QUEERNESS IS
By Em Egan Reeve (he/they) Co-Creator of Litreacha
The idea of Litreacha came about on a Tuesday in March 2024. Louis (Egan McCutcheon – Co-Creator) was at my house, we were getting ready to head into town for The Underground Loft, chatting about other upcoming poetry events that we were looking forward to. We realised something – none of them specifically catered to the LGBT+ community, although they all welcomed queer participants, and were safe and engaging spaces to share. While Louis and I both related more to the literary scene - primarily poets, we could see that the local music scene was also lacking this much needed space – a dedicated creative event in Cork City for all queer artists to share their work. So, we set a plan for action and did our best to make this vision a reality. Litreacha is, among other things, a monthly open Mic for queer creatives in Cork. We welcome all work: poetry, music, prose, even visual art. The majority of the work featured so far has been spoken word, with some amazing musical contributions. Alongside our
open mic, we run smaller events– a fortnightly queer writers’ group, and collaborations with other local LGBT / creative initiatives - Cork Queer Nature Collective and Solace Festival – to name a few. It’s important for us to have good relationships throughout the community: this is especially relevant in Cork – a small city with such a dynamic and active queer population. The name Litreacha actually came about by accident. It was originally LETTERS, but that was too generic for Instagram, so we figured why not make it as gaeilge – just on that social. But everyone loved it, and we do take pride in our culture and history as Irish queer people – so why not incorporate the language? Either way, it’s a nod to the LGBTQ+ group of letters, and exemplifies how integral our identity is to our event. To be queer is to fluctuate – and we changed our official name without any fuss. We love having the space to transform, and really keep things fresh and consistently varied.
Our vision for Litreacha, primarily, was to found a creative, collaborative queer space, and we pride ourselves on our independence and our inclusivity. Our original idea still stands true – to form a creative space where you don’t need to contribute or take anything away, you just need to be there. Our events are almost always completely free. We didn’t want there to be any sort of monetary barrier, as being queer is something that we cherish and value so dearly that we could never think about putting a price on it. While Litreacha welcomes any and all attendees, we have been vocal about the performance element being only for LGBT+ people. While we invite allies to sit and listen – supporting the venue and their friends - we aim to exclusively platform queer creative voices. A huge part of the appeal of Litreacha is that you know you will be turning up on the evening and hearing work from fifteen to twenty local queer creators, and that’s what makes it unique. As a trans person myself, I can’t stress
how liberating it is to read work that is explicitly gender and sexuality focused, in a space where other people relate. Usually, I would get anxiety about being a “token” queer reader, or being seen as an oddity – although this is rarely the case in reality – it is good to know that there isn’t any judgement here. Reading poems about my first gay kiss, the first time I wore a binder, the complexities of being in a T4T relationship, and gender dysphoria – these aren’t notable – these are actually the norm. An unofficial slogan for Litreacha is “raw, dizzy, goofy” and while the scale tends to lean more in the direction of RAW – just due to the closeness of the subject matter to our hearts – it is also a place for laughter, fun, to get a drink and make friends. While it can be intimidating to come to an event in a place where you might not know anyone, the people who come to Litreacha, the community
that Litreacha has brought together, are just incredibly talented, kind, and welcoming people. This is a place for laughter, songs, stories, and poems, alongside more deep and raw emotion when the time is right. Alongside our events, Litreacha (Louis and Em) – also host a community radio show through Éist once a month, and we are also editing some issues of the Good Day Cork magazine, so now Litreacha is a multi-media organization, and we are beyond busy but very happy too. Louis is in Osaka until November, so I have a jam- packed few months ahead, manning the ship alone, which is exciting but also nerve wracking. Our official mantra is “Queerness is Creative, Creativity is Queer” – and this is a vital part of our practice. We love being queer, we love being artists, and we love enabling those
around us to embrace both of those facets of themselves. This event holds the most special place in our hearts, and we hope to see you soon at one of them! STAY CREATIVE, STAY QUEER!
Instagram: @_litreacha SOCIALS
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