About THIS EVENT

The iconic “hero’s journey” is one way to structure a novel—but it is not the only one. What can Ursula K. Le Guin’s feminist essay “The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction” tell us about story structure?

The iconic “hero’s journey” is one way to structure a novel—but it is not the only one. Ursula K. Le Guin’s feminist essay “The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction” offers another entry point into storytelling, provoking perspectives that respond to urgent questions of what stories can stimulate in today’s world. How can shaping stories as carrier bags engender new ways to be? Join HarperCollins author and facilitator Linh S. Nguyễn in her workshop aimed at questioning: how will you make space to tell the stories that matter to you the most?

What You’ll Learn

• Explore alternative story structures to “the hero’s journey”

• Understand Ursula K. Le Guin’s seminal essay “The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction” as a feminist storytelling method

• Examine how a story’s format aligns with its message in an interaction of form/content

The Writers' HQ Write A Novel Festival

A whole month of novel writing, workshops, write alongs, community and tea drinking

Sunday 1 June – Monday 30 June 2025

Event calendar here: https://writershq.co.uk/the-writers-hq-write-a-novel-festival/#whatsonsection