Queering the Archive: Who Gets To Tell Our Stories?

Join Aghh! Zine and Erin James for a dynamic workshop exploring grassroots creativity, archives and library collections, supported by the University of Sussex’s Danny Millum and Dr Samuel Solomon. We’ll explore tensions between traditional collecting and DIY storytelling. 

We seek to investigate what shifts when those with the lived experience of a story are the ones who get ownership over how to tell it. Together, we will ask what dominant forces have historically stood in the way of self-publishing and citizen media, and what creative strategies we can use to overcome this. 

Participants will have rare access to selected archival materials from Sussex Library, using these as inspiration to weave their own narratives into this historical moment. Guided by the rich practice of zine-making, you’ll create your own zine centred on a story you’re passionate about sharing. If you care about self-representation, grassroots media, and pushing back against the growing censorship of citizen voices, this workshop is for you.

Presented in collaboration with Coast is Queer, Queer Heritage South, New Writing South and Marlborough Productions. Supported by Centre for Study Of Sexual Dissidence and the Division of Library, Culture and Heritage at University of Sussex.