JAY FARLEY

/FILMMAKER/DIGITAL ARTIST/POET

 PRAISE for A [Cupboard] Full of Tomboys:

Through the poetic and raw lens of a neurodiverse filmmaker, A [Cupboard] Full of Tomboys by Jay Farley navigates the intricate intersections of identity, gender, and class. This collection unfolds the journey of an older, working-class non-binary individual. With a cinematic and surreal texture, Jay uses words not only to validate their existence but also to unlock the transformative power of language itself. From the confines of the metaphorical cupboard to the expansive, defiant explorations of a new, queer world, Farley’s poetry challenges binaries, embraces fluidity, and crafts an unflinching celebration of lived authenticity.

This book is a bursting open of closet doors, a superb non binary encyclopaedia, more vital ammunition for the queer canon.

— Joelle Taylor

 Dazzling, sprawling, gasping — these changeling poems fly at us, each a carnival rooted in poetry’s sense of creation and revolution. At their heart is an astonishing polyvocal experiment; a swirling crown that dares us to listen to “the sea inside” and the hidden geometries of worlds that land as softly as dandelion seeds, as powerfully as hurricanes.

— Andre Bagoo

 A fast-moving stream of brilliance singing with the rhythms of Liverpool’s streets and the heart-strings of explosively lived experience.

— Chris McCabe

Jay Farley is an award-winning non-binary, queer, neuro­diverse poet, filmmaker/digital artist.  at FIRST TAKE, Liverpool @wearefirsttake. Jay’s work began as an international creative activist, fusing art and protest. In 2020 they discovered the language for being non-binary and language discovered them. Since then, they have been prolifically writing honest, radical, working-class poetry with great success. They featured in the @queerbods anthology QUEER ICONS, published by Broken Sleep as well as in the Hot Poets’ SPARKS anthology. They perform spoken word and have featured at events such as Homotopia’s NML Xtra at Museum of Liverpool. They were runner-up at their very first Poetry Slam at Liverpool’s Lovely Word Poetry Festival 2022 and went on to headline at Shakespeare North’s first SCRATCH Spoken Word event. They were commissioned by UNITY THEATRE @unitytheatre to perform BEYOND BINARY, their one-person show, as part of the UP NEXT Showcase in September 2022. They are currently working on their first pamphlet with the help of TS Elliot winner Joelle Taylor and hoping to tour their show in the second half of 2024. 

Some Images taken from Beyond Binary Show at Unity Theatre  2022 By @lukebryantphoto