An interdisciplinary workshop organised by MLAC and Durham’s Institute for Medical Humanities explores how literature and emerging research in epigenetics illuminate the transmission of trauma across generations. The event brings together scholars and the writer Igiaba Scego to examine women’s narratives of transgenerational trauma.
On 27 March 2026, the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures (MLAC) and the Institute for Medical Humanities at Durham University will host the interdisciplinary workshop “World Literature and Epigenetics: Women Narrating Transgenerational Trauma.” The event will take place from 9.30–17.00 at the Tom Percival Annexe, located at St Cuthbert's Society.
Organised by Professor Katrin Wehling-Giorgi (Italian Studies and Director of the Institute for Medical Humanities), the workshop brings together creative writers and scholars from a wide range of disciplines—including epigenetics, anthropology, psychology, bioscience, law and literature—to explore how trauma is lived, narrated and transmitted across generations.
Recent research in psychology and epigenetics suggests that lived experience can influence gene expression and that such changes may be inherited. The workshop examines how these scientific insights resonate with long-standing literary narratives of intergenerational trauma, particularly those centred on women and maternal transmission. It also considers the role storytelling plays in shaping our understanding of trauma’s relational, psychosocial and often multilingual dimensions as it crosses borders and generations.
The programme features leading scholars including Tiziana de Rogatis, Hannie Lawlor, and Clare Hanson, author of Genetics and the Literary Imagination. Interdisciplinary perspectives will also be offered by Nadja Reissland and Sana Saboowala.
A highlight of the event will be a special hybrid conversation and reading with the award-winning Somali-Italian writer Igiaba Scego, in dialogue with Tiziana de Rogatis and Katrin Wehling-Giorgi (13.00–14.00). This session will be available both online and in person, while the remainder of the workshop will take place in person.
The event aims to foster dialogue between literary narratives of trauma and the latest research in epigenetics, anthropology, bioscience, psychology and law, offering new insights into the transgenerational transmission and lived experience of trauma.
The workshop is generously supported by the Institute of Languages, Cultures and Society, the Society for Italian Studies, and additional funding from the Affective Experiences Lab and the Research Group on Violence, Trauma and Memory at Durham.
The event is free to attend, but registration is required.
Please see the full agenda and reserve your place via Eventbrite (CLICK HERE).
10.30–12.00 – Papers by Tiziana de Rogatis, Hannie Lawlor, and Katrin Wehling-Giorgi on literary narratives of transgenerational trauma.
13.00–14.00 – Conversation with Igiaba Scego (hybrid).
14.00–14.45 – Keynote by Clare Hanson: Epigenetics and Reparative Social Justice.
15.30–16.30 – Interdisciplinary perspectives from Nadja Reissland (Psychology, Durham) and Sana Saboowala (Anthropology, Oregon State).
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