Queer Out Here

Issue 10 Preview

Reflections, explorations, endings and becomings in Queer Out Here Issue 10. After this issue, we will be on an indefinite hiatus - but before we go, we have a two parter for you! With our call for submissions giving the optional theme of “creativity”, this issue has a great range of stories, music, poetry, interviews and more. Here’s a taste of what’s in store on Side A and Side B. Information about Issue 10 PreviewLength: 2:12File size: 4.2MB (mp3)Transcript: Google DocsContent notes: This preview contains a little wind distortion and melancholy, but nothing else we think needs flagging. Let us know if there’s something we should add here!Acknowledgement of Country: Audio in this preview was recorded and produced around the world, including on the country/land of the following peoples: Brayakaulung, Gunaikurnai; Chochenyo Ohlone; Kaurna; Kalamath, Modoc and Yahooskin; Nipmuc, Pocumtuc, and Nonotuck; Taungurung; Wadawurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung (Kulin).Cover: Our preview cover art was created by Sixto-Juan Zavala - keep an eye out for more information in the posts of Side A and Side B.Note: This trailer will soon be uploaded to YouTube, SoundCloud and Vimeo - we’ll embed it here when we’re done!

Call for Submissions: Issue 10

Submissions are open for Queer Out Here Issue 10 Submissions are open for Issue 10, and we’ve extended the deadline to 1 August 2025. TranscriptAllysse: Hey folks, it’s Allysse and Jonathan here. You haven’t heard from us for a while, but we wanted to let you know that we’re open for submissions for Issue 10, and we’ve extended our deadline to the first of August 2025.Jonathan: We’ve had trouble getting word out about this issue, partly because the social media landscape has changed so much in the last couple of years. So, if you’re interested in being part of Issue 10, ah, please check out the call for submissions on our website. And, ah, if you’re not interested please tell a friend instead!Allysse: If you need some ideas to get started, you could record the sounds of your environment, record a poem, interview a friend, make some music, create a sound art piece or send us an audio postcard.Jonathan: For more inspiration, see our previous issues and trailers for Queer Out Here wherever you’ve found this - on your podcast app of choice or on our website, queer out here dot com.Allysse: And now, please enjoy these sounds of birds at Bannau Brycheiniog in Wales, recorded by me.To submit a pieceFind all the instructions and a link to the form on our contributions page.NotesSome audio in this call for submissions was recorded and produced on Brayakaulung/Gunaikurnai Country. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.Hi res download available here.

Issue 09

Responding to the topic of Climate, the pieces in this issue speak of weeds and wandering, bugs and birds, power cuts and public sex. OK, that last one isn’t entirely climate related! There are also conversations about rivers, transitions, walking, cities, woods and oceans and various perspectives on queer ecology. Take your ears adventuring…If you enjoy Queer Out Here, please consider:Sharing it with folks who might be interested in the outdoors, audio and/or queer creators and voicesLetting us and our contributors know (links to contributors’ socials below)Subscribing and leaving a positive review on your podcast app of choiceSigning up to our newsletter (see the bar at the top of the page)And keep on listening! Information about Issue 09Length: 1:31:40Transcript: Google Docs / PDFHigh quality audio version: Google Drive (.wav file, 1.46 GB)Running order:every beach - Helen (originally shared in Issue 07)How do you find yourself if you're never by yourself? - Liz SutherlandWireless (a poem written during a power outage) - rYAnA Queer Revisit of the Franklin River - Oliver CassidyA Lonely Firefly - M. A. DubbsLast Butterfly - FishPeaceful queer out here - Sally GoldnerCruising the Woods (for Beginners) - Patrick MaranoTake Me Back to the Ocean - The Mollusc DimensionThe Seagull’s Swan Song - M. A. DubbsA Field Guide to Edible Birds - Kate HallQueer Botany at Walthamstow Marshes - Sixto-Juan ZavalaHoneysuckle Cognizance - M. A. DubbsQueer Gardening at Hummingbird Farm - Xochitl (with Ella von der Haide)Place Like Now - The Mollusc DimensionCover art: Our cover painting this issue is by Stephanie Lai and features flora and fauna of so-called Australia. Stephanie is a Queer Chinese-Australian painter, writer, and professional bin chicken. Stephanie uses traditional Chinese water-colour painting techniques to represent images of so called Australia, and started doing so as a way to reconcile loving a space as a settler-colonial immigrant from a refugee background. The cover is about getting down on the ground and sitting with one’s situation.Content notes: The pieces in Queer Out Here talk about many things related to being queer and the outdoors. This issue contains: Discussions of the climate crisis and its impact on humans, animals, plants, landscapes, weather and natural disastersMentions of mental illness, mental health, suicide ideationReferences to queerphobia, racism, ableismNon-graphic mentions of death, child deathReferences to living with disability, physical illness, CovidA piece about about public sexA piece about animal harm (killing and eating animals)Allusions to drug useSome swearingSome wind distortion and other harsh soundsIf you have specific anxieties or triggers, check the transcript or ask a trusted friend to listen and give you feedback. Please let us know if there is something we’ve missed and we will add it to the show notes on our website.Acknowledgement of Country: This issue and its documentation were edited in part on Brayakaulung (Gunaikurnai) Country. This always was and always will be Aboriginal land. We pay our respects to Gunaikurnai elders and we extend this to all Indigenous elders and Indigenous and First Nations listeners around the world. Show notes for Issue 09Opener - various contributors0:00:00TranscriptShort description: A mixture of sounds and voices from the pieces in this issue.Introduction - Jonathan (he/they) and Allysse (she/they)0:00:37TranscriptShort description: Welcome and housekeeping with Allysse and Jonathan.every beach - Helen (she)0:04:24TranscriptShort description: Music. A piece from Helen’s album songs of time & distance.Creator bio: Helen grew up in the foothills of the Welsh Misty Mountains before packing her spotted hanky on a stick, eventually washing up on the unforgiving concrete shores of a big city on this rainy plague island. Helen died in early 2024. May her memory be a blessing.Creator statement: When we featured this piece in Issue 07, Helen wrote: “The original demotape was inspired by a visit to Barclodiad y Gawres, a Neolithic burial chamber on the coast at Ynys Môn (Anglesey). I had good memories of the day, which were