ONE TO ONE
STORIES OF RESISTANCE
Fierce, intimate oral histories, collaborative stories, D.I.Y. research and interviews, from people at the intersection of several kinds of marginalisation.
These are not verbatim texts, they are a collaboration in which myself and another person participate in a process together. I have started to record interviews where permission is given. Interview is a loose term to describe a conversation in which I ask very few questions, encouraging the other person to expand on those as a monologue. Mostly I sit and listen, trying to absorb the story, and paying attention to rhythms of speech and turns of phrase.
I write a draft from memory, then check this against the recording, picking up phrases noting details. I tell the people I interview but I will look for a narrative, also that I’d like to write things to put the personal in its political context.
After writing a draft I share this with the person I interviewed, asking for feedback, and if there are things I would like to change. Some people correct details, sometimes we re-write together. Often there is work anonymized in the text, producing a piece which makes the person feel safe about their details and what is told. The process varies from person to person.
In each instance where material is used if this has not already been agreed on or if there is a new context, participants are consulted and permission sought. The story is included in the readings are shortened versions of the original texts.
Tribe
March 29, 2019
“On the edge of that town are a couple of estates, set apart from the town, that’s where I come from…”
This story has been performed at two different events. You can listen to the audio recordings of the readings here too.
Read or listen to:
Perfectly Contained
March 29, 2019
“I don’t like pubs, I never liked pubs, they’re shouty male spaces, show off spaces, they never worked for me. From early on I was a freak…”
This piece has been performed at two different events – you can also listen to the event readings.
Read or listen to:
Switching Focus
March 29, 2019
“I grew up with my mother telling me I wasn’t good enough at being a woman, that I wasn’t a proper woman…”
This story has been performed at one event so far, and you can listen to the performance here too.
Read or listen to:
To Be Held
March 29, 2019
“I’m always the first one naked at a play party. People say that classic thing of ‘Oh I didn’t recognise you with your clothes on’…”
This story has not yet been performed live.
Read:
Sex, Repression and Mental health
March 12, 2019
“Domestic violence, violence in the home, my first memory of that is my mum, she was very violent…”
This story has been performed at two different events.
Read or listen to:
A Lioness
March 12, 2019
“Everyone was out in the streets looking for me, searching for a little boy. They couldn’t find me anywhere, then an old woman said, ‘Oh, but there was a little girl, I saw a little girl go that way.’…”
This story has been performed at two events.
Read or listen to:
Out & About
Sept 24, 2018
“I guess I always knew, that if you lived through a lot of trauma then guess what? It left you kind of fucked up…”
This story has been performed at two different events.
Read or listen to:
Speaking and silence
March 13, 2019
“I didn’t speak properly until I was around seven, I was silent up until about 4, and then there were only three people who could understand the kind of speech I was capable of…”
This story has been performed at one event to date.
Read or listen to:
Tired of You
March 13, 2019
“I was going to the Black Cap in Camden from the age of 14. I wasn’t out then but I was always on the Gay scene…”
This story has been performed at one event so far.
Read or listen to:
Love of the Land
Sept 24, 2018
“As a child I was always bringing animals home. I remember turning up with three chickens and my mum was like, ‘What on earth is this?!’ I think I’ve always been a repressed farmer…”
This story has not yet been performed live.
Read:
(There is no) WHY?
Sept 24, 2018
“Maybe there is something genuinely wrong with me, that I find the fucked up shit that I just watched sexy. What does that say about me as a person?’…”
This story has been performed at two different events.
Read or listen to:
Intimate Pleasures
Sept 25, 2018
“I wish I could just go home but I’m not ready to go home yet. Oh, but London! This city takes so much more than it gives!…”
This story has been performed at two events.
Read or listen to:
In the Circus
Aug 6, 2018
“There’s a common thread of EDS in my family, as it’s hereditary…”
This story has been performed at two different events. You can read or listen to the audio recordings of the readings.
Read or listen to:
Boudica
Aug 6, 2018
“Gender Queer Femme, what is that? I get confused, I don’t know what to say, because people now say non-binary…”
This story has been performed at two events.
Read or listen to:
Third Sector
Aug 6, 2018
“When I was coming out in the 80’s, it was at the same time as a lot of public health campaigns about AIDS. That did a lot to shape my identity as a gay man…”
This story has been performed at one event so far.
Read or listen to:
Liverish
Aug 6, 2018
“I’m no a big fan of drugs but I defend the right of anyone to take them. Criminalisation doesn’t work, what’s the point in locking people up?…”
This story has been performed at the Come Together event.
Read, or listen to the recording:
Take part in the process
Over the next 10 months, ‘Resilient and Resisting’ will be holding a number of events, workshops, group discussions, and investigative visits to archives. If you have a story to tell, then an attempt will be made to help you to tell it, either through this project or by connecting you with other relevant resources.
D.I.Y HISTORIES – STORIES
Individual Stories
Activist burnout
How burnout affects activism, activists, and how it affects activist continuity in our communities.
Read the story
I won’t stop
An account about mental health, queer identity, developing self care and quiet activism.
Read the story
The invisibility of my ethnicity
When the person who taught you about the world and it’s inequalities turns out to be a tiny bit racist.
Read the story
Strippers union
A transcript of a live interview from Radio Ava, the sex workers radio station, documenting first hand experiences.
Read the transcript