Over the month MMU will be releasing a film every day on their YouTube channel. Take a look here: https://www.youtube.com/user/ManMetUni/videos and at the schedule below to see what’s on its way.
| Release Date | Speaker | Author | |
| 1st | Andrew McMillan | Tom Spanbauer | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. In today’s film, Andrew McMillan, Senior Lecturer in Poetry at MMU, talks about the American novelist Tom Spanbauer, author of The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon (1991) |
| 2nd | Sam Colling | Sarah Waters | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. In today’s film, Sam Colling, Lecturer in Film and Media Studies, talks about the best-selling author of Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters. |
| 3rd | Chloe Cousins | Jackie Kay | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. In today’s film, our good friend Chloe Cousins (a social and peer support group for LGBTQI People of Colour), tells us why poet and novelist Jackie Kay is so important to her. |
| 4th | Catherine Wilcox | Alan Hollinghurst | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. In today’s film, Catherine Wilcox, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, discusses British gay novelist Alan Hollinghurst, and how his novel The Swimming Pool Library helped her with her own writing. |
| 5th | Dale Townshend | Horace Walpole | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. In today’s film, Dale Townshend, Professor of Gothic Literature takes us back to the 18th Century to explain why the Horace Walpole, father of Gothic fiction, should be discussed during LGBT History Month. |
| 6th | Dale Townshend | Mathew Lewis | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. In today’s film, Dale Townshend, Professor of Gothic Literature, speaks about Matthew Lewis, whose queer gothic novel The Monk was published in 1798. |
| 7th | Andrew Biswell | W. H. Auden | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. In today’s film, Andrew Biswell, Professor of Modern Literature, talks about a giant of 20th Century English poetry, W.H. Auden. |
| 8th | Greg Thorpe | Greg Thorpe | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. In today’s film, Greg Thorpe, writer, artist, curator and Production Manager at Superbia, Manchester Pride’s year-round calendar of LGBT+ cultural activity, explains why the American activist and writer Sarah Schulman is such an important figure. |
| 9th | Jennifer Makumbi | Chike Frankie Edozien | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. In today’s film, Jannifer Makumbi, novelist and Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, talks about Nigerian-American writer and journalist Chike Frankie Edozien. |
| 10th | Andrew Moor | Jamie O’Flynn | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. Today, Andrew Moor, Reader in Cinema History, discusses At Swim Two Boys (2001) by the Irish novelist Jamie O’Flynn, one of the most significant and important gay novels of the 21st century. |
| 11th | Becky Swaine | Becky Swaine | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. In this, the 11th of our films, Becky Swaine, Director of the Manchester Poetry Library, tells us why she finds the work of trans artist, performer and writer Travis Alabanza to be so inspirational. |
| 12th | Martin Kratz | Adrienne Rich | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. Today, Martin Kratz, Poetry Projects Manager at the Manchester Poetry Library, talks about the American poet and essayist – a towering figure in 20th Century literature. |
| 13th | Katie Jukes | Audre Lorde | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. In today’s film, Katie Jukes, Senior Lecturer in Law, tells us about Audre Lorde, who described herself as ‘“black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet.” |
| 14th | Gary Williams | Neil Tennant | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. In today’s film we hear from Gary Williams (from ‘Make A Scene Manchester’). Gary tells us why Neil Tennant from the Pet Shop Boys is such a key figure in contemporary gay culture. |
| 15th | Anne Louise Kershaw | James Baldwin | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. In this, our 15th film, our good friend Anne Louise Kershaw, producer at HOME Manchester, tells us what the American novelist and essayist James Baldwin means to her, and why his novels speak to eloquently to us today. |
| 16th | Okechukwu Nzelo | Jee Leong Koh | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. Today we invite our friend Okechukwu Nzelo, author of The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney to tell us about the Singaporean poet Jee Leong Koh. |
| 17th | Sorcha Ni Fhlainn | Clive Barker | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. In today’s film, Senior Lecturer in Film, Sorcha Ní Fhlainn, speaks about the playwright, novelist and screenwriter Clive Barker. |
| 18th | Christian Klesse | Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. Today’s topic is the writer, researcher, lecturer and expert on cultural and gender diversity, Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli. Our Reader in Sociology, Christian Klesse, explains why he is so drawn to her work. |
| 19th | Emily Oldfield | Christopher Isherwood | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. in today’s film, Emily Oldfield, the writer, reporter and editor of Haunt Manchester, talks about English novelist Christopher Isherwood. |
| 20th | Julie Wilkinson | Noël Greig | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. In today’s film, Julie Wilkinson, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, recalls her work with theatre-maker Noël Greig. |
