Queer Coll(I/U)Sions Academia/Activism/Art

QUEER COLL(I/U)SIONS ACADEMIA/ACTIVISM/ART

Tanya Huff is the Aurora Award Winning author of The Smoke Books, The Blood Books, the Quarters Series, and the Keeper's Chronicles. Her Blood Books were turned into the television series Blood Ties. In addition to the Au- rora Awards, she has received nominations and made the

MARCH 4TH-6TH SADLEIR HOUSE Conference Program PETERBOROUGH,ON #queercollisions QC 2 CONTENTS

ABOUT...... 3

WELCOME...... 3

KEYNOTE DR. RINALDO WALCOTT...... 4

INCLUSIVITY STATEMENT...... 5

FRIDAY, MARCH 4TH...... 6

SATURDAY, MARCH 5TH...... 6

SUNDAY, MARCH 6TH...... 14

PARTICIPANTS...... 21

SADLEIR HOUSE...... 27

TRAVEL...... 27 ABOUT QUEER COLL(I/U)SIONS WELCOME

The Queer Coll(i/u)sions Conference invites people from a variety We, the organizers of the Queer Coll(i/u)sions conference, Cait P. of perspectives on queerness to discuss, interrogate, and explore Jones and Derek Newman-Stille, would like to welcome all of the LGBTQ2 and Queer perspectives whether academically, artistically, participants and attendees to our conference. We were extremely or through activism. We hope to provide space for the collision of excited about the variety and quality of the paper submissions we different queer discourses and push the boundaries of the tradi- received this year and hope that this conference will be an excit- tional conference by allowing for different modalities of expression ing opportunity for discussion and the development of new ideas. and examination. Traditional academia often limits the potential mo- This conference is focussed on conversations, on opportunities for dalities for expression of critical queer questions and our hope is to meeting, thinking, talking, and speculating about the topic of “queer- push beyond the traditional modalities, to queer academic practice. ness”. We would like to thank all of you for coming to the conference and participating in this opportunity to converse and play with new Queerness and queer discourse provides a rich space of collisions ideas. between different ideas, perspectives, thoughts, and bodies, but it also provides opportunities for collusion, collaboration, and coop- We would like to thank Sadleir House for providing this space and eration. Constructed as a social “other”, LGBTQ2 or Queer people for providing funding for this event. We would like to thank Rinaldo collide with traditional normativities, ideas constructed as the status Wallcott for being our keynote speaker. Thank you also to those of quo, challenging the boundaries of tradition itself and providing a you who offered to do author readings, performances, academic new dialogic space for interrogating ideas that are taken-for-grant- papers, workshops, discussion groups, and who offered to moder- ed as “the way things are”. The aims of this conference are to col- ate panels for us. A conference like this is a community project and lude with one another, to form a rich polyphony of voices to collide relies on the strengths and work of all of us. with those normate ideas and constructions that continually Other Queer bodies and Queer ideologies. Thank you, Cait P. Jones and Derek Newman-Stille

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QC 3 QC 4 KEYNOTE DR. RINALDO WALCOTT

Rinaldo Walcott is an Associate Professor and Director of Women’s and Gender Studies Institute at the University of Toronto. He is a member of the Department of Social Justice Education at OISE, as well as the Graduate Program in Cinema Studies at the University of Toronto. His teaching and research is in the area of black diaspora cultural studies and postcolonial studies with an emphasis on questions of sexuality, gender, nation, citizenship and multicultural- ism. From 2002-2007 Rinaldo held the Canada Research Chair of Social Justice and Cultural Studies where his research was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Can- ada, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the Ontario In- novation Trust. Rinaldo Walcott is the author of Black Like Who: Writing Black Canada (Insonmiac Press, 1997 with a second revised edi- tion in 2003); he is also the editor of Rude: Contemporary Black Canadian Cultural Criticism (Insomniac, 2000). As well Rinaldo is the Co-editor with Roy Moodley of Counselling Across and Be- yond Cultures: Exploring the Work of Clemment Vontress in Clinical Practice (University of Toronto Press, 2010). Currently, Rinaldo is completing Black Diaspora Faggotry: Saturday, March 5th Readings Frames Limits, which is under-contract to Duke Univer- DINING HALL sity Press. Additionally Rinaldo is co-editing with Dina Georgis and 9:00AM Katherine McKittrick No Language Is Neutral: Essays on Dionne Brand forthcoming. Additionally, Rinaldo is completing The Long Black and Queer: Contradictions and Paradoxes Emancipation:Moving Towards (Black) Freedom, An Essay. As Dr. Rinaldo Walcott an interdisciplinary black studies scholar Rinaldo has published in a wide range of venues. His articles have appeared in journals and This paper address post-Stonewall queer politics and the ways books, as well as popular venues like newspapers and magazines, in which blackness presents a paradox. The paper ask what is at as well as other kinds of media. stake when the paradoxes are revealed for white queer politics. Ul- timately, this paper confronts the ways in which a certain register of white queer politics aims and abets the logics of white supremacist logics. INCLUSIVITY STATEMENT We require a harassment-free environment. Harassment includes but is not limited to:

Queer Coll(i/u)sions seeks to provide a safe space for discussion • Verbal comments that reinforce social structures of domination and the flow of new ideas. We ask that our participants help us to related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual ori- create an inclusive and welcoming space. entation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, religion, economic or social class Please keep in mind that the freedom of thought and expression • Deliberate intimidation, stalking, or following encouraged at this conference also requires that one’s behaviours • Harassing photography or recording or comments do not infringe on the rights of others or do harm to • Intentional disruption of events others. • Inappropriate or unwelcome physical contact or sexual attention. We recognize the inherent value and worth of all participants and • Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behaviour ask for an environment that similarly expresses the inherent value of all participants. We want this conference to be a space that fos- Enforcement: ters dignity, understanding, and mutual respect. Participants who are asked to cease harassing behaviour are expected to comply immediately. If a participant engages in harassing behaviour, event organisers retain the right to take any actions to keep the event a welcoming environment for all participants. This includes warning the offender or expulsion from the conference.

Reporting:

If someone is engaging in harassing or threatening behaviour, we ask that you report it to the organizers or staff. We want to ensure that you have a safe, happy, welcoming experience at the confer- HARASSMENT ence.

