Creative/Collective: A Feminist Cabaret

Please check ticket info for this event below, incl. information about access.

Where does the individual meet the collective? What moves us to act in solidarity? How do we make community in struggle?

Jj Fadaka, Titi Farukuoye, Lisa Fannen, Lakshmi Ajay and Aliya Davids open a circle of poetry and spoken word exploring feminism and belonging in this feminist cabaret.

Our Speakers

Jj Fadaka is a writer, workshop facilitator and radical based in Edinburgh. Her writing explores the possibility abolition, feminism, and love give us to create change. Jj uses a mix of non-fiction, storytelling and poetry to speak to the political urgencies we face whilst centring community and joy-making in building the struggles against these. Jj reads and facilitates works across Scotland. She featured as Poet in Residence at the 2023 StAnza International Poetry Festival and she released her first poetry zine, '3 Days in Community', in January 2023. This year, she edited a Transformative Justice Zine as part of the Spit It Out Project. Both works are available at Lighthouse Books and online. Instagram: @jfadaka

Lisa Fannen is a bodyworker and activist concerned with dialogue and information exchange about health as part of movement for social justice, and wrote and collated the book Warp & Weft; psycho-emotional health, politics and experiences. Lisa also shares words both solo and often in performance with musicians/ soundmakers. Her poetry collection Faultline was released as a collaborative recording project.

Lakshmi Ajay is a visual artist, writer and social worker in Mental Health and Addictions. Her art has been exhibited at Blunt Knife Co. and she recently completed a writing salon curated by Lola Olufemi. Her work is inspired by her experiences of migration, finding pockets of community along the way and dreaming of abolitionist futures. She creates art in the hope that they lead to enduring spaces of care, connection and revolution.

Titilayo Farukuoye (they/them) is writer, educator and organiser based in Glasgow. Titilayo centres social injustice, and community care in their work. Titilayo co-directs the Scottish BPOC Writers Network (SBWN) and is a co-winner of the 2022 Edwin Morgan Poetry Award. Titilayo is the author of “Anti-racist toolkit for teachers – an introductory self-learning tool on anti-racist praxis for teachers and educators” (2021) and the co-founder of Intercultural Youth Scotland’s Anti-racist, Pro Black Education Programme that empowers young people in Scottish secondary schools to learn about and champion anti-racism and intersecting social justice issues in their communities. Titilayo’s poetry featured at Fringe of Colour Films, Edinburgh Multicultural Festival, Paisley Book Festival, Our Time is A Garden Anthology, Propel Magazine amongst others. Titilayo has also been recognised for their journalistic work. Instagram: @titiiilayo Twitter: @TitiLayoGLA

Aliya Davids (she/her) is a South African veterinarian, poet and storyteller based in Edinburgh. She is passionate about both science and art through the lens of collective community care. More recently, she has been tapping into creative expression, drawing inspiration from spoken word, theatre and film. She explores many themes, including heritage, modern love and loneliness.

*Please note that masks will be required at this event (as with all Lighthouse events).

*Accessibility: All events will be professionally filmed & livestreamed. The Roxy is wheelchair accessible (including toilets) and we'll have provisions for neurodivergent guests including stims, quiet space and colour-coded lanyards.

*Events are £5 or free -we completely understand paying for one or two events and then getting free spots for others. The Radical Book Fair is entirely bookshop run and ticket sales are vital to keeping the fair sustainable and paying all our speakers so all support is heartily welcome!

*Featured books: The book & ticket option will select the most recently published book at any given event, if you’re not sure which book you want or don’t want that featured book, then buy a £5 voucher ticket that can be used for any of the books below.

*If you'd like to help make the book fair accessible to more folks, please consider adding to our pay-it-forward fund HERE.