I call Becky Chambers’ Wayfarers series “queer domestic sci-fi.” All of the space opera, but all of the internal monologue too. It’s amongst my favourite book series ever, so naturally I was ecstatic when Waterstones announced a virtual talk between Becky Chambers and Laura Lam. Lam is the author of Goldilocks and the co-author of... Continue Reading →
Propositions for Alternative Narratives from Photoworks is a stunning selection of contemporary photography packaged in an appealing and thought-provoking way. Although every piece is of high quality, the work of three women artists in particular stand out: Pixy Liao, Ronan Mckenzie, and Alberta Whittle. Taking inspiration from Dayanita Singh’s portable exhibitions, the show comes in... Continue Reading →
Like many of us, my favourite Christmas song is ‘Fairytale of New York’ by The Pogues. From the very first lines its sentimentality is grounded in a hard realism, “It was Christmas Eve babe / In the drunk tank / An old man said to me, won't see another one / And then he sang... Continue Reading →
The WayWORD Festival, a student-led creative arts festival run by the WORD Centre at the University of Aberdeen is without a doubt, summed up with the expression “maximum effort, maximum reward,” in terms of the time and energy it took to get it all together, and the obstacles we overcame. The tagline we chose, “unconventional... Continue Reading →
Hysteria is an art collective and performance night featuring women, non-binary and trans creatives in Aberdeen, which held their first ever competitive poetry slam on Thursday 13 August over Zoom. Founded by Hanna Louise and Mae Diansangu, Hysteria prides itself on elevating marginalised voices. Since Hysteria hadn’t been charging their regular fee for events over... Continue Reading →
Imagine you could go back in time and have a drink with a younger version of your wife. Would it be cheating? What if you went back to the apartment you share? Would it be a betrayal? How do you think the younger version of your wife would feel if she knew? The Psychology of... Continue Reading →
The Glasgow Short Film Festival, as part of their series Dive In Cinema, released a programme of three short films for the Scottish International Queer Film Festival (SQIFF). According to SQIFF Technical Coordinator Marc David Jacobs, these short films redress the imbalances of mainstream asexual representation, which is almost all white and American. The three... Continue Reading →
A few months ago Michael Lee Richardson from indie publishers 404 Ink got in touch with the arts collective I'm in, The Queer Dot, to discuss a possible collaborative event for Book Week Scotland. Working together we decided that Clarks on Lindsay Street would be the best venue and that we’d showcase the work of... Continue Reading →
Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ It’s very interesting to read a book where the main character is in denial. Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor is set in the early 90s in America, which any student of queer history knows is within the shadow the AIDs crisis. But while Paul Polydoris – a... Continue Reading →
To mark World Aids Day (1 December) The Queer Dot screened an old VHS copy of the documentary ‘Silence = Death’. Made in 1990, the film opens violently as performance artist Emilio Cubeiro apparently shoots himself through his arsehole. From there the tone is set; one of anger, frustration, immense loss, and startling creativity. New... Continue Reading →
