At 4zzz, we acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we broadcast. We pay our respects to the elders, past, present and emerging of the Turbul and Jagera people. We acknowledge that their sovereignty over this land was never ceded and we stand.

In solidarity with them.

You're listening to transm on 4zzz, amplifying the trans and gender non conforming voices of Brisbane and beyond.

Good morning, the Engine. You're listening to Transmission on 4zzz. My name is Ez. He, him. Pronouns.

This is Sean, your favourite abomination about town. And my pronouns are writing fan fiction about trans wizards. And there's nothing your corporate stooges can do about it. She, her.

And we also have another guest in studio.

God, I can't believe I have to top that.

Follow that.

Ray.

Published author.

Yeah, I was gonna say something like, my name is Ray White. My pronouns are that local author that everyone seems to see all the time. Yes, I was on your train this morning. They. Them.

Yep, that's right. Ray is on every train. All at once.

All the time.

They are an interdimensional being that exists only in train cars.

Trans is for trains.

That's why it's TransLink.

Trains are raised babies. You're trains babies.

No, no. Oh, no. I was like, you had me. And then that was the bit where I just veered off went.

It just went off the rails.

Wow. I'm just gonna clap the once. I was gonna clap the second time. Now you just get one.

No one paid me for this. I'm leaving the studio.

Call your agent. What the fuck is this?

You line this up. What is happening? Actually, my agent didn't. The lovely EZ contacted me.

I was like, hey, so you got a book coming out, I hear.

Probably should do some promotions.

Yeah. Yes, more or less.

I mean, we are, you know, toiling under the yoke of capitalism. It's probably a good idea to occasionally do that.

Yeah. Well, mainly I think it's really great to have a chat with one, one of our esteemed local poets and. And writers and published children's books authors.

I know what's happening. Like, you know, I was going to say something like, we're transing the children. We're not, like, literally.

Okay, just a quick disclaimer for audiences out there and any conservative folks who may be listening in to find things that they could complain about. We're not actively attempting to trans your children. Not actively.

Say it creepier, please. I'm like, it's. I feel like it's. It's one of those. I'm just gonna brag about my book.

But, like, it's Mike's on toiling under capitalism. This is what she says.

Oh, my God, yes, please, please buy the book so that I can make some money. I'm a poor trans author. But, yeah, like, I feel like the book, all the Colours of the Rainbow is, like, it is about, you know, it's not just about, like, yeah, transing the children. It's about, like, you know, kids and young people and people of all ages being able to just kind of, you know, explore their gender, explore their sexuality. And it doesn't even have to be about that. It can be just about, like, breaking down gender stereotypes. You know, you might have, like, a boy who, like, really wants to play with some Barbies or something really stereotypical like that. And it's like, you know, they can be whoever they want. It's kind of cool.

That's awesome. So I like to say with some of the young people that I work with, you know, I ask them about how they identify and I'm like. And there's no right or wrong answer here. You know, it's your identity. You can use whatever labels you work you like. And. And also not knowing and exploring is also a completely valid answer. And I'd say things like, I call it my gender adventure, or genventure, if you will. Genventure.

I'm so sorry. Do you want to write a kid's book? Let's go. That's amazing.

Like, Jen is on an adventure. Y A gem venture, if you will.

Yeah, I was like. I wrote, like, hilariously, the kid's name in this book is Gem J E M. So it is a gem venture. It is a gem venture. And, like, I feel like, yeah, the conclusion is that they. They come to us just like, I can do whatever I want and I can be whoever I want. And it's like, it's not prescriptive or whatever, which is good. Like, yeah, as you said, like, saying to young people or anyone at all that, you know, their gender has to be, you know, XYZ is just. It's real gross. I'm not about it.

It's so limited.

Yeah. I mean, that real frustration with the rhetoric that exists around, like, oh, trans people are trying to change this and that and make things harder. And it's. It's. No, it's. It's. It's quite literally about individuals having agency, being the captain of their own ship.

Yes.

