I am a journalist and translator based in London

• 1st July 2022

Cat Burns releases new remix of Free in collaboration with soultec duo Shermanology

The 22-year-old queer singer-songwriter is ready to shake dancefloors with an energetic new track

Pride does not end today – repeat it with me. And check out Cat Burns’ and Shermanology’s remix of Cat’s very own queer anthem, Free. A song close to her heart, Free is about finding the courage to come out, the pain of having to live a lie and the relief of embracing one’s true self.

The remix is the work of Curaçao-born and Netherlands-based duo Shermanology, featuring siblings Andy and Dorothy

• 1st July 2022

Everything you need to know about Pride In London

This year’s theme is #AllOurPride, an invitation to come together and celebrate our “collective past, present and future”

BY BY VAL ZELASCHI, IMAGE BY RODNAE PRODUCTIONS VIA PEXELS

The UK’s biggest Pride event, Pride In London, is back this weekend after being cancelled for two years in a row. It will mark the 50th anniversary of the first UK pride rally.

In addition to the iconic parade on Saturday (2 July) this weekend will be packed with fringe queer events across the city and parties for

• 29th June 2022

SCREEN: Don’t Say Gay explores the history and legacy of Section 28

The Kickstarter Crowdfunding campaign will run until 26 July

A crowdfunding campaign has been launched by Hopscotch Films and KOH Pro to fund the production of groundbreaking documentary Don’t Say Gay.

The documentary, directed by Sarah Drummond, will be the first one in its genre to talk about Section 28 and its impact on a generation of LGBTQI people. Introduced in 1988 under the Thatcher’s government, the clause banned “the promotion of homosexuality by teaching or publishing material”.

“T

• 29th June 2022

Jacquie Lawrence has been awarded the Iris Prize Fellowship

Guests including Linda Riley, Mark Harriott and Ross Kemp congratulated Jacquie on her work in increasing onscreen lesbian visibility

Established in 2007, the Iris Prize wants to honour those in the film industry who contribute to better the representation of LGBTQI people and shining a light on their stories. The brilliant Jacquie Lawrence has been awarded the Iris Prize Fellowship. During the awards ceremony at The Ministry Venues in London, the writer, producer, director and editor was prais

• 29th June 2022

Barberette marks 10 year anniversary by celebrating their clients

To commemorate this milestone, the gender-neutral barbershop developed a photo series that explores journeys of self-discovery through hair

BY VAL ZELASCHI, PHOTOGRAPHS BY RACHEL HARDWICK (@RACHELHARDWICKPHOTOGRAPHY), HAIR BY LAUREN THWAITES (@WIZARDOFHAIR), MAKEUP & BODY PAINT BY PIXIE LAWRIE (@PIXIELAWRIE)

One of the UK’s longest running gender-neutral barbershops is turning 10 this year. To mark the anniversary, Barberette decided to celebrate their non-binary and gender-nonconforming clien

• 27th June 2022

Adele Roberts has been given all-clear after treatment for bowel cancer

The BBC Radio 1 DJ shared the good news and reflected on her journey

Adele Roberts has revealed on Instagram that she is cancer free. The 43-year-old BBC Radio 1 DJ was diagnosed with bowel cancer in October last year. Adele Roberts received DIVA’s Choice Award earlier this year for her role in furthering LGBTQI visibility in broadcasting and her openness about her cancer journey.

After undergoing surgery and months of chemotherapy, Roberts said this is “The day I’ve been waiting for.”

In her

• 22nd June 2022

Six exhibitions to visit this Pride month

Art lovers, are you ready to celebrate some amazing LGBTQI creatives?

BY VAL ZELASCHI, IMAGE BY ZACH ROWLANDSON VIA UNSPLASH

Honouring our queercestors and celebrating LGBTQI culture are a huge part of Pride. After two years of closures and digital shows, this Pride month, we can finally return to visit exhibitions celebrating our community in person. We can also take the opportunity to support emerging LGBTQI artists.

Here are six queer exhibitions to visit in London right now

We Get To Cho

• 21st June 2022

American soccer star and queer icon Megan Rapinoe says she is “100% supportive of trans inclusion” in sports

The athlete has also spoken out condemning the US government’s “monstrous” attack on trans youth

Throughout her career, Rapinoe has been an outspoken advocate of LGBTQI rights. In an interview with TIME she said that “we need to start from inclusion”. “For a long time, I was the only player that was out,” she says, as she explains how she feels it is important to “set the right example” and “stay educated”.

