Sumayya Usmani - Creative Writing Workshop

March is Women’s History Month, an important opportunity to raise awareness of the achievements of women throughout history and in contemporary society. As part of our Women’s History Month celebrations Glasgow Libraries are delighted to offer a range of author talks and creative writing workshops with inspiring female authors in libraries across the city.

For our third event join us at Pollokshields Library on International Women’s Day for a creative writing workshop with award-winning author Sumayya Usmani.

Food isn't just sustenance—it's a gateway to our most intimate memories, cultural heritage, and personal transformations. In this immersive workshop led by award-winning food writer and memoirist Sumayya, learn how to weave the sensory details of food into compelling personal narratives that go far beyond the plate.

Whether it's your grandmother's secret recipe that carries the weight of family history, a first date remembered through the taste of bitter espresso, or the meal that marked a pivotal life change - discover how food can serve as a powerful lens to explore identity, relationships, loss, and belonging.

Through guided exercises and craft discussions, you'll learn to transform your food memories into layered stories that engage all five senses. We'll study examples from celebrated food writers and memoirists who have masterfully used meals as metaphors, and explore techniques for balancing sensory description with emotional depth. You'll leave with tools to mine your own food memories and transform them into rich, multifaceted narratives that satisfy both the appetite and the heart.

This workshop welcomes writers of all levels who are hungry to explore their personal stories through the universal language of food.

Sumayya Usmani is an award-winning author born and raised in Pakistan, now living in Glasgow. She is a Scottish Book Trust Next Chapter Awardee (2021) and the award winning author of two cookbooks and one memoir. Sumayya is currently pursuing a PhD in Creative Writing (DFA), and her thesis is a novel about the culinary legacies of India's partition and the effect of displacement on the intimate lives of women; the carriers of oral recipes traditions.  Sumayya offers freelance editing and mentors writers as well as runs an online writer's membership community called Qissa. Her literary interests include culinary displacement, nostalgia and the erasure of belonging through colonisation and the Partition of India.

To book your free place please email: pollokshields.lil@glasgowlife.org.uk or phone Pollokshields Library: 0141 276 1685.