QC 5 QC 6 Friday, March 4th Saturday, March 5th DINING HALL DINING HALL 7:30PM 11:00AM Slashing Popular Fiction, Film, and TV: Use Fan Fiction to add Deconstructing Whiteness in Critical Femme-ininity Studies: that LGBTQ Flavour Towards a Racially Inclusive Theory of Femme Identities ALLISON TAYLOR Do you see a homoerotic subtext to some of the TV shows, films, Dating back to 1940s and 1950s Canadian and American working- and books you devour? Do you think there is just waaaay too much class lesbian bar culture, femme identities have been claimed by chemistry between Sherlock and Watson, Spock and Kirk, Regina Black queer women to situate their femininities in relation to their and Emma Swan? Are there characters that seem ready to transi- queerness. Indeed, femme identities have long and rich histories tion? You should write these stories as you see them and insert a within Canadian and American Black queer women’s communities. queer voice. If TV and popular culture aren’t going to include queer However, because of the racism within white, mainstream queer relationships, we should write in our own. The term for these pair- communities, the images and histories of ‘femme’ that have come ings and queerings is “slash fiction” and it is a great way to introduce out of Black communities for decades have been ignored and under- queer voices into popular culture that tends to be pretty straight. acknowledged. In this paper I respond specifically to the erasure of Black femme identities in mainstream academic femme discourse Bring in stories you have written, stories you love to read, or just and theory. I argue that femme identities, as taken up by Black come and listen to some great slash fan fiction. It should be a lot of queer women, function as sites of resistance to, and subversion laughs, a lot of fun, and a lot of “I knew it!! There is just waaaay too of, racist conceptions and norms of sexuality, gender, and embodi- much chemistry between them!!” ment. I begin by situating my argument within Bobby Noble’s work on queering white masculinities. I extend his argument to fem(me) ininities as a theoretical basis for analyzing the exclusion of Black femme identities from mainstream discussions and representations of ‘femme.’ Second, I draw on Judith Butler’s theory of performativ- ity to consider the uniquely situated gendered and racialized subjectivity of Black femme women. Third, I apply Noble’s and Butler’s theories to my examination of the personal writings of Black femme women, as presented in blog and short essay forms, to demonstrate how femme identities can help Black queer women challenge and resist racist ideals of queerness and beauty, and thereby function as sites of empowerment. I conclude with a brief discussion on the importance of interrogating and deconstructing racially exclusive conceptions and representations of queer femme identities. “a foreign anguish”: Language and the Representation of men and women to liberate themselves from the proverbial closet Black Female Bodies in the Poetry Dionne Brand and M. through the pursuit of citizenship elsewhere. Stories shared by par- NourbeSe Philip ticipants reveal a sense of ambivalence, a state in which their own CAIT P. JONES sense of belonging to Black and/or queer communities is tenuous In society black bodies are seen as less than white bodies. This and often relative to the specific spaces that they happen to inhabit paper will examine the way in which colonialism has affected stan- at any given point. In this respect, Black queer subjectivity for these dards of beauty on black bodies, particularly black female bodies. men demands a constant negotiation of space and place and the Using an anti-colonial lens, this paper will explore the use of lan- performance of multiple selves. guage in poems by Dionne Brand and M. NourbeSe Philip. It further examines how Brand and Philip resist white supremacist beauty standards by literally speaking back through poetry. I further argue Saturday, March 5th that through the invocation of scientific language Brand and Philip HOBBS LIBRARY are challenging, dismantling, and de-powering stereotypes that are 11:00AM posited as medical fact through years of oppressive infrastructures. It is through this that both authors are able to create space for both Queer Arts Panel authors as subjects rather than objects to be objectified. CATHY PETCH, EIMINH GENTLE, FRANKIE MCGEE, SAID JIDDAWY, SIMON TURNER This will be a panel to talk about queer inclusive spaces within Black Queer Masculinities and/in Jamaica: Stories of the performance art community. There are a lot of conversations (Un)Belonging going on about this in different performance spaces in Peterbor- CORNEL GREY ough, whether in spaces created for spoken word, theatre, music, This paper examines the ways in which Jamaican men forge queer or dance, but these conversations rarely happen across different identities in the face of antihomosexual sentiment. The potency of performance art communities. This panel brings together queer art- homophobia within the island-nation is seen to be reinforced by ists from various performance communities within Peterborough the heteronormative values of the State, Church and secular so- to discuss the topic of inclusive spaces and share knowledge and ciety. Black masculinity and queer identity are positioned as mu- experiences of barriers to inclusion and successful strategies for tually exclusive qualities within Jamaica and the men who inhabit inclusion. both of these categories have great difficulty in participating fully as Within the spoken word community in Peterborough, there citizens. Nonetheless, these men are able to embody and express have been several queer poetry slams and open mics, including their queerness in various ways. Western nations such as theUnit- those that were a part of Cathy Petch’s Hot Damn it’s a Queer Slam ed States and Canada have been able to construct images of them- series and the Ignite Open Mic put on by Sasha Patterson and Anya selves as progressive, liberal and inclusive in relation to countries Gwynne in collaboration with the queeRAdicals. These events have such as Jamaica, whose laws still prohibit same-sex intimacy. Us- been extremely well received and are frequently requested by po- ing data garnered from nine qualitative interviews, the study details etry audiences. Many have expressed the need for more intention- the lived experiences of queer Jamaican men, some of whom have ally queer identified artistic and performance spaces, the need to migrated to Western states, and the ways in which their multiple have access to them more frequently, for them to be bigger, and to identities shape their social worlds. Immigration to the North is often be more accessible. Our panel emerges from this conversation and depicted as a “way out”, an escape route of sorts that permits queer hopes to broaden it. QC 7 QC 8 Saturday, March 5th Androgyny, The Queer Beauty Standard and Buzzfeed Activ- ism: Queerness in Social Media and Pop Culture DINING HALL FRANCES BATTEN 2:00PM This paper