Fall 2019

Throughout Fall 2019, there will be Trans*, Non-binary, and Queer+ (TNBQ+) poetry/writing workshops across Tucson. These workshops are designed to: 1) introduce TNBQ+ workshop participants to a range of TNBQ+ poetry being published across the US and the globe 2) distribute free books of TNBQ+ poetry to each workshop participant and 3) support TNBQ+ workshop participants in writing and sharing their own poems. Workshops will be led by TC and will be interactive, exploratory, and fun. Workshops are open to LGBTQ+ and/or TNBQ+ participants at every age and can be adapted to fit every writing level - no previous poetry experience necessary!

Workshops will be held at various youth centers, GSAs, community groups, bookstores, and libraries across Tucson. If you identify as LGBTQ+ and/or TNBQ+, we hope you will join a workshop! Please contact us for more information about locations and times.

If you are a member of an LGBTQ+ and/or TNBQ+ group, please contact us about hosting a workshop. We’d love to bring the power of Trans*, Non-binary, and Queer poetry to your group and hear your voices!

Winter 2019-2020

During Winter, we’ll work with KXCI (Tucson’s Community Radio) to audio record workshop participants reading their poems and talking a little bit about the process. We will also hold a showcase/poetry slam at Thornhill Lopez Center on 4th on Saturday, Dec 7 from 5-8pm.

Spring 2020

In Spring 2020, audio recordings of poems written and read by Tucson’s Trans*, Non-binary, and Queer+ (TNBQ+) communities will be installed in two ways across the city. The first will be audio of workshop participants reading their poems. These audio loops will be installed in bathrooms across Tucson alongside a poster that explains the project and provides context about TNB+ bathroom safety. Given that TNB+ folx do not have specific bathroom protections, these installations are one way TNB+ folx can be safely present in public restrooms across Tucson. We hope the casual bathroom goer will listen to what TNBQ+ community members are saying and be inspired to work for TNBQ+ safety and equal access to all public facilities and space.

The second installation will be a series of posters around town that proclaim: “Trans, Non-binary, and Queer+ poets have something to say. To listen, call 1-888-TNBQ+PO.” There will be tear off strips at the bottom with QR codes and the number. Users will be routed to a recorded message that explains the project and relevance to Tucson, then continues to an automated phone tree of options for listening to recorded TNBQ+ poems. Posters and a selection of poems will be translated into Spanish for greater community access.

Summary

Trans/Space is a series of writing workshops with Trans*, Non-binary, and Queer+ (TNBQ+) community members across Tucson, which will result in one audio-recorded poem per participant. Poems will be distributed across Tucson via A) public bathroom installations and B) posters that encourage the public to engage via QR code and/or automated phone tree. By filling Tucson’s intimate-public spaces (bathrooms and phones) with the voices of Tucson’s TNBQ+ residents, we hope to push back against local and systemic insistence that TNBQ+ people not exist, while claiming the right of TNBQ+ people to take up space in a way that foregrounds the necessity, power, and beauty of TNBQ+ voices.  

Trans/Space has three goals: 1) to foster powerful connections amongst TNBQ+ youth and with the larger LGBTQ+ and allied communities; 2) to raise awareness in cis and straight communities about the continuing oppression faced by TNBQ+ folx, while foregrounding TNBQ+ voices; 3) to promote civic engagement amongst TNBQ+ youth, while galvanizing cis and straight people to act in solidarity with TNBQ+ folx.