brought back to mind after reading a tweet by the climate scientist Dr Genevieve Guenther, in response to the 2019 IPCC report, pointing out that climate change will have such a profound effect that "by 2100, every beach you've ever walked on will be below the waves.”How do you find yourself if you're never by yourself? - Liz Sutherland (they)0:07:56TranscriptShort description: Poetic non-fiction with field recordings. Native Australian animals and a short spoken word poem on a hike on Whadjuk Noongar country.Creator bio: Liz Sutherland lives on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. They are studying a Master of Arts (Writing and Literature) at Deakin University and recently joined the Board of Overland. Liz brings lived-experience narratives of neurodivergent, queer, polyam, and trans joy into their writing, and was a finalist in the Pearl Prize 2024 and the 2023 OutStanding LGBTQIA+ Short Story Awards. Their writing has appeared in the Hunter Writers Centre Grieve Anthology, the Wheeler Centre’s Spring Fling event ‘Stripped Queer’, ScratchThat Magazine, Into the Wetlands Poetry Anthology, at Q-Lit festival events, and more.Creator link: InstagramCreator statement: Follow me on a hike in the southern hills of Boorloo (Perth, Western Australia) on Whadjuk Noongar country as I ruminate on the incredible privilege of city-living at the same time as being urgently drawn out bush. Slowing down and appreciating the beauty of the natural world as we know it now, before even more of these lands change in response to the climate crisis we’re fuelling. Out here I’m in solitude from other humans but surrounded by life, none more important than any other. Content notes: Swearing.Wireless (a poem written during a power outage) - rYAn (he/they/any)0:12:15TranscriptShort description: Poem. Written 8 days into a over outage after Hurricane Fiona.Creator bio: rYAn is an audio lover and forest dweller who lives near the muddy banks of the Bay Of Fundy.Creator link: SoundcloudCreator statement: I was not sure that I would survive the night when the hurricane happened. Absolutely terrifying.Content notes: Natural disaster.Land acknowledgement: rYAn is living in Mi'kma'ki.Sweeper - Mags0:13:26TranscriptShort description: Recorded in Arnos Vale Cemetery. Established in 1837, the cemetery is rich with history and wildlife. It is a tranquil green space of 45 acres with interesting architecture and walking trails.A Queer Revisit of the Franklin River - Oliver Cassidy (they/he)0:15:31TranscriptShort description: Non-fiction, field recording and film trailer. Oliver reflects on queerness, place and the making the award winning feature documentary, Franklin.Creator bio: Oliver has had a wide ranging 20 year career in the arts including writing, performing and producing for theatre, film and music. Continuing his father's legacy Oliver has worked to conserve biodiversity with the Tasmanian Conservation Trust since 2015.Creator links: WebsiteCreator statement: The narration of this piece was written and recorded at my home in nipaluna, and includes sounds recorded while on location filming a documentary on the Franklin River. The final two minutes is the audio from the theatrical trailer of that film.Acknowledgements: Location audio recorded by Chris Kamen. Thanks also to impact producer Andrea Foxworthy. A press kit for the film itself with full list of thanks is available at FranklinRiverMovie.comLand acknowledgement: Hello from lutruita/Tasmania. I want to acknowledge the palawa pakana people who’s country this is, pay respect to their elders throughout time and acknowledge the people who have shared their wisdom and helped shape my appreciation for this island where I am lucky to live and work. Sweeper - Emma (she)0:25:28TranscriptEmma is mowing the lawn using a manual pushalong clipper.A Lonely Firefly - M. A. Dubbs (she)0:28:11TranscriptShort description: Poetry. The first of three poems from M. A. Dubbs in this issue, exploring climate change in Indiana. Creator bio: M. A. Dubbs is an award-winning Mexican-American and LGBT poet from Indiana. For over a decade, Dubbs has published writing in magazines and anthologies across the globe. She is the author of An American Mujer through Bottlecap Press (2022) and served as judge for Indiana's Poetry Out Loud Competition. She recently won the 2023 Holden Vaughn Spangler Award from River City College MUSE.Creator links: Website / InstagramCreator statement: These three poems were inspired by the changes I have seen in the landscape of Indiana over the course of my life. As an avid hiker and gardener, I feel connected to the land and plants around me and have noticed changes in climate, plants, and critters over time. These pieces are part observation, part mourning, but mostly call for awareness and action for my neighbours and citizens to engage, in any way they can, with climate change.Land acknowledgement: The land of Indiana (namesake for "land of the Indians") was original home to the Miami, Potawatomi, Piankeshaw, Wea, Kickapoo, Shawnee tribes among others. Indiana was the start of the Trail of Death, now reclaimed Trail of Courage, and residential schools.Last Butterfly - Fish (they)0:29:47TranscriptShort description: Sound art with field recordings, music and monologue. Health anxiety is eased a bit by seeing butterflies while on a walk. Autism foundation billboards suck.Creator bio: Fish (or Xym) is a nonbinary, disabled (neurodivergent + chronically ill) person living in Poland. They are a university dropout with a bachelors degree in chemistry and unfinished degrees in biotechnology and sociology. They have graduated from a music high school. In the past they have collaborated with a Warsaw based performance arts group, Kem. Before the pandemic they liked participating in improv workshops and poetry slams in their local theater. Their favorite hobby is playing tabletop RPGs. Currently they are trying to learn how to draw in order to make visual novels. They like talking to pigeons, listening to hedgehogs’ footsteps and taking photos of frogs and lizards.Creator link: Blog / Bandcamp / MastodonCreator statement: This piece is inspired by the last late summer/early autumn walk I was able to go on before my illness made it impossible for me to leave the house the the next couple of weeks. I was able to record some ambient sounds near the train station. The piano/singing improvisation was also made on the same day.Content notes: Discussions of ableism, description of ableist media. Passing reference to suicide ideation.Acknowledgements: Crows.Peaceful queer out here - Sally Goldner (she)0:35:35TranscriptShort description: Audio postcard/stream of consciousness. Finding peace and grounding within 25 minutes from home - where the city meets the country.Creator bio: Sally Goldner AM’s involvement in Victoria’s queer communities spans nearly 30 years. Her experiences include being a founding member