will examine the narrowness and the exclusive nature Fans Queering “The Force Awakens”: how is fanfiction influ- of mainstream pop-cultural representations of androgyny and the encing the reading of romantic interest between characters implications of what we consider to be gender neutral. Furthermore, in mainstream popular culture? it will examine how the recent celebration in mainstream media of CATH DUCHASTEL DE MONTROUGE queerness has failed to challenge hegemony to the extent that it In recent years fanfiction has gained some legitimacy and visibil- could, and arguably to the extent people give it credit for, and how ity in mainstream popular media as a form of fan activity of some it has instead created new standards that define what is and what significance. Certain fanfiction activities have found their way into is not considered acceptable queerness. Androgyny in fashion has, mainstream vocabulary and use, particularly as it relates to the play- for some time now, been dominated by white, thin, assigned female ful and proprietary ways fans have of considering and manipulating at birth (AFAB) bodies, wearing menswear such as pinstripes, sus- the fandoms they consume. One such activity is that of “shipping”, penders and suit jackets. While this from of androgyny is valid and that is, the acting out of the desire to see particular characters be worthy of being celebrated, the fact that it is the only way of being in a romantic relationship with each other, regardless of whether or androgynous that is presented in popular culture is problematic, as not they do so in canon (the original text) or not. it excludes the multitudes of other androgynous identities and ex- In this presentation, I want to examine the emergence of the pressions that exist within the queer community. Poe/Finn ship from the Star Wars: The Force Awakens, almost as Buzzfeed and other websites have not only been celebrat- soon as the movie was released. The fans’ reaction to the chem- ing the aesthetic and sexual appeal of (certain kinds of) androgyny; istry between Poe Dameron and Finn, the two male leads of the they have also started to report on queer issues, bringing things into movie, was explosive and immediate: Fan art and short fanfics the mainstream that were not previously talked about in the realm started appearing almost instantly, op-eds and articles analyzing of popular culture. While this is good, the surface-level nature of ar- whether their interactions could be perceived as romantic were only ticles published by these sites has created an internet atmosphere exacerbated by Oscar Isaac’s ambiguous declaration on the Ellen of pressing “share” and feeling like a part of the solution rather than DeGeneres show that he was certainly “playing romance”. The im- thinking more critically, and perhaps taking steps to actively push mediacy and strength of the reaction to the possibility of having against hegemonic gender and beauty ideals. This paper will look the main romance in the new Star Wars trilogy be queer could be critically at this kind of media and the way we interact with it, and indicative of the necessity, expressed by queer and straight fans, to examine the ways in which it both helps and hinders the making of see more queer representation in popular culture. How are queer- significant societal change and the advancing of queer issues. ness and cripness evidenced through this manifestation? How are they challenging heterosexist and ableist norms? I will offer a crip/queer reading of this fannish explosion of queerness in mainstream popular culture discourse, using Robert McRuer’s (2006) concept of the political and cultural subject as de- pendent on both a “compulsory heterosexuality” and a “compulsory able-bodieness” to be legible and legitimate. Not Making a Move: Reticence in Queer Love Saturday, March 5th SHERRY HUANG HOBBS LIBRARY Reticence recalls the longing for that which it will not allow. This 2:00PM paper looks at various medias and scholarly sources for scenes in which reticence acts as the crucial site where queer intimacies can Wretched Bodies exist. It converges with the queer act of cruising but differs because BRIDGET LIANG cruising eventually ends when one goes home or hooks up. When (TW: gore, cannibalism/vore, gore, non-consensual sex, dubiously consensual experiencing direct and actual desire is a threat to one’s flourishing sex) (and I use flourishing here the way Lauren Berlant does in Cruel Wretched Bodies is a short erotic/vengeance story that tackles Optimism, to talk about a specifically queer kind of well-being,) or themes of marginality, normalcy, the abject body, what bodies are existence, “not making a move” can become a way one can still deemed sexual, and what bodies are valuable or worth living. The access territories of longing. In her book Syncope, from the chap- idea for Wretched Bodies stems from J. Cohen’s (1996) book on ter called “Loves me, Loves me Not,” Catherine Clemont quotes Monster Theory; Cohen posits that the monstrous body is often a Hegel: “Repulsion is, although negative, still essentially relation; the stand-in for marginalized bodies, as demonstrated in stories such mutual repulsion and flight is not a liberation from what is repelled as King Kong which stands in for black masculinities, and Hanni- and fled from, the one as excluding still remains related to what it bal for transfeminine bodies. In such narratives, often written by excludes.” And then Clemont, herself, writes: “I push you away, but white, hetero, able-bodied cis-men, bodies such as mine (queer, I love you” (Syncope 73). How do repulsion and reticence differ, transfeminine, disabled, fat, non-white) are represented as undesir- and how do they both defer? The movie Happy Together, directed able, horrifying, not worth living, and thus as deserving destruction. by Wang Kar Wai, is doing the work I also do to put off what I can’t I weave Mbembe’s concept of necropolitics (2003) into this story. bear – to put you off whom I can’t possibly lose. In the film, repulsion Mbembe writes that necropolitics is, “-the capacity to define who always gives way to reticence; something tender. There is so much matters and who does not, who is disposable and who is not”. blue in the movie, the blue of a picture of a waterfall lamp. They The zombie’s body is ironically, undead, rotting, and ugly. have their faces in the lamp and later on in the movie the screen fills The zombie is a threat to the nation state with its ability to turn up with an actual waterfall. Wang Kar Wai puts our faces in front of good, abiding human citizens into ugly, rotting zombies, and thus, the lamp, too. zombies need to be killed. This narrative is depressing if it’s the “It is always too late to do anything / the present in its endless rec- only way abject bodies can be represented. I take the figure of the onciliation.” zombie and turn it into the hero. The protagonist of this story, who is a fat, racialized trans woman, exacts her revenge on normatively bodied humans who treated her as a monster while she was in life.

