Writing my Memoir

Good news--I've been awarded an Arts Council England Grant to allow me to write my creative non-fiction memoir (working title: GRIT ((but I think this will soon change. haha!))

I want to talk about my journey so far. This creative non-fiction project will highlight my narratives of what is it like to be a migrant (and a nurse) in the UK. I want to explore the themes of family, childhood, leaving a homeland, and trying to establish a new life in a second home, whilst being anchored and strengthened by our own memories of home. Home--such a big word! In this CNF work, I also plan to talk about poetry and my own writing journey.

Filipino nurses comprise the highest proportion of migrant nurses in the UK. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses were hailed as "heroes". But who sees us, especially migrant nurses, more than "heroes"? More than death statistics or someone dehumanized and reduced to their functions as "nurses"? Who sees our community as a community of people with our own story? These are the questions that I want to explore.

In preparation for this project, I've been writing but also reading quite a few essays! After all, this will be my first time branching out to creative non-fiction after working on my poetry book, Antiemetic for Homesickness.

I'd like to share with you 3 online literary magazines which I currently enjoy reading (and learning from) whilst writing my CNF work. Here is a video talking about those magazines below:

More project updates in the coming months!