About the course
Join this four week poetry workshop and filming adventure for neuroqueer people of any level of writing experience. We will investigate neuroqueer as identity and action, look at other queer/neurodivergent poets for inspiration, build skills in writing and editing our own/others work.
This will be a safe, supportive space to exchange ideas, learn and produce new artistic work, promoting neuroqueer creative practice and provide a platform for expression.
The course will culminate in the production of a collaborative Neuroqueer Heroic Crown of Sonnets, which will be published in a collaborative zine. Each participant will also have the option to perform in a short film produced thanks to the generous support of First Take, which will be exhibited in Open Eye Gallery’s Digital Window from April to June. The film will also be uploaded to Open Eye Gallery, First Take and Creative Future’s YouTube channels and entered into poetry film festivals.
A celebration and screening event, with copies of the zine, will be held at Open Eye following the project on Thursday 23 April, 6 – 8pm.
We are asking for a commitment to all four sessions, due to the nature of the project.
Presented in partnership with Open Eye Gallery.
About the tutor
Jay Farley is a non-binary, neurodivergent, working class, established filmmaker, digital artist and more recently a poet. They have been published in the Queer Icons and Hot Poets anthologies, Sparks, and illustrated in Woop Woop magazine. Their debut book of poetry A [Cupboard] Full of Tomboys was created under the mentorship of T.S. Elliot Award winner Joelle Taylor and published by Broken Sleep Books. They also perform their poetry, with quirky props and sometimes with music and musicians. Jay won a 2022 Creative Future Writers’ Award and was appointed their 2026 Liverpool Writer in Residence, taking place at Open Eye Gallery.
Who is it for?
Neuroqueer people at any stage of experience with writing: those who identify as LGTBQIA+ and as neurodivergent. Creative Future supports all underrepresented people: those who face barriers to opportunities due to mental health issues, physical health/disability, sensory impairment, learning disabilities, neurodivergence, substance misuse, survivors, carers, working class backgrounds, and those from the LGBTQIA+ community, Black, Asian, traveler, mixed heritage or other global majority backgrounds.
Anyone who identifies as Neuroqueer.
People who are Queer and Neurodivergent.
People who are Queer (LGBTQIA+).
People who are Neurodivergent (might include ADHD, Autism, (both), OCD, dyslexic, have mental health challenges, have brain injury, or are decolonising colonialism from their thinking, feeling or behaving etc).
People who engage in the act of Neuroqueering – (actively striving to live and work in Neuroqueer spaces that encourage, address access needs and support people who exist outside patricachal, white supremacist, heteronormative , neuronormantive, gender conforming paradigms).
Dates & Time:
Mondays:
2, 9, 16 March, 2 – 5pm
30 March, 10am – 1pm
Access:
You can see our full access commitments here.
- When you book, you can let us know about any access needs you have and we will do our best to accommodate them.
- We can reimburse up to £3 per session for travel costs, upon presentation of a ticket or receipt.
Cost:
Free
Other workshops
We are offering as many workshops and as many places as our resources allow—they are heavily subsidised by our limited funding.
You might also want to have a look at other workshops on offer elsewhere.
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