Creative writing pedagogies for labour migration diasporas

Domestic workers remain curiously absent from the story of Hong Kong, a story they helped to build. It is this context that informed the development of The Writer’s Toolbox, our collaboration with Migrant Writers of Hong Kong, a creative writing network founded by writers and domestic workers, Maria Nemy Lou Rocio, Ailenemae Ramos and Liezel Fernandez Marcos. This collaboration comprised three series of creative writing workshops from 2021 to 2024 that sought to develop creative writing pedagogies for migrant domestic workers. Our model was grounded in a focus on the lives and care of writers/storytellers and stories. Starting from an ethos of care for storytellers and stories allowed us to delve into the connections between craft and care, and critique as encounter and co-invention. This framework created space for stories that highlighted under-examined dimensions of labour migration. As migrant domestic worker creative writers gain visibility in literary and public arenas in Hong Kong, an attentiveness to care may allow for a greater re-visioning of the relationship between domestic workers and the city.