On this episode, we talk with Sikose (she/her), a Ph.D. student in the Department of English studying underground literature in South Africa during apartheid. Together, we talk about how her research informs her perspective on writing and why writing matters to her.

Please note that this episode contains discussions of police and state violence.

Historical context:

• 1948 – the first apartheid law is enacted in South Africa

• 1952 – Regional pass laws, which required Black South Africans to carry identifying documents to travel through internal checkpoints within the country, are replaced by a national pass law

• 1953 – The Bantu Education Act is enacted, effectively restricting education access for non-White South Africans

• 1960 – Sharpeville Massacre occurs when police ambush crowds protesting against the national pass law

• 1963-64 – The Rivonia Trial takes place, sending many leading anti-apartheid activists to prison for life, including Nelson Mandela

• 1976 – Soweto Uprising, a protest that begins as a response to planned language policy instituting Afrikaans as the language of instruction for Black South African students, becomes a broader challenge to the authority of the apartheid government

• 1990 – Negotiations begin to end apartheid in South Africa; Nelson Mandela is released after 27 years of imprisonment

Material and resources discussed:

• South Africa Belongs to Us: A History of the ANC – Francis Meli (Zimbabwe Publishing House, 1988; accessible via UW Libraries)

• Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto – Tricia Hersey (Little, Brown Spark, 2022; accessible via UW Libraries)

• On the Stage of Time – Sikose Mji (Beyond the Vale Publishing, 2024; available soon via UW Libraries)

• Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature – Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (Heinemann, 1986; accessible via UW Libraries)

• • The Body is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-love – Sonya Renee Taylor (Berrett-Koehler Publishers; accessible via UW Libraries)
  • Storytelling Fellows – a program for UW students, faculty, and staff organized by the UW Libraries offering beginner-level workshops on podcasting, digital exhibition, and video storytelling.
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  Audio transcript: Episode 4

In this episode, we hear from Richa (she/her), a Master’s student in Communications with a background in business and marketing. With her current studies and professional experience, Richa brings an informative perspective on practical writing, focusing on the audience, and the value of reading broadly.

Material and resources discussed:

• • The Culture Code: An Ingenious Way to Understand Why People around the World Buy and Live as They Do – Clotaire Rapaille (Crown Business, 2007; accessible via UW Libraries)
  • The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion – Jonathan Haidt (Crown Business, 2012; accessible via UW Libraries)

  
  

• Audio transcript: Episode 3

In this episode, we chat with Gabrielle (she/her), a Ph.D. candidate from the Department of Human Centered Design and Engineering. Listen in as we talk about writing, technology, and finding confidence in your work.

Material and resources discussed:

• How the Page Matters – Bonnie Mak (University of Toronto Press, 2011; accessible via UW Libraries)

• Otter.ai – An AI-based transcription and notetaking software

• The Master and his Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World – Iain McGilchrist (Yale University Press, 2010; accessible in print or ebook via UW Libraries)

• Association for Computing Machinery – a major professional association focused on computing science and technology

• The Notebooks of Simone Weil – Simone Weil (Routledge, 2004; available via UW Libraries.

• Tim Ingold – Emeritus Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Aberdeen

• • Phenomenology of Perception – Maurice Merleau-Ponty (Routledge, 2012 [1945]; available via UW Libraries.
  • Writer’s Routine podcast – a chat-based podcast in which published authors describe and reflect on their writing routine

  
  

  Audio transcript: Episode 2

In this episode, we hear from Alyssa (she/her), a Ph.D. candidate in Biology. Speaking with me from her fieldsite in Colombia, Alyssa shares her approach to writing across genres, working in collaboration, and finding the strategies that suit your writing process.

Resources and material discussed:

• ​​The Pomodoro Method/Technique – This productivity strategy is summarized uses a cycle of work and break time to avoid creating burnout. Learn more via UNC-Chapel Hill’s Writing & Learning Center here.

• Explore OWRC’s resources on starting your own writing group using our guide to social and independent writing.

• Learn more about UW’s Sharepoint access here.

• • R Markdown – A software that allows users to code and embed data within the document.
  • Scrivener – Scrivener is an app designed with lengthy writing projects in mind. Learn more here.

  
  

  Audio transcript: Episode 1

In this episode, we talk with Lizzy (she/her), a Ph.D. candidate in the University of Washington’s Archaeology Program. Listen in as we talk about getting organized, thinking about audience, and confronting the blank page.

Find out more about the material and support mentioned in this episode:

• Zotero – Zotero is a citation manager. Find links to Zotero and other similar apps in the UW Libraries’ research guide on digital history tools under “Productivity”
• Dian Million – Associate Professor of American Indian Studies
• Sapiens – a digital magazine that poses anthropological perspectives for non-specialist readers
• Nature – a longstanding and well-respected peer reviewed journal publishing on topics related to the natural sciences and technology
• Science – a longstanding and well-respected peer reviewed journal publishing on topics related to leading scientific discoveries

An audio transcript for this episode available here.

In this episode, we talk with Sue (she/her), a Ph.D. candidate from the Department of History, who talks us through a creative approach to writing academically, and how working in different genres and languages helps her avoid writer’s block. Listen in to hear more.

Find out more about the material and support mentioned in this episode:

• Dramatists Guild of America – an American trade guild for writers in theatre and musical theatre
• Red Poppies – Alai (Houghton Mifflin, 2002; accessible via UW Libraries)
• What I Talk About When I Talk About Running – Haruki Murakami (Alfred A. Knopf, 2008; accessible via ⁠UW Libraries⁠)
• “How Writing Leads to Thinking” – Lynn Hunt (in Perspectives on History, Feb. 2010)
• Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity – Judith Butler (Routledge Classics, 2006 [1999].

An audio transcript for this episode available here.