Solicited advice for trans & gender diverse folks starting out in the creative industries.
The Drop-In is a series of free online advice sessions on the agony, business and craft of pursuing a creative career.
In May 2022, we’re celebrating the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) with five free sessions for nonbinary, trans, and gender diverse folks. Each week offers you the chance to pick the brain of a different creative professional:
- Sun 8 May – dance – Raina Peterson (they/them) – book
- Tue 10 May – writing/editing – Maddee Clark (he/him) – book
- Tue 17 May – media – Jinghua Qian (ey/em) – book
- Tue 24 May – music – June Jones (she/her) – book
- Tue 31 May – comedy – Cassie Workman (she/her) – book
You can come to as many sessions as you like, from anywhere in the world. Numbers are limited, so please commit to attending if you book, or let us know asap if you can’t make it so we can give someone else your spot. You can also register to view the recording afterwards if you can’t make it on the day. The event is supported by myriad collective and the City of Melbourne.
About the presenters
Raina Peterson draws on their training in mohiniyattam (classical dance of Kerala, India) to create experimental works exploring (trans)gender, sexuality, spirituality and time. With dance partner Govind Pillai, their full-length works include In Plain Sanskrit (2015), Bent Bollywood (2018), Third Nature (2019), Kāla (2019), Drishti (Winner of two Melbourne Fringe Awards, 2020), and Maya (solo, upcoming 2023). This year they will be running yoga classes for trans people and journaling workshops for queers.
Maddee Clark is a writer, editor and researcher. In 2021, he completed a Ph.D examining Indigenous Futurisms in Australia, and he is a widely published arts critic and reviewer. His writing has previously been published in ABC, SBS, NITV, Overland, The Saturday Paper, and Un Magazine. In 2018, he was co-editor of Un Magazine alongside Neika Lehman, and in 2020, he co-edited a special issue of Archer magazine which focussed on LGBTIQ First Nations people. He is a member of the First Nations arts collective this mob.
Maddee is Kombumerri/Yugambeh, from south east Queensland, and resides between Naarm, on the lands of the Wurundjeri and Boonwurrung, and Rubibi (Broome) on Yawuru country.
Jinghua Qian is a Shanghainese-Melburnian media maker often found worrying about race, resistance, art, desire, queerness and the Chinese diaspora. Ey has been a performance poet, a radio broadcaster, a television reporter, and an arts critic. As a reporter and later Head of News at Sixth Tone, an English-language media outlet in Shanghai, Jinghua shaped the publication’s influential coverage of contemporary China. Since returning to Australia, Jinghua has written for The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Sydney Morning Herald, Overland, Meanjin, and written and presented television for ABC’s China Tonight. Jinghua lives in Melbourne’s west on the land of the Kulin Nations.
June Jones is a songwriter, singer, producer, and performer based in so-called Melbourne. Her self-produced second solo album, Leafcutter, was released in 2021, and she has plans to release another later this year. June has been writing songs since her late teens, but began teaching herself electronic music production using Ableton a few years ago.
Cassie Workman is a comedian and actor who first entered the public eye when she won Raw Comedy in 2009. She has since performed in Australia and the UK, winning Best Comedy at Adelaide Fringe, the Best Show Award at the Sydney Comedy Festival, and twice nominated for best show at Melbourne International Comedy Festival. She has frequently appeared on TV, including as a contributor for ABC’s Tonightly Show with Tom Ballard, with her series ‘So You Think You Can Trans’, and as a writer on Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell and Aaron Chen Tonight.
About the artist
Dawn Iris Dangkomen is a queer trans woman of Thai background who enjoys illustrating for fan-art and community projects, playing obscure musical instruments, and lurking behind Harehole’s venue-comms desk when she’s not cuddling her two cats. Find her on Instagram: @icefairychiruno
Links
Eventbrite: https://jinghuaqian.eventbrite.com.au/
Facebook event listing: https://fb.me/e/2oXC4kLrc
Jinghua Qian 