trickster, trailblazer, transgressor

trickster, trailblazer, transgressor is a three-part critical writing workshop by CCA Research Associate Beulah Ezeugo. Hosted online via Zoom on Mondays 15, 22 & 29 April 2024, 6pm–8pm. 

This series focuses on the transgressive power and radical potential of self-invention. In response to June Jordan’s poetic invitation to ‘become a menace to [our] enemies’, we will define an understanding of 'becoming’ as constructing an alternative identity, and ‘a menace to our enemies’ as threatening systems of power. Participants are invited to respond to these themes through writing, daydreaming, and discussion.

The first session will introduce critical and creative material on identity fraudsters, from Nigerian princes to fake heiresses. We will discuss how these, and other popular instances of fabrication, deception, and delusion can reveal the mechanisms of self-invention for one’s own advancement.

In the second session, we will engage with queer and abolitionist perspectives on crime and organised state abandonment, and how behaviours aimed at survival can be classified as deviant.

The final session will centre on black feminist strategies of refusal, and the use of disorderly power to bring forth the possibility of living otherwise. We will reflect on how these strategies might show up in our work and ways of being.

This series will introduce embodied, playful, and collaborative approaches to critical writing. We will approach sensitive topics with care and courage when they arise.

This is a ticketed event, at a cost of £30 for three two-hour weekly, online sessions. There are two subsidised places for Black/People of Colour, one of whom being someone based in or from Derry City and Strabane District area, please email info@ccadld.org and a member of our team will get in contact with you.

The workshops will take place on Zoom. An invite and information will be emailed in advance. Places are limited and booking is essential here for this Public Programme event. This workshop is suitable for ages 18 and over.