QC 9 QC 10 Rowena SEAN MORELAND Saturday, March 5th LECTURE HALL De-voiced by patriarchy, disempowered by the official word, Ro- wena and her husband’s deceased first wife Ligeia need to voice 2:00PM the depth of their feelings and identity through subversion, through Gender Euphoria: an exploration through art and movement hidden texts, and these secret texts are part of the act of recovery, MARTY part of the expression of the self who is perpetually silenced. I would like to explore and celebrate trans peoples’ experiences of Moreland’s Rowena is a beautiful love affair through ink and gender euphoria in an art piece. I will draw on my own experiences, text, a meeting of pages full of memory and the desire to speak. seek to partner with another co-creator, and ask others to submit (Excerpt from Speculating Canada’s review of Rowena.) their experiences online. I want to focus on gender euphoria as a key part of trans stories that is often amiss in mainstream media, medicine, and academia. These fields reduce trans people to their gender dysphoria, limiting what is studied, reported on, discussed, and acted upon. For example, when trying to access gender affirming surgeries or therapies, trans people often have to prove their trans-ness by the amount of suffering caused by dysphoria rather than the joys of gender euphoria—in certain cases, expressions of this euphoria work against access to these treatments (see autogynephilia). Although gender dysphoria is an important part of some trans people’s experiences, it is not the defining factor of being trans. When dysphoria is the sole focus of trans people’s lives, they are positioned as disempowered, suffering, and miserable. It also nar- rows the perceived inclusion of certain trans people who may not feel or emphasize that dysphoria. I want to give greater representation of trans people’s journeys to self-empowerment through gender euphoria, exploring the diversity and beauty of trans experiences. The art form will invite participants/viewers to interact with the work. I would like to set up the work throughout the building, in corridors and staircases. It will involve mixed media, windows, mir- rors, and words. I would like to make at least 10 sets, each exploring a different story/feeling/thought about gender euphoria. I would also like to leave a set blank for participants to add their own stories. Saturday, March 5th “A Common Feeling”: Theorizing upon Representations of Asexualities Within Queer Identity Politics and Sex-Positive DINING HALL Communities 4:00PM KATHERINE WOODMAN Got a Pic? Being Poor and Getting Sex: I propose that while asexual identity politics share many of the same Exploring queer male relationships, sexual cultures and in- struggles in historical representation and pathologization as their equalities queer counterparts, asexual and queer identity politics diverge in DWAYNE SHAW their positions on the extent to which sexuality determines the exis- In this talk I will invite individuals to explore with me issues around tence of queerness within an embodied subject. My paper will con- sex and relationships in the new millennium. First, I explore his- tribute to ongoing efforts to destigmatize asexualities within queer tories of gay men/bi men/men who have sex with men during the communities- communities to which many individuals on the asexual 1970’s /1980’s and the pleasures and dangers they faced within kaleidoscope of identity belong. Recently, queer communities have bathhouses and public spaces as they formed a public sexual cul- begun to advocate sex positivity, an attitude towards human sexu- ture. Central to my presentation are key questions I will ask that ality that regards all consensual sexual activities as fundamentally pertain to what relationships look like or how are our relationships healthy and pleasurable, as the most progressive method through fare when you are facing a variety of barriers and forms of oppres- which sexual desire can be consensually expressed. However, the sion. Some issues I will discuss are: body issues, health and dis- presumption of sexual activity in sex positive movements as “fun- abilities, gender identity, housing issues, poverty, and self-esteem damentally healthy” implies an un-healthiness and unnaturalness issues, as lgbtq+ individuals. I can share personal narratives and attributed to asexualities, enforcing a queered form of a progress will bring together other voices to help individuals to explore as we narrative in which queer, homonormative (and often implied repro- discuss and talk about relationship and sex histories. sexual) interpretations of sexuality are posited as the ideal state to There is a gap of visible and invisible in the public imagina- which all identities should aspire. tion plus in our own lives. This doesn’t help when lgbtq individuals Not only does this narrative deny agency to queer asexuals are wanting or trying to get into relationships and what those rela- grappling with tensions surrounding the legitimacy of their sexual tionships look like when you are dealing with the results of discrimi- orientation within queer spaces, but it also holds implications for the nation. I will reflect on what emerges when marginalized individuals ways in which queer, asexual kaleidoscope individuals feel comfort- are trying to live life as best as they can and continue to be dis- able in accessing mental and sexual public health care within the crimination against because of being marginalized, I conclude my Canadian psychological-medical discourse. Already facing medical presentation by offering suggestions and provoking more questions ignorance towards and as a result of their queer self-identification, about how we move forward as members of the lgbtq communities these individuals’ ‘lack’ of sexual desire is often pathologized as ne- and hopefully as we continue this conversation beyond this confer- cessitating external medication and counselling to remedy a sexual ence and into our own communities. deficiency, as opposed to their asexualities being represented as ‘naturally’ occurring variables in human sexual expression and desire. I will use a queer theoretical lens, through examining Warner’s “Fear of a Queer Planet” and other theories of queer identity formation, to discuss the ways in which certain sexualities and sexual practices are constructed and re/constituted as norms in our soci- QC 11 QC 12 ety, leading to the privileging of heterosexual, sexual practice above Saturday, March 5th all others. Finally, I will discuss present day attempts to remedy stigmatization and pathologized ‘treatment’ of asexualities within a HOBBS LIBRARY Canadian socio-medical context. 4:00PM Crouching Tiger, Resting Bitch Queering Higher Education KATE STORY SUSAN HILLOCK Currently entitled “Crouching Tiger, Resting Bitch” the piece ex- Current literature on queering educational systems emphasizes plores the intersections between memory, self-narrativizing, and the school bullying and indicates specific gaps in professional teacher way in which as a queer youth in the 1980s I was able to lie to my- and social work training, education, and research.This presenta- self. The work is ostensibly about the first boy I ever fell in love with. tion sheds a light on the current realities of education and queer There is my memory, there is my current sense of self as a queer communities and presents creative models, ideas, and recommen- adult, and there are my journals from the time. As I wrote about this dations related to Queering Higher Education. Hillock also iden- GREAT LOVE (it is funny now, although it was heartbreaking at the tifies and critiques the absence of lesbian women, bisexuals, In- time) I erased for myself the fact that I had been in love with my best digenous people, racialized, intersex, and trans queers, and those friend, a girl, for 2-3 unrequited years before this. And yet Margaret identified as “other” from education, history, literature, social work, kept coming up in the journal too. I was aware and not aware of my scholarship, and research. Hillock analyzes the debates, tensions, own erasure. I believe this mental and emotional effect is common and issues related to queering the academy. Hillock also suggests among queer folk in queer-hostile environments; it fascinates me. creative ways for educators to assist students to challenge and The story is also about the fact that I used to read Tarot cards, transform traditional beliefs. sometimes with somewhat disturbing accuracy. When I came close to the end of the draft in the storefront, I got out my Tarot cards and drew one to represent where I am now, while onlookers watched. The beautiful action sequences of the movie “Crouching Tiger, Hid- den Dragon” affected me profoundly. By the time the film came out I was in a long-term relationship with a woman, and yet the near-flying abilities of the martial artists, and the unrequited longing between the two older characters, spoke to me forcefully (even though they were a man and a woman). The “resting bitch” part is a reference to the social media flurry around the management of women’s faces; female stars are often criticized for looking severe while being photographed unawares, and apparently women are seeking plastic surgery to make their faces compliant at all times, even when concentrating on a task or at rest. I propose to perform the piece while using powerpoint to represent the people involved (not using real photos of course), the Tarot cards, the film, and the social organization of women’s faces at rest as a representation of that which is hidden. These elements are disparate, but come together in the piece in Saturday, March 5th terms of the act of making the self, what we choose to remember or ignore. DINING HALL 7:00PM Short Story Reading Burlesque Performance TANYA HUFF AMY JANE VOSPER AND FRIENDS Tanya Huff will be reading a selection of her short fiction. A FREE burlesque teaser featuring the Kitten Academy and performances by Miss Von Purr, Luna Von B, Heathyr Von Leathyr, Quinn Frenzy and special guests! Saturday, March 5th There will be a cash bar to accompany our body-positive LECTURE HALL showcase of local graduates of the Babe-Lesque classes offered 4:00PM by Burlesque in PTBO and the Trent Queer Collective. Follow up the performance with a talk on Sunday morning about feminist ap- My Queer Body’s Got a Story: Writing Workshop proaches to teaching burlesque classes. Karleen Pendleton Jiménez This event will be licensed, but the space is all-ages. In this workshop/presentation I wish to engage participants in creative writing about their bodies. I will provide prompts and experiences to encourage the writing process. I will also present informa- Saturday, March 5th tion and open discussion about the notion of writing about queer HOBBS LIBRARY bodies, in a context where we are often perceived as invisible or 7:00PM hypervisible, or not perceived at all. What does it mean to write our own queer bodies into discourse? The Robobaby Tears Tour I draw upon a research project entitled, “Through Thick and CATHY PETCH Thin: Investigating Body Image and Body Management in Queer I am currently doing a spoken word tour called “The Robobaby Communities,” where I am a member of the research team. Through Tears Tour”. The theme is about celebrating your other. Too often this project we have asked queer women in the community to en- this is something we are told to be ashamed of, that if we’re not gage in interviews, writing and filmmaking to create stories and im- fitting in our voices need not be heard. As a young person I had a ages to counter normative narratives of our bodies. For example, pronounced lisp and a penchant for being perceived as a boy. The we draw upon queer women’s stories and images to create richer lisp helped me to develop a love for things unhuman, because I and more loving knowledge than the ways in which bio-pedagogies stopped speaking to people for a number of years after moving to provide damaging information to healthcare providers in treating us. different schools and experienced a lot of bullying. I’ve written a I plan to offer participants the opportunity to write together, new chapbook called “unhuman poems” that speaks to how empa- using the prompts I developed for our research project. In addition, thy has no thumbs and how when you grow up other you find a love I would contextualize this activity with some of the words and works for things that look nothing like you. In the past few years I have of the participants in our study. I will discuss the story of the re- come out as gender queer and I look to how I always had this in me. search project and show some of the films that have been created. How confusing it was to not have the language to even speak about this. My work celebrates other, the relationships of people who fill QC 13 QC 14 their hearts without having children and how we relate to unhuman Sunday, March 6th things through the lens of trauma and the need for solace. I would craft a piece that speaks to this theme and in my pre- DINING HALL sentation I would use a prompt for the room that would start us all 9:00AM off with speaking about a taboo we likely all have in common. It’s a Deadnames: Transgender Memory and Queer Hauntings in great way to kick ego and fear out the door and let embarrassment Gender Transition be an inspiration for listening to each other in a place where power EVELYN DESHANE need not dominate except to inspire and appreciate. The act of calling a transgender person by their old name is called “deadnaming.” When undergoing transition, some transgender people find their past life reconfigured into a haunted landscape where their old names, lives, and pronouns can follow them like a ghost. This haunting is enforced through the surgical practices of the medical institution and through the way gender narratives are constructed. Transition is often viewed as a metamorphosis with a beautiful ending--such as the butterfly’s cocoon and the phoenix rising from the ashes. But discarding old clothing, names, photographs, and even memories can leave the transgender person in a limbo state of identity, memory, and belonging. For this paper, I aim to explore the (sometimes necessary) violence of transition and the queer hauntings that remain in their wake. I’ll do this through a short story I’ve written on these themes (still pending publication, entitled “Milk”), and explain how, by building on queer memory practices like Ann Cvetcovich’s queer archive, transgender people can rewrite and blend both of their pasts so they can live with their ghosts.

