2SLGBTQ+ STORYTELLING WORKSHOP

with Jude Benoit and Daze Jefferies
4 Tuesdays, 7:00 – 9:00 pm
January 26 – February 16, 2021
Free on Zoom!

E-mail StorytellingStJohns@gmail.com to register!

This workshop will explore the process and performance of 2SLGBTQ storytelling as artful, cultural, and political acts in Newfoundland and Labrador. Considering 2SLGBTQ storytelling alongside Indigenous and settler story traditions, we will learn more about the politics and ethics of storytelling through themes of resilience, knowledge keeping, justice, and community. The goal of this workshop isn’t to complete a full story ready for performance, but to think more deeply about the process of storytelling using traditional and community wisdom. What story do you have to tell?

During this workshop, Benoit and Jefferies will guide you in a series of quick and fun exercises that get you thinking creatively and critically about how to tell and present your own story. Is it your life experience? Is it a queer new spin on an old tale? Through community discussion and creative activities you’ll gain the groundwork for using storytelling however it best suits you: as art, political statement, or both.

E-mail StorytellingStJohns@gmail.com to register!

ACCESSIBILITY

There will be closed captioning available for each session. ASL interpretation can be secured if desired. Please reach out to us at storytellingstjohns@gmail.com with any accommodation suggestions!

ABOUT OUR FACILITATORS

JUDE BENOIT

Jude Benoit (They/Them) is a Two Spirit land protector from Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland). They are one of the co-founders of the peace love n’ pride festival and the Indigenous activist collective. They like to use first nation traditions of storytelling as a way to reflect and honour their ancestors and build resilience in there communities. Jude is disabled and welcomes everyone who would like to attend this workshop to ask for any accommodation that they might need to participate.

DAZE JEFFERIES

Daze Jefferies (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, and researcher from Beothuk territory in the Bay of Exploits who holds a Master of Gender Studies in trans and sex work history from Memorial University. Her research-creation and writing can be found in several Canadian anthologies, journals, and magazines – including Hustling Verse, Riddle Fence, HELD, Understorey, QWERTY, The Dalhousie Review, and Arc. Her forthcoming poetry collection, We Hold a Body of Water Together, explores hidden histories and fishy futures of trans women and sex workers in Atlantic Canada.