Music and Words from the Trans Imaginary: An Evening with CN Lester

To join the event IN PERSON at the Reid Theatre on Bristo Square, GET YOUR TICKETS HERE - Lighthouse will host the livestream and recording of this incredibly special event on behalf of QUEER.ED so book on this page if you are joining online. Books will be signed at the event for any one who would like a signed/dedicated copy but can't join in person.

CN Lester is a multi-genre musician: a classical singer, improviser/deviser, composer, and alternative piano-based singer-songwriter.

They are also the author of the critically acclaimed Trans Like Me, and the founder and artistic director of the groundbreaking arts event Transpose at the Barbican. They work internationally as a trans, queer, and feminist educator, writer, speaker, and activist.

For An Evening with CN Lester, they will perform selections of their soulful, melodic, piano-based music, brought to life by the sumptuous sound of the Reid Concert Hall’s Steinway piano. CN will also deliver a reading of their recent reflections on the current state of life for trans people in the U.K.

CN’s mesmeric talent and drive make them a perfect featured artist for our programme of trans-centred events, sponsored by the University of Edinburgh’s QUEER.ED, UCU Edinburgh, the Staff Pride Network, Lighthouse Bookshop, Edinburgh College of Art, and the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences.

The QUEER.ED programme rejects the dehumanising narratives about trans people disseminated by the media and the anti-trans movement. Instead, CN’s art offers a tantalising glimpse into the trans imaginary—a space where trans people create their own stories, shape their own narratives, and define their own lives, inspired by energy, solidarity, hope, and love.