The 36-year-old US National team captain, who was recently added to TIME’s most influen

Warm Belly • 24th June 2022

EKO brewery: Meet the couple brewing with traditional African ingredients

Craft beer is about culture and traditions, stories and connection. In a world of mass-produced lagers and multinational corporations, craft brewers build brands around their personality and experiment with flavours that speak to their identity. They create communities to share their story with.

For Anthony and Helena Adedipe, the founders of EKO, a microbrewery in South East London, the story is one of migration and diaspora. Brewing is a way to reconnect with their African heritage. By bringi

Warm Belly • 24th June 2022

What is Italian coffee

I enter Bar Termini in London’s Soho on a sunny Saturday afternoon, on the hunt for a good Italian espresso to break up my day. Bar Termini is a small place, with only seven tables surrounding a curved marble counter in the corner. It sits meters away from a huge Caffe Nero, but the atmosphere is very different. There are no disposable cups or frappuccinos in sight: only tiny espressos served at the bar and the welcoming voice of Leonardo, the barista.

“Just a coffee, please,” I say in Italian.

Warm Belly • 22nd June 2022

Beer has always been female

Torie Fisher had just arrived at the Atlantic City Beer festival when a man yelled: “There’s no way she’s the brewer!” Not only is Fisher the brewer, she and her wife have been running Blackward Flag Brewing for almost a decade. Fisher is not the first woman to experience this – when two customers at the Traffic Jam & Snug brewpub in Detroit asked to talk to the brewer and Chelsea Piner appeared, they chuckled: “Oh no, sweetheart, we wanted to talk to the brewer!”.

The beer world has not always

Warm Belly • 20th June 2022

Around the world in 13 flower-based dishes

Throughout history, flowers have been part of our culinary traditions. From Ancient Rome to the Incan Andes, Pharaonic Egypt to pre-Qin China, and Medieval Persia to Victorian England, people have long recognised their value both as decoration and as an ingredient.

The Romans used violets to decorate their salads, but also to prepare jams and season meat dishes. Emperor Charlemagne loved his wine with a splash of carnation water. Rose-infused waters were used in Persia to scent food. Medieval m

15th July 2022

Meet the trader: Barberette, the gender-neutral barbershop – Eastlondonlines

Klara Vanova, 42, set up Barberette out of her own frustration.

As a queer woman with a passion for short hair and the art of barbering, she felt she did not belong to either men’s barbershops or women’s salons.

“I didn’t have a place where I could feel who I was,” says Vanova. “I would go into a hairdressers and they would be like, ‘you already have short hair, what do you want me to cut?’ And when I went to the barbers, I would always feel uncomfortable.”

Originally from Prague, Vanova open

15th July 2022

Council accused of ‘blind hostility’ as canalside art competition postponed – Eastlondonlines

A cutting edge architectural competition staged on the banks of the Regent’s Canal in Hackney has been put on hold as organisers battle with the council over an enforcement order.

Antepavilion, an arts and culture charity based in Haggerston, has accused Hackney Council of ‘blind hostility.’

“The fate of the competition is in the council’s hands,” said on Instagram last week. “So far, their stance has been blind hostility and chest-pounding.”

Established in 2017, Antepavilion aims to promote

15th July 2022

London Fields Brewery closed and put on market by Carlsberg – Eastlondonlines

Loss-making London Fields Brewery was shut down last week by owners Carlsberg Marstons after they decided to try and sell the brand.

The Hackney-based brewery announced on December 8 that they were closing their taproom and e-commerce platform and pausing onsite brewing with immediate effect while they seek a new owner.

Located under the railway archways near London Fields, the brewery was founded during the London Riots in 2011 by ex-cocaine smuggler Julian de Vere Whiteway-Wilkinson.

In 201

15th July 2022

New online space for LGBTQ+ young people opens in Hackney – Eastlondonlines

A fortnightly LGBTQ+ online meeting for young people has been launched by Hackney-based charity Rainbow Mind.

The Rainbow Room wants to be a safe online place for LGBTQ+ people aged 17-24 to share experiences, connect with their peers and discuss mental health issues.

