NEUROQUEER HEROES
Welcome to our Neuroqueer Heroes website. We created poems including a collaborative Crown of Sonnets, images and film. They were created during a series of poetry workshops held at Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool as part of Jay Farley’s Writer in Residence funded by Creative Future.
WHAT IS NEUROQUEER(ing)
Coined by Dr. Nick Walker in 2008, Neuroqueering is a multi-layered concept that combines neurodivergence with queer identity and activism.
As an Identity: It describes the inseparable intersection of being neurodivergent (e.g., Autistic or ADHD) and LGBTQIA+. It highlights how a brain that processes “social rules” differently often naturally rejects traditional norms of gender and sexuality.
As a Verb (Action): To “neuroqueer” is to actively subvert “neuronormativity.” This involves unmasking (rejecting the pressure to act “normal”), challenging the idea of a “right” way for a brain to function. It is about intentionally designing spaces collectively, to accommodate all communication and sensory needs in a way for everyone to have agency.
As a Political & Creative Tool: It views “non-normal” thinking as a vital strength for enhancing and solving on a micro personal scale up to global issues like climate change. It is rooted in intersectionality, positioning itself as a form of resistance against capitalism, racism, and colonialism by advocating for a culture where everyone’s unique being and needs are met.
Ultimately, neuroqueering is about embracing cognitive and behavioural diversity and self determination to create a more inclusive, collaborative, and resilient society.
IMAGE: Spinach Anthotype of Fist – Jay Farley
TOP IMAGE: Turmeric Anthotype with sacred geometry seed overlay
Who are the NEUROQUEER HEROES responsible for this work?
Kaitlin Schaal, Emyr Bamford, Sam Prior, Sam Keall, Jay Farley, Amanda Ralph, Carrie Habb, Alixir Turnbull-Crane, Marie hanafin, Garnett ‘Ratte’ Frost, Alfie Beacall, Moon Rice, Meave Devine, Tom Moulsdale
Thanks to NEUROQUEEER HERO Emyr Bamford we now have an accesible/large print version of our zine for you to download 🙂
BACKGROUND IMAGE: Nature scribles – Amanda Ralph
How the NEUROQUEER HEROES Crown was created.
A crown of sonnets, is composed of 15 sonnets using Iambic pantemiter and 14 lines. They are linked by the repetition of the final line of one sonnet repeated as the initial line of the next. The last (master) sonnet consists of all the repeated lines of the previous 14 sonnets, in the same order in which they appeared.
Ours is a collaborative crown, working with 14 neuroqueer people with distinctly different neuroqueer experiences each creating their own sonnet.
This form is perfect to be really personal and specific in each sonnet. Whilst the joining of the sonnets in the repeating/connecting lines and the master sonnet links them, overlaps, and weaves them together. So all together it was a great way of unifying them and describing a joint experience whilst still being true to the multitudes of our experience.
Did we stick strictly to the rules of the Crown? No, we’re Neuroqueers! We couldn’t even if we tried. Instead we leaned into our different ways of working and let a natural flow guide us. We evolved the Crown and this poem is the result.
Background Image: Anthotype by Emyr Bamford
NEUROQUEER INTERSECTIONS
The intersection between Queerness, neorodivergence can lead to Action and freedom for society and individuals who are typically marginalised by a coded, restricted capitalist society. Many of its ideas stem back to colonial and white supremist ideas that still effect society today.
NEUROQUEERNESS & NATURE
Neuroqueerness exists everywhere in nature including spinach, penguins, mushrooms, clownfish, elephants and bees! In fact when we look for it, it exists in all of nature. It’s just that we have previously been presented with a picture of nature often shaped by privileged, white, public school–educated men, which have historically distorted our understanding of nature and reinforced their own beliefs and systems. When we look at nature free of a capitalist lens, it teaches us that everything is interconnected like a web and although it has elements of hierarchy and competitiveness, they often sit within collaborative systems. For example symbiosis and mutualism, like bees pollinating flowers while collecting nectar, where both species benefit. Or Mycelium and Funga keeping forests alive and forests keeping the planet alive. We are part of that web of life and we need to treat it, and ourselves with respect and equity.
Neurodiversity and queerness represent what scientists call “variance,” a natural and beneficial diversity found in all walks of life. Variance strengthens species and ecosystems by enabling adaptation and resilience. We need us.
Neuroqueering allows us to decolonise, decoding our bodies and minds, and through the lens of queer ecology it is like rewilding.
WE ARE HOPE: Our existence (Neuroqueer(ing) People) is nature defending itself.
The beauty of Neuroqueering is we can do it NOW in our everyday lives, shoulder to shoulder. We don’t have to wait to elect anyone or overthrow capitalism, we can just start TODAY 🙂 Jay Farley
BACKGROUND IMAGE: Daffodil anthotype by Moon
QUEERNESS & NATURE
Neuroqueering brings us closer to nature because it rejects invented social contructs such as gender binary, hetronormativity, race, ableism, and ‘normal’ ways of thinking. Nature has been used in the past and to this day as a way of ‘prooving’ but when we look at nature, objectively, scientificlly without bias or erasure we can see queerness and diversity everywhere.
WE ALSO MADE A FILM:
The film and the poem is a ritual. Using a spell circle created at our local nature reserve of Bidston Hill, under the beautiful full moon of March the poem and the film formed a powerful spell. A ritual dedicated to reconnect with nature, rewild our minds, bodies and souls and break the curse of capitalism. We planted the poem in the rich red earth alongside Sonnet Sigils* ; seeds ready to grow into an enriched and brighter future.
Alixir Turnbull-Crane
*Sigil – a symbolic representation of the witches’/ practitioners’ desired outcome.
Acknowledgements
I’d like to give a special thanks to Creative Future and in particular Matt Freidman who is just an amazing person. Creative Future support and champion underrepresented voices and are one of the best cultural organisations in the country. They funded my residency and have given me the confidence to grow as a writer, THANK YOU.
Secondly, Open Eye Gallery who provided the location and local support in Liverpool. Sarah Fisher, Susanah Fletcher, Sorcha Boyle and Maria Gullina for being awesome. Open Eye is platforming, curating, programming, and supporting amazing artists and art. Challenging what a gallery space is and can do in the best inclusive and radical ways. Check them out! Thanks to First Take who supported the making of the film. They make amazing social good/justice films and digital art with underrepresented communities.
Finally thanks to Paul Hamlyn Foundation for funding First Take to explore and bring Neuroqueering to a wider community. Jay