Re-definitions: meaning-making against tyranny

This workshop is to challenge the dominant language and its model of policing. We will reflect on the work of poets who have written against the dictionaries that oppress us, including sam sax writing and Solmaz Sharif. The emergence of these poems in the past decade has come from Global South diaspora and queer writers, who are breaking their way out of the language that governs. We will discuss why a poet resisting hegemony must compose their own dictionary and we will write our own re-definition works.

lisa minerva luxx is a British-Syrian writer and political activist. Their poetry, essays and fiction have been published internationally including by Poetry Review, Telegraph, New England Review, BBC Radio 4, Al Jazeera and their short film ‘Lesbian.’ was produced by Channel 4. In 2021 their debut collection, Fetch Your Mother’s Heart received critical acclaim. They are a platinum award-winning lyricist with Maison Arts, LA. They have written three verse plays including what the dog said to the harvest which premiered at Southbank Centre. Currently, studying their PhD in diaspora resistance poetics, they have also taught students at Columbia University (New York), American University of Beirut (Lebanon) and Queens Mary (London). In 2025 their short story collection, Raising the Sun, is set for release by Comma Press. luxx is a long-time grassroots organiser across England, Beirut and Syria. They believe in transnational community and direct action as a means of liberation.