Yesterday was the third anniversary of Jeremy Dixon’s first pamphlet, In Retail. to celebrate, here is a video of Jeremy reading (along with the audience) from one of the first poems from the collection that he shared with us, published in The Other Side of Sleep, and read here at our 5th anniversay celbrations!
The combination of our enthusiasm for LGBTQ writing and of this being LGBT History Month, and our wily marketing plans means there are going to be a few more LGBT posts this week.
Watch this space, for this and other anniversary news.
You can vote for your favourite poem from this collection, and others VERY soon, to help us plan the programme for our anniversary party.
To celebrate LGBT history month we are publishing Jeremy Dixon‘s In Retail on the 7th February.
These poems were written on the back of till rolls and smuggled off the shop floor of a well-known pharmacy in Jeremy’s socks. They chart the absurdities of being a member of staff in retail (most of us have been there at some point), and the cultural take that being a queer poet gives to the experience.
00/13
the in-store radio is on a major seventies kick after an advert for Snoxin anti-wrinkle serum
You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) starts
replaying a dark corner of the youth club where I dance by myself to Sylvester unable to resist that immaculate beat
compelled to leave the false safety of a line of canvas chairs failing to see what is apparent
to everyone else watching me
punched the length of the pool table
Jeremy is launching the book in his local village hall on the outskirts of Cardiff. The very village hall where THAT youth club was held.
To mark LGBT history month we are giving you the opportunity to buy our other LGBT titles for half price when you buy In Retail. (Mosaic of Air is already half price so there’s just a small further reduction there)
The moment the book becomes ‘real’ for me as the publisher, is when I hold the ‘running sheets’ in my hand. These are an actual print of the book, unbound, sent from the printer for quality control purposes.
That’s the point I start gearing up for publicity and all that jazz.
As on this occasion the arrival of the running sheets has coincided with the last week of LGBT History Month, it is appropriate that the book in question is Kate Foley’s love letter to her wife, A Gift of Rivers.
Kate has to be in Amsterdam when the book is due out, so there will be a pre-publication ‘launch’ on 5th April at the lovely Gay’s the Word. Everyone welcome.Books will actually be available from us, by the end of March so feel free to preorder.
And Kate will also be speaking at the London Book Fair Poetry Collective at 17.30 on Tuesday 10th April.
We are looking at whether we can have an official launch-day party in Amsterdam on 26th April!
It’s the 1st of February, and the first day of LGBT History Month, so Tom Dingley has been to Lancaster and back in the day, to hang a selection of Outcome portraits on the very interestingly textured walls of Lancaster University Library.
The library’s ‘Magic Box’ that lets you flick through the book electronically (I want one!)
Anyone wanting to buy a copy after viewing the exhibition, Blackwells bookshop on campus has some in stock, if they run out you can order direct from us post free.
If you are in the area and would like to be part of the Outcome portfolio, with the chance of it being YOUR face in the next exhibition, Tom is having a studio day in the exhibition space on 15th February, the day the exhibition comes down. Contact him at tom[underscore]dingley[at]hotmail[dot]co[dot]uk or via twitter @OutcomeLGBT to book a slot.
Slightly smaller displays in Harrow Civic Centre in the room opposite the council chamber,(touring libraries from 6th February).
Thanks to Joan Redding for helping organise both of those.
You can still catch the exhibition at Horsham Capitol until the middle of the month too.
We are crowdfunding to pay for additional prints so that we can do things like this on a larger scale with 3 exhibitions of all the pictures at the same time (why not?!), and cover Tom’s expenses as he hares around the countryside putting prints onto interesting walls and taking photos. There are only a few days left, and we are a way off the target, so any help appreciated!
Outcome is being exhibited as part of the launch event fro Harrow Council’s LGBT History month celebrations TOMORROW 30th January 2017 at midday in Committee Rooms 5&6 Civic Centre Station Road, HA1 2XF. Books will be on sale.
The Exhibition will then tour various libraries: Gayton, Kenton, Pinner, Roxeth, Stanmore and Wealdstone. (where, when, not clear yet, will post as soon as I know)
It is the last day of LGBT History month, but if you think that means I’ll stop burbling on about Outcome, you are in for a disappointment.
