experience needed.

This 2-hour workshop explores how food and sensory memory can be used as tools for memoir, life writing and collective storytelling.

Participants will examine how taste, smell and texture can unlock emotional and embodied memories, while revealing unexpected connections between people across class, race, gender and cultural experience.

Writers will learn how to:

Use sensory detail to deepen memoir and life writing.

Explore food as a storytelling device.

Develop short reflective or narrative prose from memory.

Consider how collective memory can shape personal narratives.

Part of WOL @ Family Day Take Part 2026 programme

Event details

Date and time: Saturday 7 November 2026, 2pm-4pm

Venue: Brighton Museum - Museum Lab. Upstairs in the former reference library and History Centre at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery.

Address: Royal Pavilion Gardens, Brighton and Hove, Brighton BN1 1EE

Tickets: Free

Accessibility: Fully wheelchair accessible. There are lifts to get to the first floor.

Who’s this workshop for?

This workshop is open to everyone.

About Zoe Adjonyoh

Zoe Adjonyoh is a writer, food educator and author of Zoe's Ghana Kitchen. She studied Creative & Life Writing at Goldsmiths and is currently completing a memoir exploring memory, identity and inheritance through food. Her writing has appeared in The Guardian, Epicurious, Splendid Table, Daughters of Africa and Black Food. Her workshops explore food as a shared emotional language and use sensory memory to open new approaches to memoir and life writing.

Instagram: @zoe_araba_adjonyoh (https://www.instagram.com/zoe_araba_adjonyoh/), @thecircularpantry (https://www.instagram.com/thecircularpantry/), @ghanakitchen (https://www.instagram.com/ghanakitchen/)

Headshot: Will Edgecombe

Writing Our Legacy @ Family Day Take Part

Writing Our Legacy is pleased to be a partner for this year’s Family Day Take Part at Brighton Dome and Brighton Museum. Join us for the return of Brighton’s biggest free celebration of arts, music, history, performances, spoken word culture and heritage.

This uplifting intergenerational event will take you on a journey across continents as we honour the outstanding contributions of the Global Majority and the diaspora communities in our vibrant city. Bring yourself or your family and friends and take part in a day full of joy, creativity, and connection! Whether you’re looking to get active, explore your artistic side, or just spend quality time together, there’s something for everyone!

This year’s festival is brought to you by African Night Fever in partnership with Brighton and Hove Black History, Writing Our Legacy, Brighton Dome and Brighton Museum.

About the workshop and funders

This workshop is part of our Covert Literary Magazine Issue 7, (https://writingourlegacy.org.uk/whatwedo/covert-talent-development-programme-2026-ghana-issue/) themed ‘Ghana’.

This issue is funded by Beyond Literature Borders (https://speaking-volumes.org.uk/beyond-literature-borders/) from the British Council (http://www.britishcouncil.org/arts) and Speaking Volumes (http://www.speaking-volumes.org.uk/), and Writing Our Legacy’s Arts Council England’s National Portfolio Organisation funding. This project is delivered in partnership with Writers Project of Ghana. (https://writersprojectghana.com/)

For this issue, we welcome Guest Editors: Martin Egblewogbe (Ghana), Mamle Kabu (Ghana), Derek Owusu (UK) and Zoe Adjonyoh (UK), plus our Editorial Board: Elizabeth Johnson (Ghana), Mamle Kabu (Ghana), Anni Domingo (UK), Akila Richards (UK) and Amy Glass (UK).

About Covert Literary Magazine

Covert Literary Magazine (https://writingourlegacy.org.uk/whatwedo/covert-literary-magazine/) is a yearly publication of literature and visual art for Black, Asian and ethnically diverse writers and artists of colour. The magazine is based in Brighton, UK and was established in 2020. We publish fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, hybrid forms and artwork, with future issues embracing more experimental, journalism and audio visual content. Our aim is to provide a platform for new and underrepresented diverse talent for whom mainstream publishing opportunities are inaccessible, whose work is reviewed, edited and published alongside more established names.

About Writers Project of Ghana

Writers Project of Ghana (https://writersprojectghana.com/) (WPG) is a literary arts organisation focused on increasing the visibility of Ghanaian writers and creating networking opportunities between them and their counterparts across the globe. Through dedicated programming such as workshops, readings, and publications, and by organising th

Description supplied by the event organiser.