An afternoon of talks and readings by LGBT+ writers, fiction and non-fiction including a talk by Yvette Taylor on Working Class Queers, a reading by Amy Tollyfield,  a talk by Fleur Pierets on marriage and grief, and a talk by Gregory Woods on being a gay reader and writer.

1.00 – 1.45 Working Class Queers
Are queers marginal to the study of class, and are the working-classes marginal to queer studies? Yvette Taylor engages with the experience of working-class queers through cycles of crisis, austerity, recession and migration to show how they have been underrepresented and demands that this changes.

1.50-2.25 Brixton Nights
Christina, a thirty-something self-proclaimed butch lesbian struggles to overcome her past trauma. Amy Tollyfield‘s book is set in Hull and Brixton, where descriptions of these places are as sharp as her portrayals of those living there.

2.40-3.40 Belgian artist Fleur Pierets would wed her wife Julian P. Boom in all 22 countries where two women are allowed to get married. The art performance wanted to shed a light on equal matrimonial rights. But this ‘love world tour’ was rudely interrupted. After their fourth marriage, in Paris, Julian was diagnosed with aggressive brain tumours. She died six weeks later. Fleur stayed behind and could only do one thing: write.

This talk is a fragile tribute to Julian and to their joint mission to speak up for LGBTQ+ human rights. Fleur talks about their love, their work and the last weeks up to Julian’s death. Her grief is fresh and raw and her feelings of hopelessness are never far away.  Fleur’s book Julian, newly translated into English by Elizabeth Kahn, is an ode to love, the fragility of life and inevitable loss.

3.45-4.30 Gregory Woods on being a gay reader and a gay writer.

Every day Gregory puts up a Facebook posting of the book he read, or finished, or reread the previous today. Not all the books are of LGBT+ content, but most probably are. Gregory has also published poetry on gay themes, and is the author of several books on gay literature. Who better then to explore what is a gay sensibility in gay writing, discuss trends, explore by-ways and examine what makes a gay reader and a gay writer. Something more than being a reader or writer who happens to be gay…

Ticket price is eight pounds whether you come for one session or all afternoon.

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