Join poet Day Mattar for a guided tour around St Helens, exploring twelve poems by LGBTQIA+ creatives.
Queer Bodies and Heart of Glass have been working together to develop new writing with the people of St Helens, situating 12 poems by queer writers that respond to or activate public spaces.
Led by Queer Bodies Poetry Collective as a response to the dramatic rise in LGBTQIA+ hate crimes in Merseyside (26% in the last two years), this project is an act of public rebellion. By actively un-hiding voices which have been scared into submission we hope to encourage other voices in St Helens that have been silenced or shamed. This is a celebration, a statement of pride that will hopefully live and grow beyond ‘Pride Season’.
During our walking-tour of St Helens Day will facilitate space for your own acts of rebellion and celebration in poetry. What truth or story lives caged within you? And can we help you, through poetry, to free it?
Following the tour, we'll head to The Book Stop for a poetry workshop based on what we've seen.
Meeting point: St Helens Central train station.