of Transgender Victoria, presenting 3CR’s “Out of the Pan,” Transfamily Treasurer, Just.Equal Australia Treasurer and Bisexual Alliance Victoria Treasurer. She is the focus of an autobiographical documentary “Sally’s Story” and a life member of 4 queer-focussed organisations. She was inducted into the Victorian Women’s Honour Roll in 2016 (the first trans and first known bi woman to receive the honour), awarded LGBTI Victorian of the Year in 2015 and noted in The Age’s Top 100 most creative and influential people in Melbourne in 2011. She was awarded the Order of Australia in 2019. She is a pro wrestling ring announcer, MC, speaker, educator, life coach and occasional performer (all in contrast to her original accountancy training). Listen to an interview Sally did with Jonathan on “Out of the Pan” here.Creator links: Website / LinkedIn / Twitter (X) / Facebook / Instagram / Mastodon (salgoldsaidso) / Bluesky (salgoldsaidso) / PatreonCreator statement: This was recorded in early 2024 in the outer suburbs of Naarm/Melbourne, more on impulse than with any scheduling or planning in mind. It aims to convey the peacefulness of the unique natural settings that exist on this big island and how this can benefit queer people who can be especially prone to mental health issues in an often disrespectfully ableist and neurotypical world.Content notes: Mentions of mental health.Land acknowledgement: Recorded on Wurundjeri country. Photo of the Yarra River by Sally Goldner Stairs down to the river - photo by Sally Goldner Sweeper - Stephanie0:43:16TranscriptLand acknowledgement: Recorded at the river on Brayakaulung, Gunaikurnai country.Cruising the Woods (for Beginners) - Patrick Marano (he)0:45:17TranscriptShort description: Documentary guide (audio from video). Cruising in the woods is fraught with obstacles and unspoken rules. This video will help you with the right etiquette and find the right location.Creator bio: Patrick is a queer content creator pushing the limits and talking about taboo subjects with the intent to normalise them.Creator links: Website / YouTube / YouTubeCreator statement: Cruising the woods, although done by many, is talked about by few. Why should something so popular be so shamed? It's time to be honest about our behaviours and share what we've learned. Although much of it is instinctual, there are nuances to cruising that will make or break an experience. Let's have fun with it!Content notes: Discussion of public sex, allusions to drug use, mention of blood. Take Me Back to the Ocean - The Mollusc Dimension (he)0:56:56TranscriptShort description: Song. A sweet, uplifting QTPOC sea-punk song about wishing for life to be in colour again.Creator bio: Born in 1980, The Mollusc Dimension is a queer, trans, neurodivergent British-born Chinese composer, scorer, songwriter and multidisciplinary project-based artist. He creates transformative, reflective and emotional works around mental health, community and nature. The Mollusc Dimension composed music about queer mermaids for RHS Wisley, The National Maritime Museum; the elements for Chinese Arts Now (now Kakilang) and performed a song about the British weather for London Trans Choir and Moon Fest Bristol. Deep encounters with nature also appear in The Mollusc Dimension's forthcoming debut autobiographical comic book, "The Weird & Wonderful Surviveries of Squid Horse".Creator links: Instagram / Facebook / Instagram (comics) / Twitter (X)Creator statement: A song about discovering, remembering and creating with whatever life gives you, "Take Me Back to the Ocean" is taken from "Welcome to The Mollusc Dimension" - the artist's debut album, completed at a later stage in life due to voice dysphoria as a trans person. The secret to the track's appeal may be in the gentle guitar interludes and sweet backing vocals by fellow disabled, non binary artist and friend, Wild (@WildSings). The song originates from enduring living in a "political fortress" (the artist's words) and re-imagining the local fields are the sea - where he longs to be… The music video for "Take Me Back to the Ocean" was largely made under UK Covid-19 lockdown, thanks to garden access, holiday clips and an iphone. For him, it was a tiny reminder that no matter how lonely he feels, the memory of water and colourful sea creature friends are always there for him… and maybe for you too!Acknowledgements: Backing vocals and guitar by The Wild Sings (they/them). Recording engineer Felix Macintosh. The Seagull’s Swan Song - M. A. Dubbs (she)1:01:32TranscriptShort description: Poetry. The second of three poems from M. A. Dubbs in this issue, exploring climate change in Indiana.Creator bio, links, statement, acknowledgements: See aboveSweeper - Dan (he)1:03:11TranscriptLand acknowledgement: Recorded on Brayakaulung (Gunaikurnai) country, featuring many corellas.A Field Guide to Edible Birds - Kate Hall (she)1:05:26TranscriptShort description: Poem with field recording. What would happen if humans started to catch and eat wild birds?Creator bio: Kate Hall is a writer, academic and Creative Director of Q-Lit, a festival which celebrates the work of LGBTQIA+ writers and artists across regional Victoria, Australia. Check out “Out-Side: Queer Words & Art From Regional Victoria” here. Kate is the author of the award-winning young adult novel, From Darkness, a sapphic portal fantasy set in the Otway rainforest and the classical underworld. Kate lives, writes, works and surfs on the unceded lands and waters of the Wadawurrung peoples of the Kulin Nations, in Southwest Victoria. Recent publications include a forthcoming co-authored book chapter in Animals and Science Fiction (Palgrave MacMillan, 2024) in which she imagines a future world as it might be for a cat, a fox, a yabby, a pig and a pigeon.Creator links: Website / InstagramCreator statement: As a queer person living in a small coastal town I often feel out of place. The nearest city is Naarm/Melbourne, about an hour and a half up the highway. Every time I drive this highway I pass trucks transporting cows and pigs and sheep and chickens to the abattoirs, saleyards and seaports outside the city. Where I live there are many species of free-living birds, as well as twenty chickens who live outdoors with a safe little shed for roosting. These birds are all lucky. Five minutes down the road there is a chicken farm. On hot days, the smell of the sheds drifts like fog across the coast road. I often wonder what tourists and day trippers from the city think about this olfactory disturbance of their relaxing drive to the beach. My recording offers a small glimpse of the world as it feels to somebody who cannot listen to birdsong without thinking about the chickens and other animals whose voices will only be heard by the humans who breed and kill them. As a queer vegan I am a disturbance, as out of place in this world as a chicken farm on the way to the ocean.Content notes: Animal harm, child