Tom Dingley is off to the London Live studios to be interviewed for the evening news tomorrow, (1st March) you can catch him live on Sky channel 117, Freeview 8. Not clear of the time yet, but between 6 and 8.
And it will be podcast for at least a while after on their website.
Tom Dingley
Anyway, it got me thinking, about why LGBT History Month is February. I suppose, it is the month most associated with love, which is sweet, but it is also the SHORTEST! At least this year being a leaping one, there is an extra day to celebrate.
Which brings me back to Outcome. Celebrating the wonderful, diverse, ordinariness of LGBT people. There are a handful of people involved of whom you might have heard, Peter Tatchell for instance, but mostly we (yep, I’m in it) are known only to our friends and loved ones, and lovely though we all are, we are special only in that we are happy to be involved and have our faces plastered over walls all round London, and soon further afield, and, of course, to be in the book.
So, if you have been thinking,
oh, they won’t want me,
think again! Yes, we do want the bus driver, and the civil servant, and the council worker, and the nurse, and the vet, and the shop assistant and the teacher and the self-employed, and the craftsperson, and the tradesperson and the professional and the artist and the musician and ALL OF YOU, OK?
We won’t be stopping with the book, this is an ongoing project, and fun though it is, it has a serious side, providing role models for young LGBT people who are finding life a bit difficult, and essentially saying, look, we grew up, we came out, we’re here, we’re doing fine. Nothing to be scared of. So it’s about Celebration, not celebrity.
And if you can help in other ways, funding, studio space, exhibition space, please get in touch.
So, here’s what we are up to with Outcome, You can get involved by
having your picture taken, like Alix here
Offering us somewhere to have a pop-up studio
or somewhere to exhibit!
You will soon be able to contribute to a crowd fund, but the video of Tom this afternoon wasn’t up to scratch, a lot of background noise and he’s almost lost his voice, so we’ll have to have another go, before we can get the crowdfund up and live.
Photographer Tom Dingley is taking photos of LGBT people for the Outcome Project TODAY at Student Pride. Find him at University of Westminster, Area P3 in a room next to the main stage.
Come dressed for your work/ hobby / whatever.
If you can, bring a picture of yourself as a child, otherwise you can email it and we’ll photoshop it in afterwards.
A chance to be part of a travelling exhibition, a book and maybe a slideshow for schools and colleges.
Grow up, come out, be who you are, happy and successfully you.
February is as usual a little bit busy. Spent a couple of hours today at the beautiful (it really is) Broadway Theatre in Catford, for the launch of Lewisham’s LGBT History Month. A lovely crowd of people, many employed by the council turned out to wet the baby’s head, and take a look at Tom Dingley’s Outcome exhibition.
Here’s a few pictures of speeches.
The lovely Susan Hailes, who had us all nearly in tears
Tom Dingley, in front of a camera for once
And Sir Steve Bullock, the Mayor
The gentleman in the background of each of these pictures had come for the yoga session, but was prevailed upon to play the piano, which was really lovely, and set the tone for the whole event.
A very positive response to the exhibition, with people signing up to join in then and there and another email before I got home from someone wanting to take part.
If you would like to take part get in touch, Tom has a studio space as part of the Outcome exhibition at Student Pride THIS SATURDAY 6th February at University of Westminster. 35 Marylebone Road, opposite Madame Tussauds and Baker Street Tube.
The Broadway Theatre exhibition is on for the whole of February 10-3 Monday Thursday and Fridays, access via the cafe/ box office.
An opportunity to see an exhibition of some of the photographs that will be part of Outcome, our first Photographic book. If it takes your fancy, you can get involved by being the subject of a portrait (if you are LGBT, obviously) or by helping us raise the money to print the book, or by offering studio or exhibition space. Nip over to the Outcome page to find out more.
#Outcome portrait exhibition – as part of LGBT History Month 2016: Lewisham Pride
1 February 10am to 3pmFree
The Broadway Theatre
This event takes place every Monday, Thursday, Friday from 1 February to 29 February
Address:
The Broadway Theatre
Catford Road
SE6 4RU
View #Outcome portrait exhibition by local photographer Tom Dingley http://www.tomdingleyphotography.com at The Broadway Theatre Gallery space – access via Box Office
