ME/CFS, Long Covid, and Creative Writing

We are now open for applications from people who would like to participate in our 2026 community creative workshop programme. This year's programme focuses on people with lived experiences of Long Covid and/or ME/CFS, offering personalised mentorship in short-form creative writing (including poetry or flash fiction).

Workshop format and output

The workshop programme will run over the first half of 2026, with the number and format of sessions designed based on feedback from those people who are accepted, to ensure it can be as accessible as possible. Workshop coordinators will work with participants to explore their preferred format, and writing genre, and to develop opportunities for the work to be presented, in print form, or visual form, including at the Art+Science exhibition in July.

There are also possibilities for the work to be developed in other directions, by dancers and performers, in the second half of the year, in collaboration with the Performance of the Real research theme (as partners of the Centre), if participants wish.

Cost: The workshops will be free. 

Who can apply: You must be in or near Ōtepoti Dunedin, and be someone who lives with Long Covid or ME/CFS, to apply. You don't need any previous experience with creative writing. Please note that we are unlikely to be able to accept everyone who applies, as we have only 8-12 spaces available. 

Timing: Applications are due on 13th March. Successful applicants will be notified in late March. The workshops will aim to start in mid April and run through May and June.  Length, timing, and location of sessions will be based on the needs of participants, but aiming for approx. 3x sessions of 2 hours each. There will be Zoom options too, and online support/mentoring in between sessions. Just let us know what you would need to make the process accessible, below.

Outcomes/outputs: The writing that workshop participants produce will be gathered into a small booklet/zine, to be presented at the Art+Science exhibition in July. It will also be shared online via the Centre’s soon-to-be launched website. There will be discussion about other ways you might want to publish or circulate your work.Goals: The hope is to help the wider public (including policy-makers, clinicians, etc) have a better understanding of life with chronic illness. We seek to do this by supporting you to develop your own unique ways to communicate about your experiences. 

PLEASE APPLY HERE by 13^th March