death.Land acknowledgements: This poem was recorded on the sovereign, unceded lands of the Wadawurrung peoples. I pay my deepest respects to their ancestors, past present and future, and honour the continuing connection to culture and community of the First Peoples of this and all colonised countries. Always Was, Always Will Be, Aboriginal Land.Sweeper - Esther (she)1:06:51TranscriptLand acknowledgement: Frogs recorded on Dja Dja Wurrung and Taungurung country.Queer Botany at Walthamstow Marshes - Sixto-Juan Zavala (he/they)1:13:57TranscriptShort description: Documentary, interview, field recordings. In May 2021 at the Walthamstow Marshes in Northeast London we hosted guided tours with a map and series of outdoor interpretive displays.Creator bio: Sixto-Juan Zavala is a designer and illustrator from Texas currently based in Dundee, UK. He holds a BFA in Communication Design from Texas State University and an MA in Narrative Environments from UAL: Central Saint Martins with a focus on exhibition design, graphic design, and illustration. Zavala is especially interested in culture, marginalised groups, the environment, and using visual communication and spatial design to facilitate cultural change. Zavala founded Queer Botany in 2020; inspired by the theoretical lens of queer ecology, the project studies connections between queerness and plants through events, storytelling, and design. Queer Botany aims to share marginalised perspectives and support more diverse representations in the environment and outdoors. Zavala has designed maps, installed interpretive displays, hosted botanical drawing sessions, and guided walks sharing stories about plants from a queer perspective.Creator link: Website (including the references mentioned in the intro to this piece)Creator statement: Queer Botany, founded in 2020, is a project Inspired by the theoretical lens of queer ecology. The project studies connections between queerness and plants through events, storytelling, and design. Queer Botany aims to share marginalised perspectives and support more diverse representations in the environment and outdoors. Along with collaborators, we have designed maps, installed interpretive displays, hosted botanical drawing sessions, and guided walks sharing stories about plants from a queer perspective. In May 2021 at the Walthamstow Marshes in Northeast London we hosted guided tours with a map and series of outdoor interpretive displays. The focus was on such site-specific wild plants as the dog rose, horse chestnut, yellow flag, and coppiced willow. The Walthamstow Marshes are a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is a part of the Lea Valley: a chain of green spaces, marshes, and wetlands that cut through north London fed by the River Lea. Participants could learn about the plants on the project website, find the displays on their own, or be part of a guided tour. There were accompanying audio recordings about the plants for participants who were not part of the guided tour that could be accessed through QR codes.Acknowledgements: Rudy Loewe and anonymous interview participants. Sally Ashby.Honeysuckle Cognizance - M. A. Dubbs (she)1:20:00TranscriptShort description: Poetry. The last of three poems from M. A. Dubbs in this issue, exploring climate change in Indiana.Creator bio, links, statement, acknowledgements: See aboveQueer Gardening at Hummingbird Farm - Xochitl (ze/el/he) and Ella von der Haide (she)1:20:40TranscriptShort description: Interview. Excerpt from "Queer Gardening: a Documentary about Queer-Feminist Ecologies in North America" by Ella von der Haide (2022)Creator bio (Ella): Ella von der Haide is a gardener, filmmaker artist from Germany. For 20 years she has been making films in community gardens. About 15 years ago she started to ask herself why she met so many queer people in those gardens?Creator link (Ella): WebsiteCreator bio (Xochitl): Xochitl grew up on the Yakama Reservation (Toppenish, WA) and traces their ancestry to the Mixteco Region of Puebla, Mexico. They currently work for PODER SF (People Organizing to Demand Environmental and Economic Rights) as the Farm Manager at Hummingbird Farm, a six acre collective farm in the Excelsior district of San Francisco. Ze has been organizing in ecological spaces for over a decade to raise awareness on the importance of flowers and their seeds as resiliency tools in the climate crises, as well as heteronormative understandings of nature. Xochitl cross-pollinates traditional ecological knowledge, queer ecology, and indigenous philosophies into the discussion of sustainable agriculture, environmental justice, and a just transition as we reconnect to ancestral plant medicines on occupied lands. Creator link (Xochitl): InstagramCreator statement: Hummingbird Farm is an urban agriculture, food justice and leadership program brought to you by PODER SF! Led by Urban Campesinx’s, this farm is a space where everyone that reflects the deep diversity of our neighborhoods comes together to practice environmental, economic, and health justice strategies in the Southeast neighborhoods of San Francisco. Reflecting the lessons, wisdom, and seeds of our ancestors, we work hand in hand to create healthy and vibrant communities, by growing food and plant medicine and regenerating cultural practices.Land acknowledgement: Ohlone territory. Place Like Now - The Mollusc Dimension (he)1:24:55TranscriptShort description: Song. Nostalgic, down-to-earth piano chords spiral with breezy, jazzy, cloud-bound beats.Creator bio and links: See aboveCreator statement: Inspired by beat poetry and the emotions brought on by seasonal changes, "Place Like Now" appears to be a chilled lo-fi number but actually has a few little uplifting surprises. After starting with slow, deep jazz piano chords, the beat changes in the chorus - like flurries of wind whirling autumn leaves into the air. After some arpeggios of snow drifting down, the tempo gradually picks up speed as if there was a kite stuck in a bush and then it gets freed and flies away into the clouds! "Place Like Now" was selected by Helen Ganya ("Wonderful Vince Guaraldi vibes") for her Lunar New Year edition of "Mixed Tapes" - platforming music by POC musicians for Totally Radio.com. In his debut album, "Welcome to The Mollusc Dimension" (2019) the artist shape-shifted his way through various musical styles and genres. Whereas previously, he'd mostly consumed music due to gender, sexuality and race, after gender-affirming hormone treatment, he finally started to play with "many of the references and influences he absorbed through his life" (Walki, "Amplified" #179). The original version, for "Place Like Now" channels "older US beat poet" but as an instrumental (2024), it feels like a charming dream.Acknowledgements: Recording engineer Felix MacintoshConclusion - Allysse (she/they) and Jonathan (he/they)1:29:12TranscriptShort description: Concluding comments and thanks.