You know, and regardless of where they land, that is a valid thing. The self exploration, the self examination that the vast majority of people don't do around anything, let alone gender.

Yeah, absolutely. And, like, I think I was asked recently, like, in another interview, like, what would you say to, like, adults who might want to, you know, and caregivers or, like, teachers who might want to use this book as a tool? And I was like, well, to be honest, I'd say, like, be open to, you know, young people asking questions, but also be open to yourself. Like, read this book and explore gender and explore, like, your assumptions about gender, yourself as, like a. As a bouncing off point. So then you can be like, I can better. I'm better equipped now to. To talk to the young people in my life who might be asking questions because, like, there's going to. There's going to be some, like, real curly questions from young people and it's.

Like, yeah, oh, absolutely.

And you never know what they might end up deciding. They might end up deciding to be cis. I mean, gross. But, like, I mean, if that's what you want to be, but you've questioned. It's a legitimate. It's a legitimate option. If you want to be cisgendered, that's okay. Whatever cisgendered people want to do in the privacy of their own homes, fine by me. It just. I just don't want to see it out in the street.

Yeah. You know.

I was like, I probably should write.

I was like. I was like.

Is this the direction we're going?

No.

Back off the rails again.

Yeah. I was going to bring it back to trains again. I was going to be like, all people, though, are welcome on trains, no matter your gender.

Yes.

Trains are for everyone.

Everyone is entitled to trains.

Just don't expect me to, you know. Oh, everyone's entitled to transport.

Yeah.

Beautiful. To be honest with you.

Hang on, I got to do that. You just get one.

I was. I was at an open mic a couple of weeks ago, actually. Yeah. Shout out to Echoes from the Cave in, which is really cool. Inclusive open mic. And someone did say that they thought that Translink, like, why is it not a trans dating app?

And I was like, I'm glad that I started this. And now it's spreading through the community. I've been saying this for years.

Exactly. Trans dating apps.

Well, come on, translate. We'll brainstorm after this. We have to know an app developer somewhere.

We know a lot of transphobes, really do.

We're really tired of CIS guys sending us photos of their junk on Grindr.

It's really unpleasant in the wise words of former Transmission guest Reverend Selena McMahon. She said that every, every trans woman was once an IT guy. Yeah, that's right.

That's right.

That's one of my favourite actors.

So, so all you trans femmes out there, please get on your socks and your cat ears and start programming up as an app. Yes.

And if there's any like, problem with like, I don't know, copyright something, I don't know, you just like make it link like with a Y or something.

Yeah, trans with a Z. Yeah, yeah.

Oh good. And it can be like part of the transmission, like totally. Oh my God, it's beautiful.

We can make some derivative of our logo, I think.

Yeah, I think we might be straying outside what we're legally allowed to do on behalf of the radio station though. I mean starting a dating app might be a bit.

Oh, we'll separate it.

What is the Australian broadcasting standards around hookup apps?

We can put it on the community Radio plus app.

I was like the most beautiful thing to be asking while we're promoting a children's book.

Oh wow. We really are off the rails.

Okay, on that note, amplifying the voices of the trans and gender non conforming community of Meanjin, Brisbane and beyond, Transmission.

On 4ZZZ brings you the latest in.

Trans community news, music and events. Every Tuesday from 9am till 10. Join our team of hosts for an hour of celebrating the unique perspectives of the trans community Transmission Tuesday mornings from 9am till 10am on 4ZZZ. My name is EZ. I'm on a magical gender adventure.

He, him and I'm Sean, your favourite abomination about town. And my pronouns are being reviewed in the newspaper by some CIS woman who never even asked me. She her.

God. I'm Ray White. I didn't know we had to do this pronouns thing again. So that's my pronouns also they them.

I feel like that's like such a, like a CIS person thing to say. Like, I didn't know we were doing the pronoun thing again. God, this is so fun.

Yeah, that was terrifying. Just there for a second.

A glimpse into what I could have been if. If I hadn't become a trans author.

So easy to do. Just ride a train. That's right.

