Recruiting Disabled Writers of Colour

Are you writer who enjoys film by engaging with audio descriptions or British Sign Language interpretations. Do you like to write about film and performance? Our Responses team want to meet you!

The Fringe of Colour Responses project is a exciting new platform dedicated to writing about performance art and film in a way that challenges the more quantitative-oriented culture of reviewing. In 2020, we published over 20 Responses, with over 6,300 views across the platform in our first season.

We are recruiting a few more Black writers and Writers of Colour to join our brilliant Responses team, lead by Editorial Director Paula Akpan and Sub-editor Tomiwa Folorunso, responding to work at Fringe of Colour Films 2021 through essays that will be published on our website. You can find the Responses from 2020 at this link.

Specifically, this call-out is for writers who would utilise the audio descriptions (in English) or BSL interpretations that will be provided with all the films in this year’s programme.

Please get in touch if you are blind or vision-impaired and would use English audio descriptions to enjoy film, or if you are Deaf or hard of hearing and would use BSL interpretations. Using AD and BSL for film are a specific, unreplicatable experiences and we are interested in publishing Responses that reflect their usage. Additionally, the Responses project exists to give space to Black people and People of Colour to reflect on art that speaks to their own experiences and identities. Please do not apply for this role if you are not someone who uses either of these tools and if you are not Black or a Person of Colour.

Fringe of Colour Responses is somewhere between a review and a personal essay – we don’t deal out stars. We want to give writers the chance to respond to shows that move or challenge them, as they think about the work in the wider context it situates itself within. Writers must be passionate about performance art (theatre, dance, comedy, cabaret etc.) and film, and must be available to watch or listen to the films at this year’s festival and write at least one Response ahead of August.

If you would like to write for us, send your CV and two examples of written work (published or unpublished) to Paula Akpan at paula@fringeofcolour.co.uk.

Deadline: 20th June

Pay: £90 per Response (approximately 800 - 1,000 words)

Thank you!