Issue 09 Preview

Turning up the heat in Queer Out Here Issue 09. Our next issue is broadly (but not exclusively) on the theme of climate. Here’s your first hit of what you’ll hear in pieces from our contributors around the world… Information about Issue 09 PreviewLength: 2:06File size: 4.1MBTranscript: Google DocsContent notes: This preview contains some harsh sounds, a little wind distortion, brief and non-graphic mentions of animal harm, and of course (given the overarching theme of this issue) climate change and collapse. Let us know if there’s anything else you think we need to mention here.Acknowledgement of Country: Audio in this preview was recorded and produced around the world, including on the country/land of the following peoples: Wadawurrung, Wurundjeri, Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung, Gunaikurnai, palawa pakana, Whadjuk Noongar, Mi'kmaq, Miami, Potawatomi, Piankeshaw, Wea, Kickapoo and Shawnee.You can also find this trailer on Vimeo, SoundCloud and YouTube - and get more of a preview of of Stephanie Lai’s excellent cover art. Keep an eye out for the full issue, coming soon! Listen to the preview on SoundCloud Listen to the preview and see more of our cover art on YouTube

Issue 08

Welcome to a rich audio world that spans continents, species, genres and geological eras. With firework-studded skies, creepy streetscapes and remote mountains, travels by bike, jeep, foot and imagination, and connections through music, meditation, the natural world and community joy, there’s something for everyone in Queer Out Here Issue 08.If you enjoy Queer Out Here, please consider:Sharing it with other people who might be interested in the outdoors, interesting audio and queer creatorsLetting us know (on Twitter, Facebook or by email) and letting our contributors know (links to their socials below)Leaving a positive review on your podcast app of choiceSigning up to our newsletter (see the bar at the top of the page)Listening to more issues! Information about Issue 08Length: 1:23:43Transcript: Google Docs / PDFHigh quality audio version: Google Drive (.wav file, 1.24GB)Running order:A Dutch New Year - Jenny ListWinter 2020 - Elisabeth FlettUncanny Nausea - Shaughn Martel (aka bit-form)Being Outside - Bilen BerhanuSpace in Nature - Dee ListerSilence - CeliaMerging Temporalities - Jaime SimonsA Pretty One Sided Conversation with a Pigeon - Fish (aka Xym) Conduits for Joy - Roxanna Barry with Alison Wormell and Mari FunabashiTransBike Europe - BartMy Shiny Jeep and Me - Cheryna GuzmanQueer Forest Bathing with Toadstool Walks - Travis CloughGrandmother Earth, Grandfather Sky - Indigie FemmeCover art: This issue’s fantastic cover photo and design is by Dee Lister (they/she). Dee is a queer biracial visual artist and writer who’s in complex trauma recovery. Dee finds joy in the process of artmaking just as much as what’s created in consequence. When they aren’t walking in nature or creating black and white analogue photographs, Dee likes to doodle or read poetry whilst sitting under a blanket with their rescue dog. Dee writes of their cover, “The metaphor resonates of a bedraggled though majestic bird soaring away from the others who huddle atop a building nestled within the urban decay of a town centre (which in this case was Bolton). This may be cliché, but I believe transcending internalised shame and fear with gentleness, self-worth and acceptance of past trauma makes just stepping out the door an act of resistance.” Find Dee at their website, or visit their Linktree for other socials.Content notes: The pieces in Queer Out Here talk about many things related to being queer and the outdoors. This issue contains: discussions of mental illness, mental health, disability, and social ostracisation; non-detailed mentions of queerphobia, racism and ableism; mentions of Covid lockdown; non-graphic references to animal harm (e.g. fishing); sudden and loud sounds like fireworks, vehicles and wind distortion; harsh and unusual whispering sounds; some swearing and use of language that’s often considered ableist (e.g. “crazy”). If you have specific anxieties or triggers, check this transcript or ask a trusted friend to listen and give you feedback. Please let us know if there is something we’ve missed and we will add it to the show notes on our website.Acknowledgement of Country: This issue and its documentation were edited in part on Brayakaulung (Gunaikurnai) Country. This always was and always will be Aboriginal land. We pay our respects to Gunaikurnai elders and we extend this to all Indigenous elders and Indigenous and First Nations listeners around the world. Show notes for Issue 08Opener - various contributors0:00:00TranscriptShort description: A mixture of sounds from the pieces in this issue, including thunder, singing, whale sounds, water, footsteps and snippets of talking.Introduction - Jonathan (he/they) and Allysse (she/they)0:00:42TranscriptShort description: Welcome and housekeeping with Allysse and Jonathan. In the background there are gentle sounds of birds in the countryside in rural Wales.A Dutch New Year - Jenny List (she/her)0:04:40TranscriptShort description: Audio postcard. A walk through a small Dutch town on New Years Eve, with attendant spontaneous firework display.Creator bio: Jenny is a middle-aged British trans woman with a lifelong love of the outdoors.Creator link: WebsiteCreator statement: This is one of the most unexpected yet completely Dutch experiences for a British tourist to find in the Netherlands, when a sensible small town turns into something that looks and sounds like a warzone as everyone sets off as many fireworks as they can.Content notes: Loud noises, mentions of alcohol use and transphobia.Winter 2020 - Elisabeth Flett (she/her)0:13:09TranscriptShort description: Sound art. Join Elisabeth Flett in the depths of December 2020 as she goes on her nightly nocturnal walk and begins to question her sanity.Creator bio: Elisabeth Flett is an award-winning writer, theatre-maker, musician and general feminist trouble maker. Winner of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Rose Lawrence Award for academic writing in 2017 and University of Aberdeen Literary Lights 2021, Elisabeth’s writing spans academia, poetry, plays, fiction and auto-biographical content. Her poetry is featured in zines published by Hysteria and Coin-Operated Press, and in Out on the Page’s anthology “Queer Writing for a Brave New World”. Elisabeth is passionate about mental health awareness, LGBTQ+ rights and gender equality, themes which often feature in all forms of her work as a creative practitioner.Creator links: Instagram / TwitterCreator statement: Winter 2020 might seem a surprising creative response to the prompt “outside”. Indeed, when I played it to a friend she expressed horror that I’d created something so unnerving instead of something more