Get on the app. Dear listeners, if you're only tuning in now, this makes no sense. And that's, well, I suppose your fault for tuning in late and missing the opening gambit of our absurd scene setting.

That's it. That's it. We're chatting with the delightful and wonderful and wholesome Ray White, who is local poet, who does in fact know it. And.

I haven't heard that one before. Between that and real estate. God, that's true.

That's true.

Yeah.

There is different spellings for Ray White and Ray White, though. So, you know.

Yes, I'm an R. A, E. Yes.

On purpose is intentional. And we're chatting about a new book that is coming out. Ray, would you like to shed a bit of light on what is this story? What is it about?

So this is. This is actually the first time someone's actually asked me what the story is about, which is quite delightful. Most people are just like, tell us about gender.

That's a different episode. Yeah.

I was like, have me on again. I'll tell you all about gender. The book all the Colours of the Rainbow, which is being released on 29 January, is about Jem, who is the sweetest little muffin. They're a. Oh, we've got a. Yes, I forgot the video recording.

Hello. Look, if this is an auditory medium, try not to make reference to the fact that there's video as well, because the listeners at home have no idea what's going on.

That is entirely fair.

Can you hear the sound of the camera recording?

If you can't, you might be trans.

One of the seven signs of being trans is being up. No, stop.

Yes. Okay, so this book is.

Oh, my.

It's about Jem, who is going through. Yeah. A Gem adventure about their gender. And they're like a young person, and their mom encourages them to, like, wear whatever they want and play with whatever they want. And there's other people, like their nan and their PE teacher who are just like, I'm not about this. Gender is. Is kind of is pretty rigid. And Gem's mum is like, no. And so it's that little journey with Jem and their lovely, supportive family. The conclusion that they come to about their gender, which is they can be whoever they want. Which is. Spoiler alert.

Spoiler alert. The children's book does have a happy, positive ending and I love the message in it.

And how long have you been working on this? Has this been a project for a few years or something? You've been smashed out over a weekend?

To be honest, that both. It was like 2022 in Pride and I was, like, marching and I was like, this is so good. And there's so many beautiful families and my friends have beautiful families and, like, why am I a poet not writing a children's book about, you know, gorgeous, diverse families and, you know, beautiful young People who are exploring gender.

So there's a lot of overlap. Right. You know, being a poet, you know, obviously the limited number of words, the constrained nature of the prose, finding a lyricism in it, something that is easy to be read aloud. I imagine poets make magnificent children's authors, basically.

Basically exactly that. Yeah. I kind of was like, I pitched the idea to my agent, which sounds fancy, but it's not. And she was definitely very encouraging and. Yeah, it's exactly that. Like, I think that as a poet, there is like this incredibly, like, succinct way that children's books tell the story. Definitely.

You're the poet. Yeah.

I was like, I don't know. I only know a select number of words. They're trans, they're gender, they're the ones that I use repeatedly. Trains, trains, neurospicy, rainbows. But no, I. Yeah, all the words that we make up. But I think that's kind of like. The point is like, you know, we can, like, create language and we can use like this beautiful, succinct language to. It's not even put across a point. It's kind of to like, expand the creativity that young people, you know, have growing up and to kind of give them that breadth of. Of, you know, concept of gender so that they can actually, you know, do some exploring. But yes, in terms of poetry, it is. It is so similar. But actually, to be honest, it's a lot harder. I found this really difficult to not only write but also edit because it's got that storytelling aspect which a lot of my poems, the stories are quite loosey goosey, if not there at all. And also the fact that, you know, you have to make sure that what you're saying to young people isn't just something completely odd. Like we don't really say the word gender in the book because kids are like.

It's not a word that a kid would use. Yeah.

And it's like, you know, whereas encouraging them to be whoever they want to be, any colour of the rainbow, which is kind of motif of the book, is that's the kind of the important thing, as opposed to being like, so here's a book about gender and kids like.

