SUPPORT Jenny Lindsay, Poet, Writer and Performer
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SUPPORT poet, writer and performer Jenny Lindsay!
Principled, political, feminist, talented, humane.
Jenny Lindsay is a poet and performer who does not duck the difficult issues, especially those facing women. Ironically these qualities, the very qualities a society should value highest in a writer, have led to her losing work and funding – not because of anything as simple and transparent as ‘cancellation’ – but because it can be easier for organisations to avoid controversy by steering clear of those they fear might attract even a whiff of it.
In November, Jenny was offered a substantial piece of work by a major company – until they did what they called ‘due diligence’ on her. ‘Due diligence’ discovered that her name had been in the media, not because of anything untoward she’d done, but because of an excellent and much praised essay she’d written in a highly regarded literary journal, The Dark Horse, describing her own hounding in the poetry world – and covering the topics of feminism and gender. The company dropped her. She was deemed problematic. Untouchable. Not the first time in the past eighteen months that Jenny’s lost work because of this. As she had described in that self-same essay. On the basis of no evidence at all, and on whispering campaigns, she has been victimized for her feminist and principled stance. As Nick Cohen wrote in The Spectator on 5 October:
"The Scottish arts scene thinks of itself as radical. But many of those who went for Lindsay or stood by rather than speak out behaved like the classic prudent bourgeois. Why not go with the flow? Why risk my career by standing up for a hounded woman? What’s in it for me?”
And that’s why some of those who know her – and do value her - think it’s time to dig in their pockets and help out. We value Jenny’s creative and artistic work. And we want to buy her time so it can continue.
Who is Jenny Lindsay?
Jenny is a poet and performer. One of Scotland’s most lauded spoken-word poets. In 2019 she produced This Script - both a poetry collection and a one woman show. It ran successfully at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2019. It invites us to question the schisms in our ‘isms’, the relationship between the individual and the collective, and looks at ageing in our gendered world, with an ultimate striving for solidarity, empathy, love.
It was described as “one of this year’s most necessary spoken word performances”. “Defiant, eloquent and inspiring.” (The Scotsman). Jenny herself has been described as “one of Scotland’s finest cultural innovators.” Always generous to other poets, in December 2017 she was awarded the Creative Edinburgh Award for Leadership for her work in the spoken word sector. She was the BBC Slam Champion in 2012. Her debut solo show, Ire & Salt (2015), gained a four star review from The Scotsman and acclaim from the Orwell Society.
Who are we?
We are a group of women in Scotland who decided that we could not ignore what was happening to Jenny. We decided to launch this fundraiser in order to support her and make sure that she can continue to make her unique and well regarded contribution to poetry and writing and hopefully once again in live performance in Scotland. All funds will go directly to Jenny.
What will this fund enable Jenny to work on?
She’ll be working on her third poetry collection, much of it based on her recent experiences, ‘All of This is Ordinary’, along with her first full-length play ‘Julia’. At university Jenny wrote her dissertation on Orwell’s political thought, with a focus on power and social control in 1984 and now. This won her two awards.
In her play she will centre Julia - from Orwell’s novel 1984 - reworking Julia’s narrative from a feminist perspective. Both these works will explore cultural authoritarianism. Something Jenny is currently experiencing first hand.
Why support Jenny to create these works?
If strong feminist and women’s voices like that of Jenny Lindsay fall silent because of ever-increasing financial hurdles placed in her way - while other voices continue to receive funding - our cultural landscape will become skewed, the minds of our younger generations will lack influences of writers like Jenny, influences they desperately need.
Think of it as paying forward, for the book of poems you want to read, the play you want, one day, to go and see.
Please donate what you can - as much or as little as you can afford, and help us let other people know about the appeal.
Principled, political, feminist, talented, humane.
Jenny Lindsay is a poet and performer who does not duck the difficult issues, especially those facing women. Ironically these qualities, the very qualities a society should value highest in a writer, have led to her losing work and funding – not because of anything as simple and transparent as ‘cancellation’ – but because it can be easier for organisations to avoid controversy by steering clear of those they fear might attract even a whiff of it.
In November, Jenny was offered a substantial piece of work by a major company – until they did what they called ‘due diligence’ on her. ‘Due diligence’ discovered that her name had been in the media, not because of anything untoward she’d done, but because of an excellent and much praised essay she’d written in a highly regarded literary journal, The Dark Horse, describing her own hounding in the poetry world – and covering the topics of feminism and gender. The company dropped her. She was deemed problematic. Untouchable. Not the first time in the past eighteen months that Jenny’s lost work because of this. As she had described in that self-same essay. On the basis of no evidence at all, and on whispering campaigns, she has been victimized for her feminist and principled stance. As Nick Cohen wrote in The Spectator on 5 October:
"The Scottish arts scene thinks of itself as radical. But many of those who went for Lindsay or stood by rather than speak out behaved like the classic prudent bourgeois. Why not go with the flow? Why risk my career by standing up for a hounded woman? What’s in it for me?”
And that’s why some of those who know her – and do value her - think it’s time to dig in their pockets and help out. We value Jenny’s creative and artistic work. And we want to buy her time so it can continue.
Who is Jenny Lindsay?
Jenny is a poet and performer. One of Scotland’s most lauded spoken-word poets. In 2019 she produced This Script - both a poetry collection and a one woman show. It ran successfully at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2019. It invites us to question the schisms in our ‘isms’, the relationship between the individual and the collective, and looks at ageing in our gendered world, with an ultimate striving for solidarity, empathy, love.
It was described as “one of this year’s most necessary spoken word performances”. “Defiant, eloquent and inspiring.” (The Scotsman). Jenny herself has been described as “one of Scotland’s finest cultural innovators.” Always generous to other poets, in December 2017 she was awarded the Creative Edinburgh Award for Leadership for her work in the spoken word sector. She was the BBC Slam Champion in 2012. Her debut solo show, Ire & Salt (2015), gained a four star review from The Scotsman and acclaim from the Orwell Society.
Who are we?
We are a group of women in Scotland who decided that we could not ignore what was happening to Jenny. We decided to launch this fundraiser in order to support her and make sure that she can continue to make her unique and well regarded contribution to poetry and writing and hopefully once again in live performance in Scotland. All funds will go directly to Jenny.
What will this fund enable Jenny to work on?
She’ll be working on her third poetry collection, much of it based on her recent experiences, ‘All of This is Ordinary’, along with her first full-length play ‘Julia’. At university Jenny wrote her dissertation on Orwell’s political thought, with a focus on power and social control in 1984 and now. This won her two awards.
In her play she will centre Julia - from Orwell’s novel 1984 - reworking Julia’s narrative from a feminist perspective. Both these works will explore cultural authoritarianism. Something Jenny is currently experiencing first hand.
Why support Jenny to create these works?
If strong feminist and women’s voices like that of Jenny Lindsay fall silent because of ever-increasing financial hurdles placed in her way - while other voices continue to receive funding - our cultural landscape will become skewed, the minds of our younger generations will lack influences of writers like Jenny, influences they desperately need.
Think of it as paying forward, for the book of poems you want to read, the play you want, one day, to go and see.
Please donate what you can - as much or as little as you can afford, and help us let other people know about the appeal.
Fundraising team (3)
Feminist Fundraisers
Organizer
Scotland
Jenny Lindsay
Beneficiary
Magi Gibson
Team member
Shereen Benjamin
Team member