joyful! When I think of the “outside”, however, my memory inevitably skips straight to the time period where I realised I’d always taken the outdoors for granted as I paced around my small flat, cooped up with the rest of the nation during Covid lockdown as we all went slowly insane and hoarded toilet paper. Living in Aberdeen and struggling through a Masters degree over Zoom, I was terribly lonely, lacking purpose, and with nothing to stop me I found myself sliding into a sleep routine worthy of Dracula. Wandering around deserted central Aberdeen at night, I felt like I’d slid into the pages of War of the Worlds, the city abandoned apart from me and perhaps an overly optimistic man skulking somewhere around in the sewers. As a fan of Jeff Wayne’s musical version of the novel I decided to pay homage to him with this poetic soundscape piece, the synths and distorted vocals a nod to the innovative sounds found throughout his compositions. Content notes: Harsh and distorted sounds, whispering, references Covid lockdown.Uncanny Nausea - Shaughn Martel (aka bit-form) (they/them)0:16:33TranscriptShort description: Sound art, music. Edited field recordings from a rusting outdoor piano string section found on the street in winter 2023.Creator bio: Shaughn Martel is a queer, ADHD, new media artist focused on the performance of media, sound and digital technology, currently practising in Tkaronto, Ontario. Shaughn embraces form and content through bugs in digital tools and exposing the process of assemblage of digital materials, using the flaws of a medium as the grounds for artmaking. Shaughn has been exhibiting work since 2014, most recently with New Adventures in Sound Art for the 16th annual Deep Wireless Festival and with the Margin of Eras Gallery. Currently in their final year at OCAD University for a Bachelors of Art in Integrated Media, Shaughn is the first recipient of the James Bailey Award through NAISA North in radio and transmission art and became a member of the Ada Lovelace Fellowship in 2022.Creator links: Linktree Creator statement: I wanted to make a sort of disorienting horror soundtrack using intermittent starting and stopping of driving low tones. Field recordings of the overall atmosphere of the street where the piano string section was found include the passing cars. Both raw and edited sounds were used.Content notes: Harsh and distorted sounds.Land acknowledgement: Known by many names of first peoples for thousands of years, Tkaronto, “the place in the water where the trees are standing” in the Mohawk language, is also known as so-called “Toronto” in Ontario Canada. Historically, this place is known as the site for the Dish with One Spoon Treaty. Originally a trading ground, many Indigenous peoples from The Mississaugas of the Credit River, the Haudenosaunee, the Chippewa, the Anishnabeg, and the Huron-Wendat, developed this treaty in the interest of fellowship and shared stewardship of this land. Although this city currently stands to continue in commerce, the treaties concerning the lands of these people have been betrayed for large business and colonial expansion through resource extraction that poisons the land and water.Sweeper - Mags0:17:33TranscriptBeing Outside - Bilen Berhanu (she/her)0:20:20TranscriptShort description: Monologue, field recording. Reflections on being outside during the #52hikechallenge.Creator bio: Born and raised in Ethiopia and currently based in Brooklyn (New York), Bilen is a life-long enthusiast and student of all things outdoors. Bilen has an established full spectrum doula practice. Her care work is grounded in liberatory practices of reclaiming agency and providing pathways to empowered experiences in life’s monumental transitions. In an effort to add to the movement to address disparities, Bilen is deeply committed to creating accessible, culturally competent and LGBTQIA+ affirming experiences in the outdoors. Bilen graduated with a BA in Environmental Studies from Mount Holyoke College and an MA in Social Science: Environment & Community from Humboldt State University. Creator links: Instagram / TwitterCreator statement: When I pause long enough and quiet my busy mind, I hear the land speak. It is easy to be in this conversation when you know to listen more than talk. But it’s not always easy to hear what is said and often asked of us. It is not easy to hold what cannot be carried. It’s not convenient but it’s still so important. Much has already been said about the separation between “man” and “nature”. Through this artificial cleaving and dispossessing, we produced a wilderness separate from us. We are forced to uphold binaries as though they serve us. The erasure. The falsehood. The pain-soaked soil. The tear-stained wind. There is no shortage of testimony. Just be still and listen. With your whole being. It is overwhelming. Asking permission. Acknowledging all that remains hidden. Making a real and lived effort to be in right relationship. Taking up space. Disrupting narratives. Pushing back. Opening wounds to find healing. Being outside, we can drop the pretence. The cacophony of everyday life melts away and we are called to remember. We have been out here. We belong out here. We are here.Content notes: References chronic illness, Covid and social injustices.Land acknowledgement: Stolen lands of the Lenni-Lenape peoples.Space in Nature - Dee Lister (they/she)0:30:00TranscriptShort description: Audio postcard. Walk with Dee as they connect with nature and share their poetic prose thoughts whilst being buffeted by the wind. Creator bio: Dee identifies as a queer, biracial person of colour who lives with invisible disability. Dee is an artist and published creative photographer whose work explores small stories in nature, whilst conveying their inner world to audiences using visual metaphor. For Dee, walking in nature is life-breath, which combined with their creative practices provides safe space to process complex trauma and embodied experiences. Dee published a zine called Glimmers in 2022 that featured anthotype photographs and words inspired by sunrise and sunset. More of their work can be seen on their website and Instagram.Creator links: Website / Instagram / TwitterCreator statement: This recording is a raw and unconstructed account of happenings in one place and time. The wind is the only accompaniment and so I spoke to this, exploring other sensory experiences as they unfolded. The piece is stream-of-consciousness because that’s how I make sense of being in the moment. It’s how I get through my days, or half hours more precisely, because it’s often a struggle to stay present as someone living with emotional flashbacks and complex trauma. I’m very unwell right now, everyday talking and doing is a rough path, but walking in nature brings me peace. This is my intention with the piece that may speak to listeners through conveying