| 21st | Katie Jukes | Mary Jean Chan | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. In today’s film, Katie Jukes, Senior Lecturer in Law, speaks about the Chinese-British poet Mary Jean Chan. |
| 22nd | Anne Louise Kershaw | David Wojnarowicz | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. In today’s film our good friend Anne Louise Kershaw, producer at HOME Manchester, speaks about David Wojnarowicz. David, who died of AIDS in 1992, was a New York based painter, photographer, writer, filmmaker, performance artist, songwriter/recording artist and AIDS activist |
| 23rd | Sam Colling | Desiree Akhavan | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. In today’s film, Sam Colling, Lecturer in Film and Media Studies, tells us about Desiree Akhavan, the film director, producer, screenwriter and actress best known for her 2014 feature film debut Appropriate Behaviour, and her 2018 film The Miseducation of Cameron Post. |
| 24th | Andrew McMillan | Qwo-Li Driskill | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. In today’s film, Andrew McMillan, Senior Lecturer in Poetry at MMU, talks about Qwo-Li Driskill. Qwo-Li is a Cherokee Two-Spirit/Queer writer, scholar, educator, activist, and performer. |
| 25th | Greg Thorpe | James McCourt | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. In today’s film, Greg Thorpe, writer, artist, curator and Production Manager at Superbia, Manchester Pride’s year-round calendar of LGBT+ cultural activity, talks about the American writer James McCourt, |
| 26th | Becky Swaine | Louise Wallwein MBE | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. In today’s film, Becky Swaine, Director of the Manchester Poetry Library, sings up Manchester’s very own Louise Wallwein OBE, award-winning poet, performer and activist. |
| 27th | Andrew Moor | Derek Jarman | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. In today’s film, Andrew Moor, Reader in Cinema History at MMU, and the director/producer of this project, talks about Derek Jarman. Derek was an artist, diarist and film-maker, best known for films like Edward II and Last of England and for books like his journal Modern Nature. He died of an AIDS related illness in 1994. |
| 28th | Andrew McMillan | Thom Gunn | In this, the penultimate film in our series, Andrew McMillan, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at MMU, talks about the poet Thom Gunn (1929 – 2004). Gunn moved to the USA with his partner in the 1950s, and is best remembered for The Man With Night Sweats (1992), his collection memorialising men who had died of AIDS. |
| 29th | Stephen Whittle | Leslie Feinburg | To celebrate LGBT History Month 2020, the Department of English has produced this series of short films. In each film someone picks an LGBT writer who inspires them. We are releasing one film a day through February – 29 in all – a community of voices, reflecting just a fraction of the diversity and range of LGBT culture. In this, the last film in our series we are delighted that Stephen Whittle, Professor in Equalities Law at MMU and activist with the transgender group Press for Change, joins us to remember Leslie Feinburg. Leslie was a butch lesbian, transgender activist, communist, and author of Stone Butch Blues. |
MMU’s LGBT History Month ‘Writers’ Series of Films. – Andrew Moor
LGBT History Month has been observed each February since 2005, and it exists as a way to raise awareness of, and combat prejudice against, the LGBT community. It also serves to celebrate the achievements of LGBT people, and to make the community more visible.
The dedicated theme for 2020 is ‘Poetry Prose and Plays’ so it seems right, proper and entirely natural for MMU’s English Department to mark the occasion with its ‘LGBT Writers’ series of short films. The idea emerged from a discussion between Andrew Moor, Reader in Cinema History and Andrew McMillan, Lecturer in Poetry. In Andrew Moor’s words, ‘Rather than hosting a one-off event, we decided to create a series of very short films, and to release one per day through the month of February. For each film we invited a colleague or a friend of the University to speak about a lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans writer who means something to them. All the chosen writers are people who deserve to be mentioned during the Month, and the variety of writers discussed is testimony to the richness and diversity within the LGBT community. We are really very grateful to everybody who agreed to take part so enthusiastically – and in particular to our colleague (and free-lance film-maker) Daniel Morrell for his skill and patience.
The series of films include Sam Colling talking about the novelist Sarah Waters and the screenwriter Desiree Akhavan, Gary Williams (from ‘Make a Scene Manchester’) on songwriter Neil Tennant, Chloe Cousins (from the community group Rainbow Noir) on poet and novelist Jackie Kay, and Jennifer Makumbi on the Nigerian-American writer Chike Frankie Edozien. Important historical figures like Horace Walpole, Mathew Lewis, W.H. Auden are there, as is the artist, film-maker and writer Derek Jarman. A campaign has just been launched to save his home at Dungeness, Prospect Cottage, for the nation, so we are delighted to include praise of Derek in one of the films. The last daily film we will be releasing – on 29th February – is of Stephen Whittle, a much loved and hugely significant figure in trans politics, talking about the importance to him of the butch-lesbian and trans activist Leslie Feinburg, author of ‘Stone Butch Blues’.
Once the month is over, we will be editing the films together into a longer piece of work and hope it can be made available to everyone via the LGBT History Month Website.
-ANDREW MOOR