LGBT Youth Scotland, Scottish PEN and Interrobang?! are pleased to present a very special night of readings and performances from trans and non-binary youth, alongside visiting writer Eli Clare, and Nat Raha.

This event is part of Many Voices, Scottish PEN’s new project aiming to offer new platforms for stories that are often excluded from the public conversation. I Write, I Rise is a group of young trans, non-binary, genderfluid and genderqueer writers, led by trans / queer poet and activist Nat Raha. Join us for an evening to showcase the work and talent of the participating writers.

Event is free but ticketed, and spaces are limited.

*Please note: LGBTQ Youth Priority category is reserved for LGBTQ identifed youth only.

White, disabled, and genderqueer, Eli Clare lives in the Green Mountains of Vermont where he writes and proudly claims a penchant for rabble-rousing. He has written two books of creative non-fiction, Brilliant Imperfection: Grappling with Cure and Exile and Pride: Disability, Queerness, and Liberation, and a collection of poetry, The Marrow's Telling: Words in Motion, and has been published in many periodicals and anthologies.

Eli speaks, teaches, and facilitates all over the United States and Canada at conferences, community events, and colleges about disability, queer and trans identities, and social justice. Among other pursuits, he has walked across the United States for peace, coordinated a rape prevention program, and helped organize the first ever Queerness and Disability Conference.

Nat Raha is a poet and trans / queer activist, living in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her poetry includes two collections: countersonnets (Contraband Books, 2013), and Octet (Veer Books, 2010); and numerous pamphlets including ‘de/compositions’ (Enjoy Your Homes Press, 2017), '£/€xtinctions' (sociopathetic distro, 2017), '[of sirens / body & faultlines]' (Veer Books, 2015), and 'mute exterior intimate' (Oystercatcher Press, 2013). She's performed and published her work internationally. Her essay ‘Transfeminine Brokenness, Radical Transfeminism’ has recently been published in the South Atlantic Quarterly.

Nat is undertaking a PhD in Creative & Critical Writing at the University of Sussex; and since April, she has been working with Scottish PEN, running creative writing workshops with trans and non-binary youth, as part of the Many Voices project.

LGBT Youth Scotland is the largest youth and community-based organisation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Scotland. The charity's mission is to empower lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people and the wider LGBT community so that they are embraced as full members of the Scottish family at home, school and in every community.

Scottish PEN is the Scottish branch of PEN International, a not-for-profit organisation that champions freedom of speech and literature across borders. Scottish PEN defends writers who are subject to censorship, imprisonment, death sentence, and exile, their freedom of expression, freedom of press, and freedom to critique.

Interrobang?! is Scotland’s most adorably edgy night of storytelling & music, and Britain’s Best Regular Spoken Word Night

Venue accessibility:

The Scottish Poetry Library has a ground-floor entrance and a lift that provides access to all three floors of the building. There is one adapted toilet on the basement floor. Guide and hearing dogs are welcome.
If you require a portable hearing loop, please let us know by emailing heini@scottishpen.org.