the simple beauty of mindfully moving through space.Content notes: References mental and physical illness, some wind distortion.Silence - Celia (they/them)0:32:37TranscriptShort description: Poetry. Reflections on the feeling of silence in the Norwegian mountains.Creator bio: Celia is from Bonares, a little village in the south of Spain, but lives in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. They work as a cook in a bio-regional, vegetarian-vegan restaurant although they studied Sport Sciences Bachelor's Degree and an Outdoor Sports Master's Degree. They are a mountain guide and would like to start their own queer outdoor tourism company, to guide groups in the mountains and create safe spaces for everybody outdoors. Sometimes, in their free time, they do research about the intersections between outdoor pedagogies and queer pedagogies. They love writing, cooking, taking care of their garden, doing outdoor sports and travelling by bike (especially with their cat).Creator link: InstagramCreator statement: The mountains of Bodø (Norway) inspired me to write this poem about silence. The aim of our trip was a conference about gender and sports in Bodø to present our research work. After that, my partner and I planned a hiking trip doing wild camping around Lurfjellhytta. The peaceful feeling of being alone between Nordic mountains in a frozen landscape... There was no wind sound, birds tweeting, or people's noise...Land acknowledgement: Bodø is located on Sámi land.Sweeper - Jackie0:34:07TranscriptLand acknowledgement: Recorded on Wurundjeri country.Merging Temporalities - Jaime Simons (they/them)0:36:22TranscriptShort description: Sound art, field recording. This watery track queers time by merging sounds of the past and the present, spanning all the way back to the late Cambrian period.Creator bio: Jaime Simons is a Canadian sound artist and museum professional, residing on the unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabek. Their work merges art, history, and geography through creative interventions, drawing on sonic mapping and queer sound theory to offer different ways of engaging with historical sources.Creator statement: This track emerged from research into queer sound theory and frustrations with the binarisation of gender, time, history, and the environment through their treatment as immutable objects. To express this frustration, the track begins by treating the Ottawa River as a co-creator, engaging with its deep geologic time. It attempts to create a sonic image of the river and of the creators frustration at the time of the project by including field recordings done at specific moments. These include recordings of rapids and swirling currents, ice crystals, and underwater sounds, recorded during both solo and group hikes along the Ottawa River. The track meditates on queer geography and works to remind listeners of the wider environment, ecosystems, networks, and histories to which the Ottawa River both connects to and comes from. The recent past and the deep past are performed simultaneously, representing how evidence of deep time is still present in the here-and-now. The inclusion of the expected (e.g. water noises) and the unexpected (e.g. whale and walrus calls, human voices, sounds from different geological eras) encourage listeners to reflect on how they binarize thoughts about time and environments to move towards acknowledging the interdependence of places and temporalities.Acknowledgements: Natalie, Meranda, Sammy and Meg.Land acknowledgement: This work was created on the unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabek.A Pretty One Sided Conversation with a Pigeon - Fish (aka Xym) (they/them)0:40:44TranscriptShort description: Field recording, music. Fish is talking to pigeons about crows and mice. Pigeons don’t say much. Some singing happens.Creator bio: Fish (or Xym) is a nonbinary, disabled (neurodivergent and chronically ill) person living in Poland. They are a university dropout with a bachelor's degree in chemistry and unfinished degrees in biotechnology and sociology. They graduated from a music high school. In the past they have collaborated with a Warsaw based performance arts group, Kem. Before the pandemic they liked participating in improv workshops and poetry slams in their local theatre. Their favourite hobby is playing tabletop RPGs. Currently they are trying to learn how to draw. They like talking to pigeons, listening to hedgehogs’ footsteps and taking photos of frogs and lizards.Creator links: Blog / Bandcamp / MastodonCreator statement: This piece is inspired by things I experienced during my walks to the Wisła river. I used my phone to record sounds from the park that is on the way from my home to the river, as well as the sounds of the Wisła river herself. I like greeting pigeons when I walk next to them, but I usually don’t hold long conversations like this with them. I did not actually bother the pigeons too much during recording. I feel solidarity with non-human animals that are often disregarded or disrespected by the other people I see participating in “the outdoors”. As a person who has been othered and denied bodily autonomy because of their identities and status as chronically ill, I see many similarities between how I am treated and other animals are treated. I wanted to examine how those experiences impact my connection with “the outdoors”. I hope my piece will inspire others to reflect about their relationship to nature and other human and non-human animals.Content notes: Mentions of ableism, social ostracisation, Covid, animal harm (fishing).Conduits for Joy - Roxanna Barry (they/she) with Alison Wormell (they/them) and Mari Funabashi (she/her)0:47:36TranscriptShort description: Documentary, music. Excerpt from a short film exploring creativity (see below). Alison discusses making their own reeds for their bassoon and plays a piece on their bassoon in Grizedale Forest.Creator bios: Roxanna is a queer, mixed-race photographer and filmmaker, who focuses on diverse stories in the outdoors. Roxanna shot and directed the short film that this sound comes from. Alison is a queer bassoonist and founder of Play Outdoors Productions, a production house focused on shining a light on diversity in the outdoors. Alison performed bassoon in a forest in the Lake District and talked about what making music means to them. Mari is a queer, multi-ethnic immigrant of colour who is a musician and film composer. Mari scored the music for this track.Creator links: Play Outdoors Productions: Instagram / YouTube. Roxanna: Instagram / Website. Alison: Instagram / Website. Mari: InstagramCreator statement: This audio follows Alison Wormell (they/them) as we explore why they make reeds for their bassoon, and how this allows them to share joy through their music with others. We also hear about Alison's connection with the