Well, I suppose. I mean, you'd be tickling a different part of the brain source, as it were, in that, you know, poetry. You know, delving into heavy subjects, trauma, loss, grief, and finding the commonality that we all share in that, in the simplicity and then like targeting different areas to inspire, to give hope. I can imagine that shifting. You've trained the muscle one way and now you're going the other way. Away with it. I could see how they'd be at times. That would be quite tricky.

Yeah. And I think, like, it's almost like a trajectory because I feel like when I like, wrote my first book, Milk Teeth, there was definitely like a lot of that.

I love, by the way. Audiences, audiences. You need to go and get a copy of Milk Teeth. The first poem in the eponymous Milk Teeth messed me up so mad.

I was like, I can, I was gonna say I can now go read it at your. Your own discretion and peril. Because it's peril.

Yeah.

I was like, I'll try and I'll try and focus on this book, but it's also like, it is, it is an iconic poem. But what I was gonna say was Milk Teeth was something that definitely, as you said, like, has that kind of like, it's exploring like, lots of different facets. It's like, it's quite heavy, there's some trauma, etc. And then, you know, my next book, exactly as I am, delved into that as well, but also looked at, you know, transness as a journey and transness as, you know, trans euphoria and like, kind of ended on a happy note. And I feel like this is almost the, the birthing of something that is, is all about like gender euphoria and all about. Yeah, that kind of hope that I want to, I want to give people. So I don't know, I've come. Come full circle maybe. I don't know as a, as a writer. Who knows what's next?

Wow, that sounds amazing. It's kind of like when we talk about gender as well and like having the opportunity with a book like this to be able to go, hey, let's not talk about the segregation of men and women. Let's just talk about a human experience. Experience and the things you love. And let's come back to like, the fact that we're, you know, red blooded creatures that just want to explore the world and how we want to be with the world and interact with the world. And having gender can be really confusing, particularly when you're a child, because there's a segregation, there's a separation and a segregation. You have men over here and you have women over here and you got to pick one or you're assigned one and you got to stay in that lane. And that's very limited for children who are unlimited. Right. You know, we're in this world of like, wow, everything is a possibility. And what does this world mean. And I'm learning all these rules. Gender is not a rule, it's a construct.

Yeah.

It's not a law of nature. It is just a thing.

And that I. I think, you know, I think about my childhood and I think about, you know, experiences that the young folks in my family who I've seen grow up and. And the observation that you don't sort of grow up into an adult, you unlearn things. As a child, I think about, you know, as an illustrator and an artist, you know, I think about all the ways in which I was told, no, stay within the lines, or, no, don't do it like that. And the kind of freedom that exists, you know, in that period of life just kind of gets the edges get knocked off and, you know, to fit in whatever, you know, you're supposed to be, you know. So, yeah, the unlimited nature of children is magnificently joyous. And I love that the book connects to that.

Yeah. And I think that's a really good point about, like, becoming an adult is not necessarily, like, about growing up. It is often about, as you said, unlearning the things that you've learned as a young person, especially when it comes to gender stereotypes and stuff. And I think, like, yeah, there's like, a scene in the book where Jem is like, the teacher says, you know, boys go do this and, like, go outside and play with this, and girls go do this. And Jem's like, sorry, what? Really? And then the teacher says, you know, oh, well, maybe next time, you know, you can play wherever you want with whatever toys you want. And it's like, yeah, absolutely. That's. That's what it should be like. It shouldn't be about. The segregation and the gender stereotypes that we uphold as a society are just, when you break them down, are so incredibly, like, confusing and weird and arbitrary.

Like.

Yeah.

And they come from. And they come from sort of a limited place of understanding. I think about that sort of little anecdote of, you know, teacher telling, you know, little Johnny about who's sitting there drawing a sheep. And the teacher says, where's all the grass? And he's like, well, the sheep ate it. And Johnny's understanding the story that he's telling, the thing that he's creating in his mind and in his heart has a beginning and a middle and an end. It has depth, it has nuance. And for the exterior observer, something is absent or something is wrong. But to the author of that thing, it's entirely realised and full, you know, and same with our genders The. The observation that there is something wrong with us and our bodies. Something wrong with the way that we encounter the world. It's like. Well, you all have no idea of the Inland Empire. The internal cosmos that exists in me. That.

