Personal statement

Sabrin is an Italian-Palestinian transnational writer. She has always had to mediate between two cultures and every day for her is a journey across borders.
 
Italy and Palestine are her two countries and form the focus of her writing, but in the last few years she has lived in France, Japan, and in the UK - where she is currently doing her PhD in Creative Writing with AHRC funding support.

Academic qualifications

  • MA, Travel and Nature Writing, Bath Spa University, Distinction
  • MA, European Literatures and Philologies, University of Pisa and Sorbonne University of Paris, Distinction
  • BA (Hons), Modern Literature, University of Pisa, First Class with Honours

Thesis title

Wait for Her. The writer's positionality between traditional folklore and Western memoirs.

Research supervisors

Richard Kerridge and Professor Illan Pappe (Exeter University)

Research overview

Sabrin's research focuses around the ethical issues arising from the use of memories to build non-fiction memoirs.  

In the creative writing research field, this problem has often been reduced to the risk of disrupting the reader’s trust by inserting fiction inside what is expected to be purely non-fiction. However, the question has much deeper implications, especially when there is controversial or missing material in the memories collected.

Her project addresses this issue by looking at alternative sources that non-fiction writers can use to give an exhaustive account to their readers, without giving a misleading picture of the historical facts and cultural background of their narration.

Research interests

  • Transnational writing
  • Travel writing
  • Writer's positionality
  • Cultural studies
  • Post-colonial studies
  • Hybrid and multicultural identities
  • Literary theory
  • Food writing
  • History

Research outputs

Book chapter or section

Hasbun, S (2017). 'Back and Forth, or Home.' In A Place in Words: 25 Years of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, pp. 193-197. 

3TCreatives - St Clair, E, Fuentes Diaz, C and Hasbun, S (2017). 'The We in I' In Barrett, A, ed. Here and There. The Life of a Global Citizen, pp. 89-91. 

Articles

Hasbun, S (2019). Card Sharp in Question, Essays and Art from the Humanities, Vol. 3, 2019, pp. 68-74

Hasbun, S (2019). What Do We Remember When We Remember? This Week in Palestine, Issue 258 (October 2019), pp. 18-22

Hasbun, S (2018). The Perfect Cut This Week in Palestine, Issue 240 (April 2018), pp. 52-54

Hasbun, S (2016). Brownie with the Enemy This Week in Palestine, Issue 218 (June 2016), pp. 16-18  

Hasbun, S (2016). Pasta in Palestine, Wales Arts Review, July 2016 

Conference or workshop item

Hasbun, S (2019). A Transnational Memoir between Italy and Palestine: A Cultural and Creative Jigsaw. Part II. In Borders, Boundaries, and Margins, 5 June 2019, Exclamat!on: An Interdisciplinary Journal, Exeter University.

Hasbun, S (2019). Communicating Research Transnationally: Propagation versus Misappropriation. In Writing to Make the World II, 30 May 2019, 3T Creatives, Bath Spa University.

Hasbun, S (2019). A Transnational Memoir between Italy and Palestine: A Cultural and Creative Jigsaw. In PGR Seminar Series for the European Centre for Palestine Studies, 13 February 2019, Exeter University

Hasbun, S (2018). Listen, how quickly your heart is beating in me. Creative writing, Grief, and Cultural Understanding. In Engaging Empathy Through Creativity – symposium, 30 November 2018, Pounds Art Corsham-Bath Spa University

Caldecott, E. and Hasbun, S (2018). Practice-Based Methodologies and the PhD Researcher. In Research Development Training Series, 23 October 2018, Bath Spa University.

(Organiser) Material: Creative Approaches to Research, Early Stage Researcher Conference, 14 June 2018, Bath Spa University.

Hasbun, S (2018). Memories into Memoirs: The Importance of Alternative Sources to Fill the Gaps. In Memory at the Margins, 7-8 June 2018, Memory Studies SW Research Cluster, University of Bristol.

Hasbun, S (2017). Writing and Reading: a Way to see the World (Critically). In Writing to Make the World, 28 July 2017, 3T Creatives, Bath Spa University. 

Performance

Hasbun, S (2018). Creative Writing and History in PhD Seminars for the Public, Palestinian Museum of Bristol, 9 November 2018.

Hasbun, S (2018) Radios and Onions. Book Reading in Novel Nights and Bristol Literature Festival, 24 October 2018.

Hasbun, S (2016) Storytelling. Book reading and acoustic performance. Palestinian Museum of Bristol, 15 October 2016.