Writing Workshop with Hafsa Lodi

Writing Workshop with Hafsa Lodi
⏰ 6.30 - 8.30 PM, Monday 6th July 2026
📍 KIJU COFFEE HOUSE,V12, Railway Arches, Patcham Terrace, Nine Elms, SW8 4FN
Tickets include one Vietnamese Rice Bowl (with your choice of protein) and unlimited hot tea.
Join award-winning journalist and author Hafsa Lodi for an intimate workshop on writing as a path to self-discovery.
Hafsa's debut novel Turbulence - the story of Dunya, a woman who reaches a life-changing reckoning during a single long-haul flight grew out of a real news story and her own questions about faith, ambition, motherhood, and the quiet compromises we rarely name aloud. In this session, she'll open up the messy, honest process behind the book: how a single image became a narrative hook, why she rewrote the entire novel from third person into first to make it more intimate, and how she worked backwards from one charged moment to construct an entire life around it.
Whether you're sitting on a half-formed idea or staring at a blank page, this workshop is about giving yourself permission to write the story only you can tell. Hafsa will share practical insights on drawing inspiration from real life, building characters who resist easy labels and tackling touchy topics with depth and honesty.
Expect candid tips on drafting, voice, and pushing past the fear of the first sentence, plus a hands-on exercise to take home and keep building on.
What you'll explore:
Self-discovery through writing: using the page to surface what you actually think and feel Craft behind the book: how Turbulence was built, from inspiration to structure to revision

• Getting started: practical encouragement for new and aspiring writers
  You'll also have the opportunity to ask Hafsa questions.