Yeah.

Presents. That produces this.

You know, it's the whole. You know, you just see what's inside the window of the house, but you're not in the house looking out.

Mm.

You know, you can't. You can't see all the furniture and how things are arranged and how many clothes of mine are on the floor. You know, you can't see that, but I can. But when you look on the outside, you see maybe a well manicured garden or, you know, you don't know what's in here.

And I was gonna say, like, I'm glad this is like recording. Not that I wish to reference that, but because this is gonna be an incredible poem that you two could write together. Just saying like the cosmos of gender. The. Yeah, yeah, let's go.

Let's do it.

I'm a poet and I didn't know it.

Oh, wow.

Honestly, I do.

I once was a trans woman from Nantucket. She had a. No, wait a minute. No, that is not a poem.

I can tell on our language warning it.

Oh, my God. Beautiful.

Just like that. How many genders are there?

I don't know.

I just got here. My name is ez. I use pronouns. They are he, him.

It was a really awkward way of saying it. My name is Sean, your favourite abomination about town. And my pronouns are doing library storytime readings for boomers.

My name is Ray White. My pronouns are doing library storytime readings, but for young queer children also they, them.

You see, that's some wholesome stuff right there. That's wholesome. That's what we're talking about is that.

We call it capitalist marketing.

I mean, true. You are. Yeah. So you are doing storytime readings at the library?

I don't actually know. Hopefully. That would be lovely.

Brisbane City Council. I know you're listening. Just to make sure that we don't do anything outrageous on the radio, please get in touch. Ray, would love to do some storytime readings for children.

Could talk to Shelf Lovers.

Well, so we have a launch at. We have two events. By we, I mean me events at. In mean. One is at Shelf Lovers and it's on the 1st of February and it has sold out already. But if you want.

I know, Congrats.

A big boy. You can only jam so many people into that one bookshop.

Well, I mean, Everyone should still turn up and stand around in the street and chant Ray's name. I mean, if you can't get in, that doesn't mean you can't go.

As long as you only chant my first name. Because if you chant Ray White, it sounds like you're really into real estate and I'm not about it.

Yeah. Yes, please.

Just, just, just. Hooray. Yeah, hooray. Hooray.

Oh, I love that.

That's very good. Actually, I think I'm gonna use. I might use that for a little.

You're welcome.

But like, if you do want to. If you do want to come along, it is like young people, like, little toddler focused. So if you have a small child and you want to bring them along, I'm just gonna say this on air, even though Shelf Lovers haven't said it. Contact Shelf Lovers. I'm sure there's a wait list. And the other event is at where the. 12 February, which is a Wednesday evening. And they're apparently also going to have a really nice, like, window display of the book. I can just imagine. There's gonna be so many rainbows. It's gonna look so queer.

Gay.

So good. It's so gay.

It's an incredibly gay bookshelf.

It is.

So where the Wild Things Are. That is in West End. Is that right?

Yes, that's the one that's next to Avid Reader.

And Shelf Lovers is in Wooloon. It is literally right around the corner from a train station.

If you don't know Shelf Lovers, please get along. It is incredibly queer. I think they have one tiny, tiny bookcase of CIS person fiction. It's a real lovely inversion to walk into it somewhere that is just all queer. And then there's this. And the straight sections are the strain.

If you do something like that, like.

Oh, might I recommend leaving what you.

Read in the privacy of your own home is no business of mine.

Yeah, just keep it out of my face, please.

They honestly. So incredibly lovely. I like that. I think they said there's even gonna be, like, cupcakes. And, like, the young people can make their own rainbow. And I was like, I want to make my own rainbow. Can I just not do. Can I just not do.

Can I attend my own event?

Literally, though, I'm like, I'm baby at me.

We could do another one. We could do like a rainbow making day or something.

