Ghosts in the Machine: Writing Memory, Grief and Digital Afterlives with Victoria Hetherington

How do you write someone who isn't there? Literature offers all sorts of ways of keeping absent people present on the page: ghosts, imagined conversations, memoir, elegy, digital replicas, even writing in another person’s voice. This workshop explores how writers recreate people through memory and imagination, and what changes when a technological simulation can suddenly answer back. Drawing on literary traditions of haunting and remembrance, as well as Victoria Heatherington's research into digital afterlives and “griefbots,” we’ll experiment with memory, imagined dialogue and simulation as different ways of writing the absent, and consider what each can reveal, invent or distort. This is NOT a class about how to use AI in your writing; this is a class about how to bring humanity, voice, and authenticity to your writing and write prose that is human, heartfelt, and unique. *** Victoria Hetherington is the author of The Friend Machine and host of the CBC podcast Understood: Artificial Intimacy. *** Accessibility: VPL is committed to making our programs accessible for all. If you have an access need that we have not addressed here, please email us at programs@vpl.ca The expected noise level is moderate Participants are welcome to move and take breaks as needed. There will be designated quiet tables, and all participation is voluntary For information on physical access, view the Accessibility information on the Central Library Page.