events

PAST AND UPCOMING EVENTS

Poetry, LGBTQ+ and Disability: Queen Margaret University Creative Intersectional Week

From June 7th to June 11th, Queen Margaret University’s LGBT+ Charter and LGBT+ Society are hosting a variety of events honouring Pride Week 2021. These events aim to discuss and celebrate intersectionality within the LGBT+ community. Focusing on the specific intersection between queer and disabled identities, this event features poetry readings from three poets who identify as disabled and members of the LGBT+ community, showcasing their work and inviting considerations of what it means to be a queer and disabled artist today.
Wednesday 09 June, 7-10pm
Tickets are free.

SYP Scotland Conference 2021: Ctrl Alt Refresh, 26 March

2020 saw continued debates about accessibility and inclusion within the publishing world. From the Black Lives Matter movement and its related #publishingpaidme tweets from BIPOC authors; the call from disabled creatives for better access; and the appeal for recognising LGBTQIA+ identities, it is evident that representation is poor, both within the industry and the books that it produces. Sharing the Password asks how can publishing do better to represent these voices? And what will better representation mean to the industry as a whole?
Friday 26 March, 5pm
Tickets £15-£45, free spots reserved for those on low income.
https://www.sypconference.co.uk/

Not Going Back To Normal - A Disabled Artists Manifesto Launch

Not Going Back to Normal is a provocation about how things are and an idea for how things could be. This gallery manifesto gathers disabled artists in their diversity, rage, and imagination to call out the institutional ableism in the Scottish arts and picture a future in which disabled artists are central. I was humbled to read my poem, IMAGINE, at the launch.

Friday Forum #8 - Visual Arts Scotland and Creative Informatics

Friday Forum is an online sharing event for creatives, where they can showcase snippets of their work, give virtual tours around their current studio spaces, talk about a particular topic or theme, or provide insights into their creative practice or career.

Disability in the Arts: Smashing Stigma, Creating Access and Using Your Voice - YWCA

This webinar for the Young Women's Movement in Scotland (YWCA) will look at how society views disability and how we can use our voices to create access and equality for disabled people.

WomenBeing Talks:

I was invited to talk about the impact of Covid-19 on the lives of disabled women, along with Dr. Catriona Stewart, Founder of the Scottish Women's Autism Network (SWAN); for WomenBeing Magazine's Online Talk series. WomenBeing Magazine is a magazine of international feminist perspectives.

Edinburgh City of Literature Spotlight:

I was invited to discuss the impact of Covid-19 on my life as a disabled woman along with author, Ever Dundas, for the Edinburgh City of Literature Spotlight feature, which aims to support artists during the pandemic.

Breaking the Mould: Creating Disabled and Low-Income Access to Publishing - Paisley Book Festival

I was delighted to bring together award-winning author Ever Dundas with Stuart White, founder of Write Mentor; Briana Pegado, director of Creative Edinburgh; and Lynsey Rogers, Writing Communities Coordinator at the Scottish Book Trust, in a discussion about diversity in publishing – and what positive changes are being made to open the gates - for Paisley Book Festival's inaugural festival.

(Re)Presenting Cover Girls - International Magazine Centre:

I was invited to talk on a panel about representation of diversity in women's magazines. The talk followed a presentation by Dr Gabrielle Bittelbrun and Dr Ivana Ebel on their research into representation of minorities over 5 years and on more than 550 magazine covers. I joined Arusa Quereshi, editor of The List, Jamie Jefferson, Co-Founder and CCO at Equator, Avril Gray, Head of Publishing at Edinburgh Napier University, and Dr Margaret Hughes, from the University of the West of Scotland.