Yeah, it's just like a bunch of.

Trans people sitting in a park making rainbows.

Yeah.

My God, that was. We would be encircled by police watching Us doing something.

There's too much colour going on over there.

It's a lot of gay looking crafts.

Careful. That's such a mean thing to say.

Careful, they've got the safety scissors.

Well, Ray, I did want to ask, since you've been writing and creating for such a long time and I've been meeting some young people, some young trans and queer people out there who want to start writing, they want to start becoming writers, they want to start creating queer literature or queer fan fiction or whatever it is. Do you have any advice or guidance that you would give any young trans and queer people?

Oh my gosh. I mean, as soon as you said fan fiction, like, I think the, the main advice I'd give is like, yeah, definitely do that. Kind of like be a fanfic author or like write stuff for yourself or like write a poem in a card to a friend. Like, don't feel the need to have all of it be, you know, commercially available or publishable or of quote unquote quality. Because, like, you know, if you want to like make a zine, like, the, the barrier to entry is like extremely low. And that's a good thing. Like, you can do so much with so little. Like you can just. If you have some feelings and you have a pen and a paper or whatever you know you want to vibe with, that's like. I think my advice would be, yeah, just sort of go for it and don't think too hard about what other people will think of your writing. And I think, don't look at it from the point of view of will this sell? How can I get this published? Like, obviously young people aren't thinking that, but I, I honestly was, like, when I was younger, like, literally I was there making zines. My dad has like this like zines that I used to make as like a really tiny kid. And, you know, I wanted to know how to get published and that kind of thing. No, just you don't have to if you don't want to. Like, just, just be chill about it.

Makes you realise just how strong the capitalist brain rot is, right? Is that all of these things, these magnificent artistic expressions of what it is to be human and the first thing that most people think of is like, oh, well, I'll never be able to. I'll never be able to live off this. Yeah, it's like, no, you'll be able to live because of it. You'll be able to live with yourself. Literally live with your people, your community, your trauma, your. You'll be able to live with absolutely.

What you do to survive under capitalism does not have to equal what you do to make life meaningful. And it's the same.

Exactly it. Yes.

Creativity, right. You know, creativity and ego cannot coexist because, you know, if you're trying to create authentically, you can't compare yourself to other things or other people or what capitalism demands. It needs to be an authentic experience that's a journey within yourself and a way of expressing yourself, because things that live inside us must come out somehow.

You know, And I think, like, yeah, that sort of reminds me of like, a lot of writing. Like, especially when I was younger and like, when I, because I did like a degree at qut in writing, like, there was a lot of competition, a lot of competitiveness, like, and I think a lot of young people, like, compare themselves to each other. And I feel like it's. Especially if you're queer and trans, it's much more beautiful and fulfilling to not compare yourself to one another and to be inspired by one another. Like, you can, like, I could read another queer poet's work and not be like, oh, why didn't I write that? I'm such a loser. No, I think, God, that's absolutely beautiful. I'm going to write like an ekphrastic response that is inspired by this poem or that, you know, draws something out that I, you know, want to explore within my own work.

So, yeah, like, creativity is not a zero sum game. Just because someone loves one thing doesn't mean they aren't going to love something else, you know, and this idea that, like, like, oh, I mean, I certainly have found, you know, in regards to trans individuals putting work out into the world. And I know I've struggled with it myself and had to keep a real stranglehold on that feeling. Like, oh, well, I can now never do that because someone else has done it. I can never experience that. You know, you'd be like, ah, the, the, the vessel for the expression of this idea about who we are and what we are has already been taken. Taken. And it's like, oh, well, I guess I can't now. It's like, no, you absolutely can. It can live alongside that, underneath it, above it, whatever it needs to be, it's yours. And like you say about the sort of the honesty and the vulnerability of art, every time I sit down to write, I always tell myself, lay yourself on the altar of dignity, you know, like, take what you got coming. Like, just.

I was like, write that down. That's also a poem.

Yeah.

Everyone take notes. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, right.

Like, this is.