Talking to ELL, Rainbow Mind’s in-house therapist and project coordinator Carlo Ricciardi said: “One thing LGBTQ+ people might need more than others is contact with a social network. That often happens in a context – a venue or a

15th July 2022

New interactive map pinpoints places in Hackney where women feel unsafe – Eastlondonlines

A new online portal has been launched in Hackney to ask women where they feel the most unsafe in the borough.

The portal, together with a new accreditation scheme for late night venues who commit to train their staff on how to respond to sexual harassment and assault, is part of the work the council is doing to tackle gender-based violence.

In the year leading up to March 2020, 4.9 million women in the UK were sexually assaulted. 70% of women around the country report having experienced sexual

15th July 2022

Goldsmiths staff embark on three-week strike in protest over redundancies – Eastlondonlines

Lecturers and administrative staff at Goldsmiths in Lewisham are going on a three-week strike tomorrow in protest at redundancies planned by the university.

The staff, members of the University and College Union will go on strike for 15 working days, starting tomorrow until December 13.

The strike decision was taken after 87% of Goldsmiths UCU members voted in favour of industrial action early this month.

Goldsmiths is planning to make 52 members of staff redundant by next Spring. If the plan

15th July 2022

Night Overground to return in time for Christmas – Eastlondonlines

All-night Overground services between Highbury & Islington and New Cross will return on December 17, after being suspended since March last year.

This follows the return of night services on the Central and Victoria lines, which is expected to reopen on November 27.

The news comes as a petition to bring back the night tube in order to address women’s safety concerns reaches over 150,000 signatures.


Night Overground services also tackle Hackney residents’ concerns over cuts to bus services a

15th July 2022

Charity seeks funding to support free meals for Hackney vulnerable – Eastlondonlines

A community cookery school and charity based in Hackney has launched a crowdfunding campaign to fund their meal support service for 2022.

Made in Hackney is the UK’s first plant-based community kitchen, with a focus on health inequalities, food access and sustainability. Due to the pandemic, they suspended their cookery classes from March 2020.

As food inequality increased across the borough during the pandemic, the charity launched a community meal service providing vulnerable households with

FUORILUOGO • 24th January 2021

Why today we still need to be actively antifascist

. 18-year old ultra-nationalist Samuel Gulick walks up to a Planned Parenthood facility in Neward, Delaware, spray-paints ‘DEUS VULT’ on the front wall and firebombs it. He later comments on Social Media: ‘When will we start shooting? It’s about time we kill these genocidal demons.’

. Two volunteers from the NGO One Happy Family are attacked in Lesbos, Greece. Ten days later, a group of neo-fascists burns down the One Happy Family community centre, which was used to house refugees.

. A man of

FUORILUOGO • 17th December 2020

What is smart about smart working?

Before the pandemic struck, ‘working from home’ – also referred to as ‘smart,’ ‘flexible,’ or ‘tele’ working – was considered a distant mirage by many.

Is there anything better than waking up just a few minutes before starting a shift, with no need to shower, abandon our beloved pyjamas or even get out of bed, and with the enviable right to unlimited fridge trips and occasional, cheeky naps?

But if the sanitary emergency has taught us anything at all, it would be that home-made lunches and wor

FUORILUOGO • 15th December 2020

Drink craft, craft beer. Inside the artsy world of beer labels

Craft beer magazine called it ‘the new record sleeve.’ And they are not wrong because beer labels have never looked cooler.

Wandering around the aisles of a newly opened, wannabe hipster craft beer shop, my eye is captured by a multitude of bold, shiny and innovative designs and I immediately feel like a sugar-craving child who got lost in a candy store.

To the average consumer, this whole beer label renaissance might look quite confusing. ‘Where does it even say what I’m drinking?’- might rig

FUORILUOGO • 1st November 2020

The issue of trans (mis)representation and why we need more TV shows like POSE

The relationship between reality and representation is probably one of the most ancient and controversial philosophical problems. Do we represent what we experience or are our experiences shaped by the way we see them represented?

But contrary to the old dilemma of the egg or the chicken, this is not a causality problem and it is not so much about which one determines which as it is about how.

British-Jamaican cultural theorist Stuart Hall’s ‘system of representations’ theory helped a generati

FUORILUOGO • 22nd October 2020

Please let's not forget that capitalism will never be green

There are many things that capitalism will never be. It will never be individually gratifying. It will never be socially just. And it will never be environmentally sustainable.

However, if on the one hand, the Left has more or less universally recognised the former two points, on the other, it still naively struggles to come to terms with the latter.

