Do you have a food story in mind? A cookbook in the works? Or do you simply want to write about food as a practice or hobby?
Then grab a sambal-inked pen—this upcoming session is for you! Magenta House is thrilled to team up with Candice Chung a celebrated food journalist, creative writing lecturer and author of ‘Chinese Parents Don’t Say I Love You’. In this session, Candice will teach you how to say the unsayable with food through narrative, genre, and structure. This session is open to everyone globally.
Writing about how and what we eat is so much more than the act of describing a meal. It is one of the most powerful ways to capture the texture of daily life, and often the secret to tapping into our relationship with desire, identity, politics and place — the ultimate ‘show don’t tell’. Together we will explore how to use food as a world-building device; reveal personality (think of all the things we learn about someone on a dinner date); dramatise power dynamics between characters; and as a portal into our private memories and yearnings.
What to expect:
Part I: What Can Food Do?
How do writers of different genres use food to make their stories come to life? We will explore the surprising functions of food scenes in speculative fiction, short stories, memoir and essays. How can food escalate tension, bring levity and invite empathy? Plus, get tips on mastering precise descriptions and the art of what’s left unsaid.
Part II: Follow Your Appetite
In this session we will learn about an animating question that brings organic momentum to any cooking and eating scene. We’ll examine the role of desire (those that we’re aware of and those that we’re not) in our eating lives. How can we cultivate selfhood in food writing? How do we let our curiosity and literary taste guide us? This event includes a Q+A session and an in-class writing prompt.
Whether you're an emerging writer who is finding your voice or a seasoned writer who wants to further your skills - this virtual masterclass will guide you through the fundamentals of food writing and writing from life.
Notes:
The video class will be held online from 10:00am-12:00pm AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time). Make sure you have Zoom installed on your computer prior to joining.
This session offers a pay-what-you-can price scale. Solidarity fees help offset low-cost tickets for individuals with financial hardship or unemployment.
First Nations/Mob tickets are free.
15% of the profits from this masterclass will support Super Inday Art creative workshops with incarcerated women in IloIlo, Philippines.
For enquiries, contact Mariam on housekeeper@magentahouse.com.au
Bios 🐣
Candice Chung is an author and a creative writing lecturer. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, BBC Radio, Feminist Food Journal, The Australian Gourmet Traveller, The Sydney Morning Herald, Good Food and more. Her debut memoir Chinese Parents Don’t Say I Love You was named a Readings Best of 2025 Nonfiction Book and a Financial Times Best Summer Book of 2025. Candice has taught at The University of Glasgow, the Scottish BPOC Writers Network and led guest lectures at the Masters in Creative Writing programme in Cambridge. She was a judge for the 2026 Kavya Prize, which seeks to recognise the best writing from Scotland’s emerging writers of colour.
10am – 12pm