(Making) Relationship(s) Work: Transsensual Femmes and Gender Labour HOLLY TAYLOR Lesbian relationships have undergone a dramatic cultural shift since the late 1990s, at which point the previously prevalent dynamic of femme/butch was transformed amid the rising population of a transgendered male community. As butch lesbian populations dis- sipated, and FTMs (female-to-male transsexuals) emerged, identities of “femme lesbians” were renegotiated, and the term “transsensual femme” was adopted by many trans-loving, femme dykes. Transgenderism often encompasses an intersubjective relational- is never easy, sometimes almost unachievable. Queer, in French, ity between trans men and transsensual femmes, that is seldom is a borrowed word, and speaking of queer issues in a queer fash- the focus of discourses surrounding queer identities. The impact ion is often an experience in estrangement and translation. What of these deeply intimate relational bonds on the female partners is it like, then, to write from a queer perspective in a language like of FTMs has been largely under-acknowledged within literature on French? What is it to do so in Québec and Canada, where English trans issues, yet the intensity of such connections warrants greater and its queer mirages are never far? After surveying the combined attention. In this presentation I will explore the impact of sex af- issues of gender and language dualism in English-French writing firmation processes on the sexual orientation identification expe- and translation in Canada and observe how, to use Burton’s word, rienced by transsensual femmes, as well as ensuing demands for writing queerly in French is an especially “interventionist” practice, I gender labour. I will explore questions of how the lesbian identities will address the question from my own experience as a writer who of female partners are compromised by the gender transition, and is also informed by her experience as an academic, scholar and consequent male-identification of their trans male partners. Spe- translator. cifically, does the transition of one individual result in heterosexual labelling for couples that were deemed “lesbian” prior to transition? And if this is the case, should female partners therefore self-identify Sunday, March 6th as straight in order to maintain a heterosexual image? Additionally, LECTURE HALL what types of gender labour do transsensual femmes undertake 9:00AM in their efforts to negotiate this role? Ultimately, I hope to demonstrate that the experiences of transsensual femmes are often in- visibalized due to the lack of language, knowledge and context that Babes in Joy-land: Body Positivity, Burlesque and Feminism researchers have at their disposal. New and innovative language AMY JANE VOSPER must be developed and embraced in order to challenge and expand Burlesque and performances centering on the emphasis and paro- upon existing classification systems for sexual orientation, so as dy of traditional sexuality have a long and fascinating history. How- to acknowledge and accommodate the presence of transsensual ever, with North American society’s renewed interest in burlesque femmes within the contemporary queer community. and the pin-up aesthetic, an unconscious and gendered divide has been growing. Traditionalists believe that burlesque should feature female performers and males wishing to partake should be con- Queer is not a French word or writing queerly in la langue de tained in another form of expression deemed, “boylesque”. Some Tremblay burlesque performers fail to recognize the heavy influence of drag SYLVIE BÉRARD and drag performances of gender on the current manifestation There is a French proverb that says “Impossible n’est pas Français”, of the art form. Such a mindset is detrimental to the progression or “The word impossible is not French”. Well, speaking queerly may and evolution of modern-day burlesque performance. Burlesque not be impossible in French, but it is quite challenging. Queer, obvi- is a space in which an individual may address and explore ideas ously, is not a French word, but there is no actual French term to of gender, sexuality and identity. Not belonging to one gender nor relay the same meaning. Moreover, in a highly gendered language another, the fluidity of this performance-based art form is reliant in which the usage of grammar is often mistaken for its absolute on pushing boundaries, bucking tradition and finding new avenues rules, the way out of sexism towards queerness and gender fluidity for self-expression and acceptance. A new type of burlesque is un- QC 15 QC 16 folding, albeit slowly, and representations of queer sexuality and It’s Time for Grey a Theory: Introducing Age to Queer and identity are being celebrated in new and diverse practices. As both Crip Theory a burlesque performer and teacher, I was witness to conscious and JAMI MCFARLAND unconscious discrimination against different bodies and sexualities. In his influential Crip Theory: Cultural Signs of Queerness and What seemed on the surface to be an open and celebratory art Disability, Robert McRuer theorizes around the connections that form was unfairly rejecting individuals who did not fit a certain pre- exist between disability and homosexuality, crip and queer, and conceived notion of a “burlesque performer”. Inspired, or perhaps able-bodiedness and heterosexuality. McRuer’s intervention, ‘crip’ enraged, by this realization, I sought to create a safe and empower- theory, relies on the marriage of queer theory and critical disability ing space for all bodies to come together to learn, to celebrate and studies to expose the interconnectedness of compulsory hetero- to perform their sexuality and identity as they saw fit. The result sexuality and able-bodiedness. Following McRuer’s intervention in has been a rewarding and enlightening experience. I would love to queer theory and critical disability studies, I will similarly explore share my findings with you. these disciplines, but I will introduce age, specifically ‘old age’, as a social location that may potentially influence and challenge these disciplines. Using both queer and crip theory insights, I will address From Slash Fan Fiction to Crip Fan Fiction: What Role Does the queer/crip potential of the aging body. Focusing on the ‘old’ and Disability Have in Fandom? ‘desexualized’ body, I will investigate the ways in which the aging DEREK NEWMAN-STILLE body has the potential to re-write, challenge, scramble and unsettle Henry Jenkins illustrates that fan communities are “active, critically seemingly stable, sexual, and embodied identities and dominant engaged, and creative”. Through the process of writing fan fiction, notions of a “normal” and/or “healthy” sexuality. In this paper, I will fans are not just consuming popular cultural material, but engaging focus, firstly, on the shared discursive qualities of the disabled and with it and transforming it to represent their own messages. Slash aging body and, secondly, how the aging body as a sexual body fiction (a queering of characters) can be considered a method of has the potential to queer. I seek to draw my audience’s attention to critically questioning the messages about gender and sexuality pre- how queer theorizing has previously missed an opportunity to em- sented in hegemonically produced pop media. Slash fiction, with brace the queer, aging body. Drawing predominantly on the works its power of subversion, holds the potential to provide a model for of Robert McRuer and Judith Butler to acknowledge how the aims a critical engagement and re-writing of disability in popular culture. of queer and crip theory may be best met by focusing on the aging However, instead, slash fan fiction tends to rely on disempower- body, I argue that the corporeal, aging body has the potential to ing tropes of disabilities, reifying images of disability as “inspiration challenge and subvert hetero(normative) sex, desire, and sexuality. port”, the disabled person as the victim, the disabled person as helpless, and the disabled person as damaged and in need of help. These are images that serve to reinforce hegemonic images of disability that present the disabled body as incomplete and synony- mous with a pity narrative. This paper will examine representations of disability in fan fiction on the popular site Archive of Our Own to analyse the interaction between disability and slash fiction to look at the implications of queering characters for the representation of disability. Towards a Queer Ethic Sunday, March 6th QUINN FERENTZY DINING HALL The deliberate rejection of heteronormative values presents both a 11:00AM challenge and an opportunity to enrich ethical life. Drawing heavily from the critique of Hegel present in Butler’s Giving an Account of No Laughing Matter: Harley Quinn Resisting Bi/Poly Erasure Oneself, this paper examines the impact of the queer subject in the KELSI MORRIS scene of address. What are some complications of establishing a I’m going to start off with a brief history of Harley, emphasizing her “queer” ethic? My paper explores this by asking what is a queer at- sole purpose of being created to characterize her abusive partner titude and how does one complicate reciprocal recognition? From as even more villainous, to contextualize how important her new there, the paper examines Maria Lugones on coalitionism to ex- character arc is. This will be where I (with suaveness and profes- amine how different vested interests can become mutually enrich- sionalism) fangirl about all the spectacular aspects of the new story ing instead of destructive. This is complicated by a consideration of arc, focusing especially on she and Ivy as queer and poly. I’ll talk Michael Foucault as well as Didier Eribon’s discussion of Foucault about her agency over how she’s represented, how the art cele- and the damage of the homophobic insult on the formation of the brates her sexuality without sexualizing her, the treatment of her gay “self.” This consideration of the “queer” subject is used to exam- relationship with Ivy (which highlights the connection and intimacy), ine the rampant misogyny that is alive and well today, as described and how she talks about her abusive ex. I also would like to take a by Phillip Kimmel in Guyland. In summary, antagonistic normative couple minutes to talk about why this comic means so much to me. values complicate the scene of address between the “queer” and My two favourite comic characters have become the first time I’ve the “normal” and, negative beliefs about identities like queer make ever seen my identity represented in popular media, and it’s amaz- coalitions and community difficult as homophobia instills an unwill- ing. ingness to associate with what we identify with. Bi/poly erasure in media is a huge problem, and a large part What I’m covering in my talk specifically is the problem of of how it took me so long to come to terms with my own identity. “femmephobia” and how heterosexist culture makes ethical rela- Healthy representation is so important, and it’s almost never been tions in the queer community difficult. The basic idea is that het- done in a non sex-fiend/predatory way before this. The empower- erosexism, misogyny, and femmephobia influence intersubjective ment of Harley (and her fans) is due almost entirely to new fans meaning, especially regarding what the queer community values. “jumping on the bandwagon” when the Batman animated series So while it’s pretty obvious that the larger queer community is full came out. She was never meant to be more than an occasional of all kinds of awful prejudices, I’m examining how these influence side character, but the attention she got from fans is what led to her subject formation. A big part of which is self-loathing. This in turn becoming more fleshed-out in other series, until eventually becom- makes it difficult for queers (umbrella term) to form meaningful coming a character in her own right. She’s now finally been picked up by munities because part of self loathing entails a rejection of things a creative team who loves her, and are finally doing the character “like you.” justice--and making a hugely important statement about the existence of two previously invisible identities. This why it’s important to not assume that “new fans” can have nothing valuable to contribute to a fan base.

