Couple of new headshots. Taken by @jasminissaka one of them is my new profile photo. 😁📷
Got a few more snaps of me modelling some clothes, will share those soon...
About my gender & sexuality: I'm an AMAB cis, straight, genderqueer man. I'm super happy and comfortable in my body. My pronouns are he/they. I've always felt feminine as well as masculine. When I read the definition for "Genderqueer" at a Queer exhibition at @whitworthart in 2023 I thought "that's how i feel!"
The LGBTQ+ community has been incredibly welcoming for me, even in the times I considered myself an Ally only. I feel most welcome in Queer spaces and that in itself is part of my Queer identity.
Heteronormative people and communities treat me very well too; my family for example accepts and loves me for who I am. Generally I find assumption is a big thing; people who don't know me often assume I am Gay because of the way I present. My pronouns get assumed a lot too (defaulting to he/him). I don't mind people thinking I'm Gay, but I do think it's a shame some people attribute my femme attributes to my sexuality.
The biggest thing I've learned, and what I'd like others to learn; is that being Queer does not always equal being Gay. Queer is an umbrella under which a variety of beautiful identities, bodies and sexualities exist, and I am happy to be under it.
Photos (apart from 2nd one) by @scar.nv
Taken for the @lgbtfdn "Man Enough" Campaign which i am very happy to be a part of.
💚fave sealife vids from Gili Air🐢🐠
1. Closest i got to 🐢 (wait for end of vid)
2. Pink fishie swimming under my leg
3. Blue shoal
4. Colourful fishies
5. 🐢 Up for air
6. Eel pops out
7. More colourful fishies
8. Fishies & coral
9. Pre Snorkel Sunrise
10. Low 🐢
11. Post snorkel sunbed mango juice (just after the nap 😴 )
Honesty: heavenly. All captured by snorkeling trips on my own. No tours.
Thanks to my bro for lending me go pro... Soz about shakeyness, I'm not pro at using it 😂
Thanks to me for having courage to swim out in deep water (for me anyway!) for over an hour. I've never really been super comfortable in water, so overcoming fear in this area felt amazing. Well proud of myself.
I expected to see a Turtle, I did not expect I'd get this close, dive deep, capture these images and see these things.
Water is amazing , the earth is beautiful. We are so fortunate. 🌊
Welcoming some spring and sunshine into Stretford 🌸🌼🌿✨
Here are some photos taken by some of the lovely young people who participated in our Easter Culture Club session with @rydcook on the allotment.
#gorsehillstudios #spring #stretfood #trafford #creativespace
Me at @sim_plycycling Music by @simon.panrucker buy/stream his new album: 'Ridiculous Songs For Kids!' it's also great for silly adults like you and me.
I'm in the latest episode of the Demystifying Poetry podcast during which me & host Tara discuss the podcast and our own life experiences with poetry. Tara talks about her career and working on improving access to poetry for all people, and i talk about when I started writing at school (sad story) and when I started performing in Manchester (happy story!).
You can find the podcast anywhere you find your podcasts, or follow the link in my bio.
In the episode I mention:
@nikiomadman@beckymaywriter@pullupbarcafe@hinterland.bar@melissa.castrillon
John Agard
Benjamin Zephaniah
@themooninyourarms
Previous Podcast episode guests include:
@liz.ison@brian_bilston@ericalevymcalpine@willmay56@kate_wakeling@jacquelinesaphra@thepoetdominic@cloud_of_unknowing72@caroljac0bi
Dinah Roe
Deborah Alma
I also edited the podcast, and even recorded series 2. Series 1 recorded by @tomrocksmaths ((thanks to him too, an alumni of my training courses!)
Thank you Tara for letting me chat with you and tell some stories I really wanted to share. @gstubbst
For the last in the 2nd series of 'Demystifiyng Poetry', we did something slightly different. Some listeners had asked if I could talk about my relationship with poetry. So I asked @rydcook if he would like to chat together about the 2 series so far, and our own poetry stories. This is also an excuse to revisit the work of our esteemed guest from Series 1, @brian_bilston . Hope it's OK to share this brilliant poem! Enjoy x (As always, find it wherever you get your podcasts.)
Figured I'd upload while it's still January. My latest poem. I performed it 3 times this month! This is the @verbosemcr performance.
Thanks to @maybe_freya for filming
Thanks to my friend and co writer @themooninyourarms
Thanks to everyone who saw it live and gave me compliments about it, including @thepoetdominic who is an incredible friend and inspiration.
This month has also seen the release of the 2nd Series of the Demystifying Poetry Podcast by @gstubbst , I recorded and edited it. Find it wherever you find your podcasts.
I'll perform at @hinterland.bar poets on 12th feb. It's free! Come. I'll hopefully perform at some other events too. I'll post about it on my story.
It's been an awesome first month to the year!
I love #january
Very me. Did a photoshoot with @jasminissaka in April. Jaz is an amazing colourful artist who created the tops I am wearing. Go follow the l1nk in @jasminissaka b10 to buy stuff! Was a super fun shoot. Thank you 😁🌈📷
P.S. I LOVE being a model so if you want me to model anything cool for ya HMU. ✌️
