Celticist making an LGBTQ+ Welsh Dictionary

Shwmae @lilyliveredlittlerichboy !

To clarify a little, my poem "To that Drag Queen in Corfu on the Night of the Eclipse" is one of many in the debut anthology "I Zig and I Zag", published by Margin 2 Margin (M2M) Books (a local indie press set up in an Aberystwyth bar I frequented before it closed last year). The anthology is explicitly made up of contributions from marginalised poets as the publisher is strongly by and for marginalised writers and stories.

I may be slightly biased but it's a fantastic anthology imo! There were contributions from around the world, including from Kenyan poet Masaka Madeda , who wrote the eponymous epic poem "I Zig and I Zag" (found on pages 32 - 147. It's absolutely massive and I'm fortunate enough to have heard Madeda perform an excerpt of his poem via videolink (in the aforementioned bar Iries). The rest of the anthology has works by other incredible marginalised poets and I'm still in awe that my work gets to sit alongside them.

Some personal favourites are Mohammed Abdoel and Ciel Saludes' memoir poem "My Mother's Rose-Tinted Glasses" (page 10) , Rakyah Assam's postcolonial grief poem "You Will Witness This from Wherever You Stand" (page 20) and Brân Denning's poem about the nature of want and maternal figures, "Neglect is a Needle —" (page 18) themed on the cloth mother/wire mother experiment.

My own poem, "To that Drag Queen in Corfu on the Night of the Eclipse" (page 15) is about a real experience of mine while holidaying with my (now-estranged) parents in Corfu. It's about finding other queer people and longing for connection with them while still in the closet. It's also about parents, queerphobia and queer belonging in the natural world.

I so rarely advertise really on here but it would mean a lot if you'd consider picking up a copy of the I Zig and I Zag anthology or the debut novel of G.I. James, Love and Happiness, which features the story of Harriet, an adopted black woman - which is also published by M2M Books.

1. Northern England has historically been hard done by by Westminster and there's a legacy of deprivation and austerity that's been imposed on the region by Westminster.

1.1. Northern England is not a region whose "borders" are agreed upon by everyone. Any debate on this or putting down Northerners for caring about it is childish and counterproductive.

1.2. Northern England also has a long history with left-wing politics - particularly in relation to women's suffrage, worker's rights and socialism. Note: there's reasons why Burnham made his speech from the People's History Museum (look it up).

1.3. People referring to The North in an England-only context is fine. If they mean the whole UK but centre England all the time, that's when it becomes a problem. Don't conflate the two as it's pointless antagonism and poisons the well for solidarity between marginalised regions of England and marginalised nations of the UK.

2. Northerners are not incapable of being ignorant about devolution in Wales, Scotland and NI. Hold them to account as and when they are ignorant.

2.1. Do not assume all English Northerners are ignorant on the issues facing Wales, Scotland and NI. Bearing in mind historically there's been a lot of migration between places like Manchester and Liverpool and Wales and Ireland etc. Again, pointless and willful engagement with holier-than-thou politics wrt: Northern England damages opportunities for solidarity that could be useful in the fight for greater devolution and eventual independence.

2.2. Northern England hasn't been marginalised in the same way Wales, Scotland and the island of Ireland have been. If Northern England has a broken leg because of Westminster, Wales, Scotland and the island of Ireland have had a leg amputated. All parties are aggrieved by Westmister but the degree to which they have been is relevant. Northern England still benefits from Englishness, even if it is done over by Westminster every now and again.

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The point of this post is this:

We have a remarkable opportunity to create solidarity between hard done by areas of England like Northern England and Wales, Scotland, NI, on the basis of being done over by Westminster. I dislike Burnham for essentially chosing his own vanity over the people of Manchester. But if he's serious about more devolution powers to the devolved governments, this is too good an opportunity to waste with cheap potshots that antagonise people who could be allies in the fight for greater autonomy in the devolved governments.

There's a time and a place for taking the piss out of the English generally - you know that ribaldry has a place. But it boggles my mind when people prioritise taking a potshot over long-term agitation for an independent Wales, Scotland and Irish reunification. You know how we achieve those goals?

We work in solidarity to expose how unfair the Westminster system is, even to parts of England (who in theory have the most to benefit from the system). If the system is failing the people who stand to gain the most from it, it exposes deep flaws that must be rectified. And you'd hope people would just realise this from how Wales, Scotland and Ireland have been treated. But that's wishful thinking. You need to get English people angry about the system too, demand change. Stand shoulder to shoulder and be more informed and educated about each other's struggles.

You get Northern English people on-side with the whole devolution issue, pressure Westminster into giving up more power to the devolved nations and also parts of England - collectively we have more bargaining power than if it was each of the nations arguing for it on their own.

Yes I know its fun to dunk on the English and playfully take the piss. But you have to be out of your mind not to take this opportunity to foster genuine connection and raise awareness of your country's issues.

Look, hypothetically - let's say thousands of Northern English people, who weren't previously aware of the ways they can benefit from devolution become aware of it. They think it's a pretty good idea. Pushing for devolution on your own is hard. God knows we in Wales, Scotland and NI know that all too well. So there's this opportunity for people across the whole island and NI to actually strengthen the argument for devolution based on just, pure numbers.

Yes, many Northern English people are gonna need handholding. Yes. There's gonna be issues.

But this is a numbers game. We need political leverage and half of England is pretty significant leverage.

We always have more in common than we don't. Not to be a massive lefty, but it's kinda duh when you think about it.

Anyway, beyond lighthearted jokes or genuine criticism of England's behaviour, actually genuinely pushing away people who (if we play our cards right) could help us on the path to greater devolved powers (and eventually, independence) is shooting ourselves in the foot.

I'm not saying you have to go out and buy an I ❤️ England shirt now or anything stupid like that. England still has a lot to answer for.

But it isn't a monolith.