QC 17 QC 18 Sunday, March 6th Sunday, March 6th LECTURE HALL DINING HALL 11:00AM 2:00PM

Transgender Autobiographical Comics as Self-documentation, De-Privileging Heteronormativity and Embracing Asexuality: Self-exploration, and Self-love Workshop Reading & Writing Sherlock Fanfiction RONNIE RITCHIE ASHLEY MORFORD This is a workshop designed to show transgender and gender diverse people how autobio comics and the act of drawing oneself I am grey asexual. I first came out to myself in January 2015, to can help them to express, explore, and love themselves on their a few friends in July of the same year, and am still in the process. own terms. I will give examples from my own work, my autobio This journey of coming out started with my becoming a devoted fan comic series called GQutie, as well as work from other artists to of the BBC television series Sherlock. Pia Januschka says in “A show the variety of ways comics can be used. Then, I will guide the Chemical Defect Found in Sherlock Holmes,” “Probably the most group through the making of a “mini zine”, an eight page booklet discussed and most controversial question that the brilliant BBC made from a sheet of copy paper, which they can use to draw their crime drama Sherlock poses is that of Sherlock’s sexuality” (106). own autobio comic. Indeed, Sherlock’s sexuality – and the sexualities of other charac- The most popular topic of autobiography by trans people ters in the series – is the focus of much fan analysis, discussion, is medical transition, starting with Lili Elbe’s Man into Woman. As and creative work. I was able to come out because of the Sherlock the first trans woman to be given hormone replacement therapy, fandom and, in particular, because of the non-heteronormative fan- her unique position likely drove her detailed documentation. Today, fiction that much of the fandom participates in creating, supporting, photography and video blogs are frequently made by trans people and discussing. In fanfiction, I found the depicting, embracing, and to track their medical transitions for themselves and for other trans celebrating of non-heteronormative sexualities, including asexual- people who are making similar journeys. ity. Elizabeth Minkel writes, “[I]n a world laden with queer subtext However, comics provide a unique tool of expression that is a and not a whole lot of queer text, fic has the power to correct that” step away from realistic photographs. The author provides not only (Jamison 18; Minkel para 10). In this paper, I take up Minkel’s idea, their own words, but their own image as well. They have the power drawing on personal narrative, my own creative fanfiction writing, to portray their ideal selves if they have not or cannot achieve it, to and my research work in indigenous queer theory and fan studies; step away from their bodies entirely by portraying themselves as I do so to examine the ways that Sherlock fanfiction deconstructs, animals or simplifying their portrait beyond recognition, and even to challenges, and de-privileges heteronormative representations of attempt to accept the parts of them they dislike by portraying them sexuality, and to discuss how reading and writing Sherlock fanfic- openly. tion has been a positive, empowering act in the journey to under- Through the act of creative expression trans people can vali- standing and embracing my asexuality. date themselves. They say with each drawing “I am worth being drawn, written down, being heard. My thoughts are important, and I am important.” As a group of people frequently silenced, invali- dated, and violently taken from this world, just these small acts of self-love can be revolutionary. Horizontal Lines: Comics, Avatars, and the ‘Queer Phenom- WEBS BECOMING WAVES: Queering the Weird in Caitlin R. enology’ of Depression Kiernan’s novels ROBIN ALEX MCDONALD SEAN MORELAND In this presentation, I seek to theorize “depression” through a lens I will consider the unique and transformative intersection between of what queer theorist and critical race scholar, Sara Ahmed, calls queerness and the weird that occurs in Caitlin R. Kiernan’s novels, a “queer phenomenology.” Drawing from Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s focusing especially on the way they explore the relationship be- writings on phenomenology in 1945, Ahmed’s theory postulates tween temporality and causality, narrative and subjectivity. Drawing queerness as an experience of embodied spatiality and considers upon the fictional and philosophical writings of Lovecraft, writings how queer desires are drawn horizontally, stubbornly refusing to rooted in a radical opposition to teleology and an absolute embrace follow the (hetero)normativity of vertical pathways through life. In of mechanistic-materialist determinism that is at times indistinguish- positing the similarities between the embodied spatialities of queer- able from fatalism, Kiernan’s fiction performs a series of swerves ness and depression, I draw on Ahmed’s queer phenomenological away from Lovecraft, swerves that become increasingly dramatic theory to argue that depression constitutes a disorientation (and, and original as her fiction develops from her first novel Silk (1998) subsequently, a reorientation) of subjectivity; put differently, the de- through her most recent novel, The Drowning Girl (2012). Kier- pressed subject experiences an estrangement from both the “self” nan’s re-figurations of the weird derive much of their impetus from and the “world,” a sensation that can register, at least for this author, her longstanding fascination with what Jung called synchronicity, as profoundly queer in the word’s original meaning of “odd from “a psychically conditioned relativity of space and time.” Her explo- a conventional viewpoint” or “deviating from what is expected.” I rations of this concept have taken a wide variety of forms through support this interpretation with readings of three graphic memoirs the course of her novels, accompanied by a Protean procession of – Allie Brosh’s webcomic installment “Depression: Part 2,” in which images and literary strategies, each allowing a new experience of the comic artist and author details her experience of depression the relationship between time and subjectivity, from the webs that as a narrative of a changing relationship to the objects around her; structure Silk to the waves that shape The Drowning Girl, Kiernan’s Allison Bechdel’s Are You My Mothers?, wherein Bechdel looks to most ambitious and unsettling re-invention of the possibilities of Donald Winnicot’s notion of the “me” and the “not-me” in his theory weird fiction to date. of childhood transitional objects; and Ellen Forney’s Marbles: Ma- I will conclude by considering how Kiernan’s fictions have not nia, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me, in which Forney turns to only quietly revolutionized the meaning and importance of weird fic- self portraiture as a way of grounding herself after receiving a de- tion in the 21st century, but also provided a particularly powerful re- stabilizing diagnosis of Bipolar disorder – as well as scholarship on sponse to the demands of theorists, including Elizabeth Freeman, depression, affect, material culture, phenomenology, and psycho- Judith Roof, and Judith/Jack Halberstam, that queerness must be analysis by scholars such as Sara Ahmed, Ann Cvetkovich, and understood in opposition to time. Henri Ferguson, and Jacques Lacan. My presentation ends with a hopeful observation – that, perhaps, the process of constructing an avatar through drawing/writing graphic memoir (itself a form of self- portraiture) may provide a space for the depressed person to “put the pieces back together again,” even if only temporarily.