You've got to, like, if you. If you are going to withhold, if you are going to say no, I'm going to. I can't face this internal shame by putting it on paper. But that, that's. That is wrong. You need to place that down because that is your. Your truest, most honest work. And that's the stuff that people will resonate with. All of my stuff, the stuff that people, that I write, that people resonate with is all like my. My darkest, most awful, stupid, embarrassing bullshit that I've done in the world.

So good. I love that. Like, yeah.

And people see themselves and they think, oh, my God, I'm not alone. Because I do that too. Like, that's what everyone thinks.

And it's a beautiful ecosystem. Rather than it being like, you know, a competitive kind of, like, battlefield. It's like, it's this beautiful ecosystem of poetry. And I was like, I feel like you're going to read us a poem.

I am. I am. I'm enjoying listening to you. You're both discussing about, you know, that pouring yourself out onto the page and not wondering or wondering about anyone else, what they're thinking or experiencing, because that's how you create really authentic, beautiful stuff. And that's the same with music.

It's an advertising. Sorry. You know, as I work in advertising, I'm like, advertising is conscious of who the audience is and convincing them to buy something to open their wallet. Art shouldn't care about the audience.

And also, I was gonna say, when you said pouring out your soul, like, I also, like, would inc. Back to, like, encouraging, like, young people and, like, trans people of all ages. Like, don't feel that if you do want to get commercially published or you want to, like, get something out there, don't feel the need to sell your soul. Like, don't feel the need to tell everything. You don't have to. You can tell whatever story you want.

Yeah.

And that path, I mean, it's one of those paths that requires a sort of a diligence and a dedication. You know, like, he's talking about, you know, write stuff. Write. Write stuff that's bad. Like, it's fine. We all write garbage. First draughts are garbage. Writing is rewriting. It's a. It's the process of what you punk with it.

Yeah, DIY punk. Trash.

What is garbage? Like, it's like, you know, someone's trash is another one's treasure. Literally, like, you know, someone can read something in an open mic and I'll be like, that is not for me. But there's someone over there crying and that has, that has like. That's everything right now, right? Yeah.

Solidarity.

To get down. And I said to myself, you know, I'm going to want to be a playwright. I want to be published. I want to do that. And I was like, okay, you're going to write two plays a year for five years, you're going to write 10 plays and hopefully by the end of that, you're actually halfway decent. And it was my 10th play.

Yes.

And I tell you what, there's some nine real garbage plays sitting on my hard drive right now. But you know what? And that's. That's fine. It is those, those things that sit underneath. It's the thing that you actually have to do to grow that, to build that muscle, to build that skill.

Are we ready for a poem?

Always.

So this is from a book called When Language Broke Open, which is an anthology of queer and trans black writers of Latin American descent. And this is by Sora Feri Me. To baby me, who took over when I needed to tap out. She's 16, dealing with rejection. She's 16 at a work conference. Her feet hurt. Her stomach is closed up. She feels moody and impatient, Gets bratty with old white dudes. Baby me is depressed. Leaves the office in a fit and trails off on her own, arms crossed. She hopes to walk off the burnout at least until we can recognise what burnout is. At least until we can function enough to baby me. Baby me loses her man. She's 16. She thinks about him all day. She misses out on a lot and forgets important details. But baby me is capable of so much. She has left the worst loneliness and survived. Baby me lost her man. So she pouts around all day wondering, what on earth will it take for you to baby me? Thank you.

Magnificent.

Wonderful. Thank you so much, dear listener, for tuning into Transmission this morning. And thank you, Ray.

Oh my goodness.

So excited for this release and for all the things that you create and all the things you do. I'm very appreciative of you and all your work in the community.

Can't believe the hour is up.

Time flies when you're being in a time. Yes.

Yes, that's right. You heard that correctly.

You heard that correctly. Thank. Thank you so much and we will see you all next Tuesday.

See you next Tuesday.

Bye.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for listening to Transmission. See you next Tuesday, 9 to 10am on 4ZZZ.