outdoors and how this influences their music. At the end, Alison performs a piece for solo bassoon. We recorded this performance after spending the day cycling around the local gravel, filming the film Conduits for Joy, which this audio is a part of. We found a clearing in Grizedale forest, pushed our bikes in, and recorded Alison playing the bassoon amongst the trees.Acknowledgements: Voice and performance by Alison Wormell. Largo for Solo Bassoon composed by Jean-Daniel Braun. Sweeper - Raine0:49:36TranscriptAcknowledgement: Recorded on Gunaikurnai country.TransBike Europe - Bart (they/them)0:51:09TranscriptShort description: Diary, field recordings. An invitation into one day of a six-month bike trip through Europe.Creator bio: Bart is currently a Ph.D. student; their research focuses on the experiences of trans people in outdoor and adventure activities. Further research interests are queer, feminist, and outdoor methodologies and the intersections between queer and outdoor pedagogies. Bart is also a UIMLA-certificated Mountain Guide. Bart loves travelling by bike, their cat Tjena (who always comes on biking and hiking trips!), hiking, skiing, snowshoeing, winter hiking, climbing, cooking and eating regional food, and taking care of their vegetable garden. Creator link: InstagramCreator statement: The central part of this piece was recorded in the summer of 2020 for an art and performance project called “In first person: The Dance”. The intro and after was recorded in my garden on a sunny and cold afternoon in February 2023. The trip itself was a solo six-month bike trip that started in Malaga (south of Spain) in February 2017 and finished in Aurich (north of Germany) in August 2017. Throughout these months I got in contact with many other trans activists and participated in some demonstrations for LGTBQ+ rights and had lots of adventures. It was definitely one of the best periods of my life.Content notes: Passing mention of transphobia in sport, description of eating meat.Sweeper - Rachel1:01:42TranscriptLand acknowledgement: Recorded on Gunaikurnai country.My Shiny Jeep and Me - Cheryna Guzman (she/her) 1:02:55TranscriptShort description: Monologue, field recording. Female off-roader exploring California, figuring out what it’s like to be in a male dominated world and to change it.Creator bio: Cheryna Guzman is an offroading enthusiast located in Oakland, California, USA. Her Jeep, known as Nacho, has taken her on many adventures often with her fiancé Bex Mui and occasionally with their cat, Angél too. You can find her either in the backyard removing rust and checking the bolts under Nacho, or exploring the country.Creator link: InstagramCreator statement: This piece is about my experience with the outdoors through the lens of having a 4-wheel-drive vehicle, my jeep Nacho. I discuss my perspective being a queer Dominican woman in the off-roading world and what that means. I invite listeners to join me on the road through a clip of one of my first off-roading trips. This story is ongoing, especially as I embark on a three-month, cross-country road trip, and I encourage folks to join me on this journey, and to help continue to raise the visibility of women and people of colour in the outdoors through following my Instagram.Land acknowledgement: The region that is now part of Tahoe National Forest is the ancestral homelands of Nisenan, the Washoe, and many other Indigenous communities.Queer Forest Bathing with Toadstool Walks - Travis Clough (he/they)1:10:34TranscriptShort description: Documentary. A queer forest bathing retreat in the southern hills of Vermont. A weekend filled with queer connection and meditation in the woods.Creator bio: Travis was born and raised on unceded Wabanaki land now called Maine. When he's not making audio stories you can find him in the woods and rivers in Maine. He also loves to play old-time banjo and teaches monthly quilting classes. Travis is a Registered Maine Guide.Creator link: InstagramCreator statement: This piece was recorded over Insidious People's Weekend (October) in Vermont, USA at Basecamp at Beaver Falls, headquarters for The Venture Out Project. Tam Willey, Toadstool Walks, guide and leader of the weekend is interviewed about their practice. This piece was intended to give an overview of what a forest bathing retreat is. I used to guide for The Venture Out Project, and Tam and I ran three retreats together before the pandemic. This was the first one I attended as a participant.Acknowledgement: Thanks to Tam Willey.Land acknowledgement: Wabanaki (Dawnland Confederacy).Grandmother Earth, Grandfather Sky - Indigie Femme (she/her)1:16:13TranscriptShort description: Music. Driving alone / Grandmother’s home / Grandfather’s gone / His spirit lives on / I see the moon / Look to the sky / Sacred prayers I know deep down inside.Creator bio: Indigie Femme (Tash Terry and Elena Higgins) weaves Navajo/Dine, Maori, and Samoan Cultures with their voices, drums, and percussion. Indigie Femme has been 2017 Indigenous Music Award nominees; 2016, 2014 and 2012 New Mexico Music Award winners; 2013 Aboriginal Peoples Choice as Best International Duo; 2011 Native American Music Award winners and Sacramento Women of Color & Diversity Honorees; and 2010 Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards. They are especially well known in the two-spirit world of indigiqueer performance. Elena brings her Maori and Samoan ancestors from New Zealand in new and moving vocals. Whether strumming her Australian Maton (upside-down guitar), offering harmonies or performing sweet a capella, she moves her audience to embrace her glorious smile and haunting sounds. Tash comes from the Navajo Nation bringing with her that Nation’s songs and stories. She grew up hearing the mystical music of her masani (grandmother) whose awe for mother earth and devotion to Navajo ways was unshakable. Tash now renders that enduring spirit through her own musical interpretations both traditional and modern.Creator link: WebsiteCreator statement: “Grandmother Earth, Grandfather Sky” comes from Indigie Femme’s album of the same name. Tash writes: “This CD is particularly special in that it speaks and sings to my traditional grandmother and grandfather and the influences of growing up on the Navajo Nation. My grandfather Samuel Dalton passed into the Spirit World in 1996 and my grandmother Margaret Dalton continues to do her walk and live her traditional life on Black Mesa to the best or her ability - with help from relatives. In essence, my grandmother is of Grandmother Earth and my grandfather is of Grandfather Sky in the Spirit World, thus the title of the CD is dedicated to them.”Conclusion - Allysse (she/they) and Jonathan (he/they)1:21:45TranscriptShort description: Concluding comments and thanks. Background sounds of gentle birdsong and, later, sheep bleating in the distance.