Protected: You Are Here Survivor writers
You Are Here zine
Download the You Are Here zine – click this link to download the full zine in PDF and read at your own leisure.
Olumide Popoola and Jet Moon in conversation: on peer knowledge, mentoring, and the action of writing.
Jet Moon
So, I’m really interested in this peer knowledge, obviously, I think, because I’ve had to be interested in it, and how we find ourselves reflected or make sense of things and have a sense of empowerment through that recognition. And there’s this baffling at times thing of what’s invisible, what’s dismissed, what’s denied. And it can be so glaringly obvious when you’re around your peers and yet other people don’t see these things that feel very integral to your life. And you mentioned this idea about how you said something, and I don’t know whether it was meant to be significant or not, but I took it as such, you’re like, oh, yeah, you know, I can really place people according to what they know. And so I am, I’m interested in that idea of like knowledge in terms of communities, but also survivors’ writing and how we find our voice or our audience.
Olumide Popoola
…I thought about peer knowledge and I thought, what is it that I seek out? And I’m at my best when I have very intimate intellectual friendships, or creative friendships
…….So that’s what I thought of when I looked at this idea of peer knowledge. There’s people I love in my life to challenge me on my journey, but for that to work really well, it works best when I have this sort of quite intimate relationship with them, so that trust is there.
Commissioned Pieces from the Survivor Writers Group
The survivors writing group was an opportunity to share an ongoing space with peers. The group was aimed at writers developing an ongoing body of work; and offered an opportunity to meet regularly, to exchange and support each other in our creative work.
The group provided impetus, encouragement, identification and a place to try things out. By its nature it was an intense space where people brought their full powerful and vulnerable selves, it was also a place of camaraderie, listening deeply to each other, and cheering each other on.
Read and listen to the pieces here:
Interviews: playwrights, film makers, novelists, poets, researchers and activists on how and why they write.
The interviews which are part of YAH were conducted with writers in Jet’s network, some of them Playing With Fire alumni.
Survivor writers spoke at length about their development, process, cultural surrounds, struggles and determination as writers. Playwrights, film makers, novelists, poets, academics, researchers, editors, organisers and activists; sharing their outlook on how and why they write.
The online showcase and zine feature short quotes from the interviews; the interviews in full can be accessed in both audio and transcript form. The full content and other materials related to the project will be added to the You Are Here Survivor Writers archive at Wellcome Collection.
- Dr Nat Raha is a poet and activist-scholar, and Lecturer in Fine Art Critical Studies at the Glasgow School of Art.
- Debbie McNamara is the Events Coordinator for Survivors’ Poetry.
- Julie McNamara (Julie Mac) is an award-winning theatre and filmmaker, exploring unheard voices from the political periphery.
- Ghiwa Sayegh is an anarcha-queer writer, independent publisher, and archivist.
- SJ Lyon is a London-based queer writer of fiction, narrative non-fiction and memoir.
- Francesca Dolor is a visual artist and writer who lives in London.
- Jason Barker is a filmmaker, writer, occasional actor and sometimes stand-up comedian based in the West Country.
- Christine Bylund is a queer crip-femme researcher, writer and performer. Her work centres around disability, power, sexuality and everyday life.
- Dior Clarke is a British born Jamaican. He grew up in North London. He is an actor and playwright.
- Jet Moon is a multi-disciplinary artist who writes, performs and collaborates on fierce work for radical social change.
Acknowledgements
This project is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. In collaboration with Spread the Word and Wellcome Collection.
The second edition print is supported with funding from the Grand Camp Maisie Fund, content produced and published by us does not necessarily reflect the position of the Grand Camp Maisie Fund.
Huge thanks and connection to all the survivor writers who took part. Also everyone who supported with access and helped to make things happen.
Copyright © 2024 Jet Moon. All rights reserved.
Overall copyright for the project and zine publication remains with Jet Moon. Individual authors retain copyright over their own works. Interviews have shared copyright as per agreement between Jet Moon and those interviewed.