QC 19 QC 20 Sunday, March 6th Sunday, March 6th LECTURE HALL LECTURE HALL 2:00PM 4:00PM

Made Flesh Writing Queerly Workshop CHARLENE CHALLENGER CAIT P. JONES AND DEREK NEWMAN-STILLE Charlene will read her short story “MADE FLESH.” This workshop will explore the complexities and questions around queer writing, inviting participants to engage with questions around what constitutes queer writing, how to write beyond the coming out story, how to engage with new media, and exploring how the publishing industry engages with stereotypes. Participants will have a chance to engage with queer writing from a journalistic perspective and from a fiction perspective, allowing for a multiplicity of types of queer writing. Mauna Ku'uaki; the Guardians of Kailua FIONA PATTON Set in ancient Hawaii, three youths, the first, a transgender female training to be a priest (traditionally such women were allowed in the male dominated priesthood. They were considered to be twin- spirited), the second, a male training to be a prophet priest. And third a male who is also twin spirited but within him is the spirit, not of another gender, but of a mountain. Throughout his life he strived Sunday, March 6th to bring this inner spirit into the physical world by growing larger and HOBBS LIBRARY larger. Eventually his two friends must help him realize this ambition 4:00PM in order to save their islands. (This character is based on the activist and musician Isreal Kamakawiwo’ole.) The Taste of Sand MARIE BILODEAU (TW: physical abuse.) Maribella wants nothing more than to escape her abusive relationship and follow the lovely nymph of the forest. But her own fears and expectations hold her back, trapped in a dry land made of stones. Traditional storytelling tackles original material in a powerful tale about facing choices, overcoming fears and how we affect our own ‘story endings. PARTICIPANTS

ALLISON TAYLOR ASHLEY MORFORD Alli Taylor is a graduate student at Ashley Morford is a PhD student in the Western University in Women’s Stud- Department of English at the University ies and Feminist Research. She is of Toronto, and is a member of U of T’s Book History and Sexual Diversity Studies currently completing her M.A., focus- programs. Prior to joining U of T, she at- ing on queer performances of fatness tended Simon Fraser University, where she and femme-ininities. Alli also works at completed a BA in English & First Nations the Sexual Assault Centre of London, Studies and an MA in English. Her research creating curriculum for and facilitating interests include Indigenous studies, decol- young women’s feminist discussion onizing methodologies, 19th-century Brit- groups. ish literature, sexuality studies, fan studies, and performance studies.

AMY JANE VOSPER BRIDGET LIANG Amy Jane Vosper is a third year Cultural Stud- Bridget Liang is a mixed race, queer, transfemi- ies PhD Candidate at Trent University. Her nine, neurodiverse, disabled, fat fangirl. They research involves the horror genre, feminism, came into their queerness in Hamilton Ontario and psychoanalysis and fan culture studies. After co-founded RADAR Youth Group at the LGBTQ completing both a Bachelor of Science in Psy- Wellness Centre (the Well), the first queer group in chology and a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Stud- a high school in Hamilton, and were instrumental ies, Amy Jane shifted her focus for her MA stud- in the passing of an equity policy in the HWDSB. ies in Film at Carleton University, concentrating They have worked for a number of queer/trans on the experiences of female fans of the horror organizations and groups over the years both in genre. Derek Newman-Stille once dubbed her Hamilton and Toronto. They are finishing their MA “the mistress of dark scholarship”. However, in Critical Disability Studies at York.They have outside of academia, Amy Jane is involved in been involved with community research, workshop teaching feminist burlesque classes. and group facilitation, and doing performance art. https://bridgetliang.wordpress.com/

QC 21 QC 22 CAIT P. JONES CHARLENE CHALLENGER Cait P. Jones is a recent graduate of Charlene Challenger is a writer and Trent University with a BA in English graduate of Ryerson Theatre School. Literature. Cait is currently working Her first novel, the young adult fantasy at Sadleir House as the Communica- The Voices in Between, published by tions and Programming Officer. She’s Tightrope Books, was nominated for the 2015 Aurora Award for Best Young particularly interested in intersection- Adult Novel and long-listed for the 2015 al feminisim, and liminality, in 20th Sunburst Award Young Adult Novel cat- century North American literature. As egory. Her work is also featured in Stone well as new forms of journalism and Skin Press’s Gods, Memes and Mon- their uses in regards to protest. sters. She lives in Toronto.

CATH DUCHASTEL DE MONTROUGE CORNEL GREY Cath Duchastel de Montrouge is a Cornel Grey is a Master’s student white, queer, disabled aca-fan who in Women & Gender Studies at the loves fanfic, critiquing pop culture, University of Toronto. He holds a and reading the comments. Her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in English work centres on disability depictions Literature and Sociology from Trent in popular culture and how disabled University. His current research in- people engage with them.Her re- terests centre around questions of search is about fanfic, disabled fans race, sexuality, citizenship and sur- and fans producers and online fanfic- veillance. tion communities.

CATHY PETCH DEREK NEWMAN-STILLE Cathy/Charlie Petch is a spoken word Derek Newman-Stille is completing his PhD performer, actor, playwright and mu- in Canadian Studies at Trent University, re- searching the representation of disability in sical saw aficionado. They combine Canadian Speculative Fiction. He has been these all and tour North America rais- published in venues such as Mosaic, Quill ing eyebrows and awareness. They and Quire, and The Canadian Fantastic in are widely published, run “Hot Damn Focus and has presented in conference such It’s a Queer Slam” and are a proud as The International Conference on the Fan- tastic in the Arts, The International Congress “other”. They are happiest onstage. on Medieval Studies, The Canadian Disabil- www.cathypetch.com ity Studies Association, and The Mid Atlantic Popular and American Culture Association. DWAYNE SHAW FIONA PATTON Dwayne Shaw is a LGBTQ com- Fiona Patton was born in Calgary Alberta munity, anti-poverty, and dis/abil- and grew up in the United States. She re- turned to Canada in 1975 and now lives in ity rights activist, community worker, rural Ontario with her wife, Tanya Huff, two and queer folk historian. He is also lovely little dogs and a whole lot of cats. the Vice-Chair of Queer Ontario an She has seven novels out with DAW Books and over 35 short stories. She is currently Q LGBTQ civil-rights community advocacy group. working on a new heroic fantasy entitled The King’s Eagle. She identifies as Lesbian, Trangender, Bigender, Mahu-or twin-spirited and sometimes as Dean Winchester trapped in Gertrude Stein’s body. C

EVELYN DESHANE FRANCES BATTEN Evelyn Deshane has appeared in Frances Batten is a queer woman cur- Plenitude Magazine, The Rusty rently working on her undergraduate Toque, and is forthcoming in Tesser- degree in gender studies and english acts 19: Superhero Universe. Evelyn at Trent. She is interested in the way (pron. Eve-a-lyn) received an MA that we as a society both shape and from Trent University and currently are shaped by popular culture, par- studying for PhD at Waterloo Uni- ticularly in terms of gender and queer- versity. Visit evedeshane.wordpress. ness, and the impact that social media com for more details on upcoming and pop culture have in affecting how projects, events, and collaborations. activism is defined and approached by this generation. FRANKIE MCGEE HOLLY TAYLOR Frankie McGee is a queer spoken Holly Taylor is an MA candidate in the Depart- ment of Women’s Studies and Feminist Re- word poet based in Peterborough search at Western University in London, ON. who has been a part of the Peterbor- Taylor completed her BA with concentrations ough Poetry Slam Team, performed in Political Science and English at Saint Mary’s at community events, and been in- University in Halifax, NS. She has worked in sexual assault education and counselling as volved with organizing poetry slams well as sex worker outreach and advocacy in this community. They love facili- and is passionate about both of these issues. tating workshops, and work to make She is currently working on an Independent space for conversations in the com- Research Project examining the experiences of feminist-identified persons who are impact- munity they see a need for. ed by intimate partner violence. QC 23 QC 24 JAMI MCFARLAND KATHERINE WOODMAN Jami McFarland is currently a first year PhD stu- Kate Woodman is an MA candidate in Women’s Stud- dent in the department of Women’s Studies and ies & Feminist Research at the University of Western Feminist Research at the University of Western Ontario. Woodman completed their Honours BA at Ontario. McFarland received her MA in Women’s Western, double majoring in Women’s Studies and Studies at the University of Ottawa and her BA Sexuality Studies, with a minor in Music. She holds in English Studies from Nipissing University. Mc- the position of Board Member for Safe Accommo- Farland’s PhD research focuses on representa- dations for Queer Edmonton Youth (SAFQEY), vol- tions of sexuality in later life, with a specific fo- unteers with many diverse queer-led, social justice organizations, and advocates strongly for an increas- cus on the intersection of discourses on gender, ingly inclusive queer perspective on asexualities sexuality, race, and ability. McFarland has broad within queer spaces. Woodman is currently in the ranging research interests in queer representa- process of completing their Independent Research tion, critical and cultural studies, media studies, Project, theorizing representations of asexualities feminist theory, fat studies, and sexuality studies. within identity theory and queer historicities.

