Each artist will receive a £7,000 grant and support to produce a piece of work to be unveiled as part of LGBT History Month in February 2017
A film about a young lesbian woman with telekinetic powers and a book of poems about Scottish myths seen from an LGBT perspective are to be created as part of next year’s LGBT History Month.
Filmmaker Helen Wright and poet Rachel Plummer have each been awarded £7,000 from Creative Scotland to produce a piece of work to be unveiled in February 2017.
Wright, a writer and filmmaker based in Glasgow will produce and direct short film, Joey, which she describes as the story of a young lesbian woman with telekinetic powers entering the LGBT scene for the first time.
“Joey's narrative doesn’t shy away from depicting some of the tougher aspects of existing as a young person on the gay scene, which sometimes revolves around drinking and drugs and pressurises people in terms of their self-perception and self-esteem,” Wright explained.
As a queer parent and poet, I’ve found it challenging to find children's books which reflect our family and life experiences
“As such, the film is an honest and authentic exploration of LGBTIQ themes and particularly of the experiences of young lesbian women.”
Plummer, who is a spoken word performer as well as a poet, is based in Edinburgh and will spend the year working in collaboration with an illustrator on a collection of children's poetry re-telling myths such as the Blue Men, Selkies and Wulvers.
She hopes to explore subjects such as gender, sexuality/asexuality, community and identity in time to publish a book and perform readings during history month.
“As a queer parent and poet, I’ve found it challenging to find children's books which reflect our family and life experiences,” she said.
“What books there are often seem to focus on demonstrating LGBT families to a presumed straight, cis (a person who identifies with the gender they were assigned at birth) reader as a kind of social education.
“I envision my project as including trans and queer themes and characters in a way that allows families like mine to see ourselves in roles that do more than educate, roles and stories that reflect the full complexity of our lives.”
Funded by Creative Scotland, the Cultural Commissions Awards aim to promote exciting, innovative artwork exploring lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender themes.
The two selected projects will compliment a vibrant programme of events taking place all over Scotland furing LGBT History Month which marks the significant contribution lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people have made throughout history.
Fergus McMillan, chief executive of LGBT Youth Scotland, which coordinates and promotes LGBT History Month Scotland, said: “Both Helen and Rachel put forward very unique and thoughtful proposals, and I am excited to see how their projects develop.’
“The standard of applications was extremely high this year, and we are really heartened by the number of artists seeking to make quality art on the themes of LGBT history and equality.
“We ended up with a not-very-short shortlist of 10 applications, any of which would have been a worthy recipient of the award.”
