Nicki Hastie

Writers' Attachment: November 2000 - February 2001

 
Photo of Nicki Nicki was born in Hereford, UK in 1969. A quote from Shakespeare's Hamlet, written by a teacher in Nicki's autograph book on the event of leaving primary school, made quite an impression:
"To thine own self be true
Thou can'st not then be false to any man."
There are (at least) 2 reasons for this:
  1. From the age of 11, Nicki had an inkling that she wanted to do an English degree. She did in fact gain a BA in English Literature and then an MA in "Modern Literature: Theory and Practice" from Leicester University.

  2. As a young teenager, Nicki found herself increasingly attracted to women, and from the age of 16 began the process of coming out as a lesbian to herself, her friends and family .

The diaries and poems Nicki wrote as a teenager sparked her current interest in autobiographical story-telling and the ways in which reading/writing can become routes for exploring/building identity. Nicki almost went further down the "academic" pathway, but is certain that the best decision she ever made was to give up a PhD after 2 years of study. This taught her: follow your instincts and never be afraid to recreate yourself.

Much of Nicki's research and published writings have focused on coming out stories, lesbian fiction and representations of lesbians in popular culture. She has joined trAce to stimulate more creative output on similar topics.

Nicki has lived in Nottingham for the last 5 years. She works as Information Manager for Self Help Nottingham, a registered charity which provides information about and support for self help and mutual aid groups. She first taught herself some HTML in order to design and maintain Self Help Nottingham's website. She thinks the Internet is amazing for the potential to open up the world, but also for showing you what's on your doorstep.

 
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