KARLEEN PENDLETON JIMÉNEZ KELSI MORRIS Karleen Pendleton Jiménez an associate Kelsi Morris works in the publishing in- professor in the School of Education at dustry, focusing on genre fiction and Trent University. She is a writer, scholar, graphoc novels, mixing her critical aca- and educator. She writes in a variety of demic perspective with her role as fan. genres, and her publications include aca- She is the co-editor of the upcoming demic articles, books, book chapters, per- Q book Those Who Make Us, an anthology sonal essays, short stories, and her mem- of Canadian creature, myth, and mon- oir How to Get a Girl Pregnant, a finalist for ster stories. Kelsi was also a contribut- the 2012 Lambda Literary Award. ing autor for the Canadian Videogame In her research, she investigates sociocul- Award-nominated Lights Out, Please. tural influences on learning. C

KATE STORY MARIE BILODEAU Kate Story is a writer and performer, and Marie Bilodeau is an Ottawa-based a Newfoundlander living in Ontario. Her science-fiction and fantasy author, first novel “Blasted” (Killick Press) re- with a bunch of novels and short sto- ceived the Sunburst Award’s honourable mention. She received the 2015 Ontario ries to her name, and some awards Arts Foundation’s K.M. Hunter Award for to go with them (shiny awards). her work in theatre. Kate is constantly performing and gadding about onstage and off at Peterborough’s small black- box theatre The Theatre On King. ROBIN ALEX MCDONALD SEAN MORELAND Robin Alex McDonald is a cultural Sean Moreland is a part-time professor in the uOttawa English Department. His many re- worker, independent curator, and search interests include Gothic and horror fic- PhD candidate in Cultural Studies at tion in its literary, cinematic, and sequential art Queen’s University. Their academic guises. His scholarly non-fiction has been pub- and artistic interests span queer, lished in a variety of peer-reviewed journals, essay collections, and reference books. He is Q feminist, and trans theories; theories on the editorial board for The Edgar Allan Poe of relationality, collectivity, “love,” and Review and is associate reviews editor for the being-with; activist art and art-as- Journal for the Fantastic in the Arts. He is cre- activism; and collaborative acts of ator of the weird-fiction focused website Post- scripts to Darkness (www.pstdarkness.com). C “making”.

RONNIE RITCHIE SHERRY HUANG Ronnie Ritchie is a Contributing Comic Art- Sherry Huang is an interdisciplinary artist for the online magazine Everyday Femi- ist, theorist, and poet, from Shanghai, nism and creates the autobiographical we- China, and currently lives in Kingston, bcomic GQutie. After growing up in Arcata, Ontario. Her most recent project, Exer- California and earning their BFA in Illustra- tions, is a poetry installation in a camera tion from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon, they settled in the obscura. Her chapbook, Punctum, col- much colder town of Peterborough, Ontar- lects writings that have previously ap- io. They are self-publishing both a collec- peared in NOÖ Journal [15], Metazen, tion of their comics for Everyday Feminism Dousée Magazine, and elsewhere. You and the first full issue of GQutie in spring can contact her through e-mail: huang. 2016. [email protected]

SAID JIDDAWY SUSAN HILLOCK Said Jiddawy is a self taught make Dr. Susan Hillock (BA, BSW, MEd, up artist, website designer and PhD) is Director of Trent’s Depart- graphic designer; originally from To- ment of Social Work and an associ- ronto. They are a gender-queer drag ate professor. She has over 25 years performer (Dixie Q) and have been a of clinical social work practice and 15 volunteer at the Rainbow Youth pro- years of undergraduate and graduate gram at PARN in the past. teaching experience. She teaches at undergraduate and graduate levels in anti-oppressive and critical theory and practice. QC 25 QC 26 SYLVIE BÉRARD Sylvie Bérard teaches Québec literature and creative writing, and is chair of the Department of Modern Lan- guages and Literatures at Trent University. Her research fields include science fiction, gender studies, and theories of enunciation. Among her scholarly works in SF is her contribution to the group «Les scénarios d’organisation sociopolitique et économique des socié- tés post-écologiques: analyse des propositions issues de la science fiction». She is the author, in collaboration with Magalie Uhl, of the booklet La science-fiction : de la perspective à la prospective (Cahiers de la CRSDD, 2012). She also published many long and short stories, and the science fiction novel Terre des Autres (Alire, 2004)/Of Wind and Sand (Edge 2007), for which she was awarded the Prix Jacques-Brossard 2005 and the Prix des lecteurs de Radio-Canada 2006, and La Saga d’Illyge (Alire 2011). TANYA HUFF Tanya Huff is the Aurora Award Winning author of The Smoke Books, The Blood Books, the Quarters Series, and the Keeper’s Chronicles. Her Blood Books were turned into the television series Blood Ties. In addition to the Aurora Awards, she has received nominations and made the short list for awards such as the Gaylactic Spectrum award, Locus Awards, and the James Tiptree Jr. Me- morial Award.

QUINN FERENTZY Quinn McGlade-Ferentzy is an under- grad student at Trent University, where she studies philosophy. She’s a queer femme who has very strong feelings on most things. She works at a bar, where she can often be found making ice-cold glasses of hetero-normative gender. She subverts this by forgetting who ordered the cosmo, thus making everyone thoroughly uncomfortable. SADLEIR HOUSE TRAVEL A Brief Introduction... PETERBOROUGH TRANSIT Peterborough city buses run every forty minutes from the termi- In 2003 a demand for increased student space combined with sad- nal located on Simcoe Street, between Aylmer Street and George ness and outrage at the loss of Peter Robinson College prompted a Street. To get to Sadleir House, take the George North (Bus 1) and group of students to get together under the name of the Downtown get off at the Water and Parkill stop. Walk west on Parkhill to George Student Facility Trust. This group put forward a referendum ques- Street. Walk north (away from the Pizza Hut) Sadleir House is the tion to Trent full-time undergraduate students to establish a fee to fifth building on the left hand side. purchase an existing building in downtown Peterborough to form a non-profit educational and cultural facility to be shared with the community as a whole. In March 2003, the referendum passed and the levy was established. The group worked hard throughout the next year and incorporated on February 19th, 2004 as the P. R. Community & Student Association (PRCSA). On the 27th of Feb- ruary, 2004 the group took possession of Sadleir House and the building opened it’s doors once more. The PRCSA now operates the building as a student and community centre, relying on money from Trent students and donations from individuals to operate the facility (the PRCSA is a registered charity). In 2005, Sadleir House received historical designation from the City of Peterborough in recognition of its architectural and historical value. Sadleir House is envisioned to be a meeting point for the university community and an interface between Trent and the broader Peterborough community.

TAXIS http://www.callacab.ca/ (Call-A-Cab 705-745-2424)

http://www.liftlock.ca/ (Cspitol Taxi: 705-742-4242)

QC 27 Thanks for joining us! QUEER COLL(I/U)SIONS

MARCH 4TH-6TH SADLEIR HOUSE

PETERBOROUGH,ON

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