This project was such an amazing experience. It was a surprise from start to finish.
My funding for the QueerTas StoryLab was initially approved for the promotion of Queer Screen stories. Unfortunately the people who wanted to participate were not interested in writing for the screen. I am an expert in screen stories, but I love reading fiction and have written magazines articles in the past, so decided to take this opportunity to update my knowledge about Queer writing across a range of forms. I traded in my fauna Tas Library card for a rainbow one during pride month and created an enormous list of holds based on recommendations from friends.
The first session set about defining 'Queer Authenticity'. By working with 'Queer' as a verb, the notion of 'good' or 'bad' writing disappears because 'Queer' means disrupting these colonial or patriarchal binary constructions. The Queer Screen Story workshops I had designed were structured around 'table reads' because this approach is such an instant and effective method for learning and creating. Therefore we adapted this approach and by the end of the 8 weeks had devised a simple process. A wonderful Tasmanian Queer Author joined the group as an adhoc facilitator and led some highly-beneficial timed writing activities.
The interesting connection that occurred for me was between the process we had created for the StoryLab and its similarity to the Hobart VoiceLab: Queer+Allies process with Hugo. Through drawing on both of these projects I was able to further develop the Tune-in model.
