Public Engagement and Research Projects

These projects include: conference presentations, workshops, day retreats, collaborations and other events.
2025

Writing Clinic and Silent Book Club at Forest Row Festival

I offered one-to-one sessions for people interested in writing books. Then hosted a group read together session in the Jubilee Garden, Forest Row.

2021
Conference presentation
Parks, M. & Moriarty, J. Storying Autobiographical Experiences with Gender-Based Violence: A Collaborative Autoethnography at The International Conference of Autoethnography, July 2021.

Lockdown GBV Stories: The immobilities of gender-based violence in the Covid-19 pandemic, University of Brighton
Research officer for this year-long AHRC-funded project. I have contributed to articles, led a collaborative poetry project for researchers, provided research support, developed and organised creative workshops, designed and set up a website, managed social media and carried out literature reviews.

Women Surviving Women Perpetrators, University of Brighton
Carried out a systematic literature review as well as researched and listed potential partners for an international network.

2020
Performing Maternities, University of Brighton
As part of my ongoing research on the stories of maternity, I helped to organise a symposium and research network, assisted with a funding bid and provided editorial support on a book: Performance and Maternity.

’Moving Through Separation’, University of Brighton
A literature review on children’s voice when parents separate.

2019
‘Make a Poem’ collaborative poetry project for Forest Row Festival, East Sussex
As part of my aim to make poetry accessible for all, I devised a project for Forest Row Festival in 2019. I invited people to write with me in response to prompts developed for the festival. They left me with a line or two of poetry written on luggage tags and hung up on string, making a public display of words in itself. I then, in collaboration with my 12-year-old daughter, created a poem from the lines left at the end of each festival day, which was shared on the festival stage. I encouraged all ages and abilities to take part.

2018-2019
Writing the Body - Yoga and Writing Day Retreats, Tilton House, Sussex
In collaboration with yoga teacher, Sarah Gott, we created a series of four relaxing yet inspiring and rejuvenating day retreats combining yoga and creative writing to tap into creativity and help participants connect with their own body. The gentle yoga postures were specially designed to encourage thoughts, memories and emotions that unfolded ready to be written.

2018
Conference presentation
Parks, M., ‘Finding a Language for Blodeuwedd (woman of flowers)’ presentation at Locating Women in the Folk: Perspectives On Women’s Contributions To Folk Song, Folklore and Cultural Traditions Conference, University of Sussex, June 2018.

2017
Writer in Residence, Yard Yoga studio, Forest Row, East Sussex, Feb-April, 2017
This residency included making the writing process visible by inviting people to write with me at the yoga studio. I created a collaborative poem from the words people gave to me. I practised yoga with notebook at hand and I also wrote in a corner at the front of yoga classes. I then wrote a series of poems inspired by yoga and my new bodily awareness.

2016 - ongoing
HoneyLeaf Writing - creative writing workshops for adults
These workshops are ongoing weekly and monthly groups - story, poetry, life writing and getting started. The workshops are for all abilities, with an emphasis on fun, nurturing activities aimed to generate ideas, get people writing and to hear and celebrate individual voices. Although I focus on the writing process, breaking it down into manageable steps, I also run a feedback group for people interested in taking their writing to the next stage. I devise, market and deliver all of the workshops, building relationships with participants, who often return year after year.

2016-2018
Six-Week Story Course with novelist, Julie Corbin
Novelist, Julie Corbin, and I developed and repeatedly ran a Six-Week Story course. I realised that some workshop participants wanted more lessons on structure and technique, so Julie and I created a course aimed at writing a complete story with feedback in six weeks. We covered character development, story structure, setting and story worlds, editing and sending work out into the world.

2014-2015
Inky Writers - creative writing after school clubs for children
Devised, set up and delivered creative writing after school clubs for children which included: marketing, developing session plans, creating inspiring games and activities to encourage children to enjoy writing. As part of this project, I also developed and updated a blog, liaised with parents, kept children safe, published an anthology and created a Facebook group.