River Studios, 2022

It’s been a big year this year, with the completion of one trans* and gender-diverse (TGD) writing/anthology project and the initiation, development and completion of a second. We have not one but two books launching in December! Around that, I’ve been busy with smaller or ‘backburner’ projects as well as mentoring and collaborating on other projects and events. A major focus has been the work of our peer-led TGD storytelling network, A Thousand Threads, (in partnership with Alex Nichols), which has this year grown a new branch, Thousand Threads Press, with a trans | gender| queer focus.

 

 

Early in the year A Thousand Threads produced a poster exhibition featuring the words of author-participants in our first storytelling project. Titled We Twinkle Like Gold, it ran throughout March at Kathleen Syme Library in Carlton. What began as a writing workshop series has developed into a 144-page book and ebook featuring the work of 17 authors. Designed and produced at River, We Twinkle Like Gold will be launched on 3 December at Footscray’s Bluestone Church Arts Space.

 

 

3 December also sees the launch of In Flux: Trans and Gender-Diverse Reflections and Imaginings along with a performance of works from the book. In Flux is gathers the work of 33 authors from Naarm and across Victoria and Australia—along with two contributions from as far west as Africa. It was developed out of A Thousand Threads workshops funded by the City of Maribyrnong, in tandem with a call for submissions by Spilling the T Collective. Both projects have provided a range of opportunities for TGD connection and peer support.

I’m still chipping away at my speculative fiction project, Schimmervoyage, but overall 2022 has been a year for community creative projects. I’ve continued to host the queer writing group Queer Across Generations as well as providing mentoring and production support for a TGD artmaking project run by Alex Nichols, Making our Mark in Merri-bek. This project included TGD life drawing workshops run by Queers Draw This as well as flag-making workshops by Brunswick collective, ArtKind. It culminated in an exhibition and ‘Mini festival of Trans Awesomeness’ at Newlands Community House in Coburg, followed by a further exhibition of works at Coburg Library that closed with a peer gathering and exhibition walk-through for Trans Awareness Week.

The process this year of editing, designing and producing two books has both consolidated skills and been a learning curve. I’m currently filling some knowledge gaps by undertaking a graphic design intensive at RMIT, and have been fortunate to be mentored in the publishing and pre-press process by Gordon Thompson of Clouds of Magellan Press. Thank you Gordon!

The task for 2023 is to build a sound and sustainable framework and strategy for A Thousand Threads as an initiating, network-building and creative production hub led by Alex Nichols, and Thousand Threads Press as a small press, which I will lead. New projects are already landing on the whiteboard, and River continues to provide the physical space in which they can develop and come to fruition.