The fact that it is Green parties to lead the global environmental front, while stubbornly refusing to deal with their tacit support for the logi

FUORILUOGO • 19th September 2020

AdHack: How London's artists are reclaiming ad spaces

All you need is a high viz vest, a couple of hex keys, a 4-way utility pin and your art on a 120x180 cm poster. The on how to hack public ad spaces are online and available to anyone. The goal being: to free our cities from the cultural and visual pollution advertisement creates.

is a group of like-minded individuals who dream of a world where inclusive and community-owned art rather than consumerist corporate messages be at the centre of urban design. The idea is simple: if we are the ones who

FUORILUOGO • 5th September 2020

Have we normalised not replying to text messages?

How many times have you found yourself starring at your Whatsapp conversations, anxiously reloading the page and checking your WiFi connection, while hoping those dreadful blue ticks be the promising sign of an incoming reply rather than the unspoken declaration of negligence? How many times have you looked in agony at those bubbly typing dots only to see them disappear and wonder what you had said wrong? How many times have you felt ignored or left out for having your messages gone read, yet un

FUORILUOGO • 27th August 2020

'How did I get home last night?' The marvellous (mis)adventures of a blackout drinker

We were meant to go for a couple of drinks after work. The next thing I remember is waking up on my sofa, completely dressed, with an untouched bowl of microwave pasta on the floor and my phone buzzing non-stop. What the hell had happened?

Mornings such as this, where I would wake up in a midst of panic and surprise, going through a series of template questions, such as ‘How did I get home?’, ‘Do I still have my wallet?’ or ‘Did I kiss anyone?’, while checking my body for scars and bruises, hav

FUORILUOGO • 25th August 2020

Competitive gymnastics provides fertile grounds for sexual abuse

A couple of months ago, Netflix released Athlete A, a documentary investigating into USA Gymnastics sexual abuse scandal, which involved the sentencing of former national team doctor Larry Nassar to 175 years in Michigan State Prison on the charges of child pornography possession and sexual assault of more than 250 young women between 1992 and 2015.

It was 2016 when first launched a nine-month-long investigation about USA Gymnastics’ fallacious policy for handling sexual abuse cases. Just a cou

FUORILUOGO • 15th August 2020

Cuban tourism: sexualisation of the exotic, romanticisation of the past

’White people come to Cuba for three reasons: la playa, el Che y el sexo.’ I am sitting on a bench near the Malecón in Central Havana, chatting with one of the many jineteros who hang around the area, while waiting for tourists whom to offer their disparate services - from guided tours and taxi rides to sexual favours.

Jineterismo is what guidebooks warn tourists about. It is a term mostly associated with jineteras, women who offer sex or company to male tourists in exchange for cash or luxury

Londra, Italia • 16th March 2021

"La pandemia ha modificato il modo di vedere la realtà. Anche per noi giornalisti"

Questa la premessa dell’incontro che si è tenuto sulle piattaforme digitali dell’Ambasciata d’Italia a Londra (la cui registrazione si può trovare sul canale youtube dell’Ambasciata a questo indirizzo). A raccontare e raccontarsi sono giornalisti e diplomatici dall’Italia o dal Regno Unito (nella foto in alto un momento del talk). Sono coloro che la pandemia hanno provato a descriverla e che ne hanno osservati, in prima linea, gli effetti catastrofici per informare e lasciarne una testimonianza.

Londra, Italia • 3rd March 2021

Donne di Mafia: il mini-festival di CinemaItaliaUK in occasione dell'8 marzo

Domenica 7, rispettivamente alle 15 e alle 18.30 sono invece in programma Per Amor Vostro (2015, nella foto in alto) di Giuseppe Gaudino e La Terra dei Santi (2015) di Fernando Muraca. Il primo racconta la storia di Anna, una donna costretta in una vita che non le appartiene, tra le relazioni tese con i tre figli ed i soprusi del marito. Il suo riscatto inizierà con il nuovo lavoro, fuori dalle mura di casa e lontano dalle attività losche dei famigliari; qui inizierà il riscatto etico e civile d

Londra, Italia • 2nd February 2021

Shopping dall'Europa a UK: costi extra e nuove tasse

Negli ultimi anni, e soprattutto in tempi di pandemia, lo shopping online è diventato una modalità di consumo estremamente diffusa per milioni di persone, nel Regno Unito come altrove. Ma la Brexit potrebbe cambiare le regole del gioco. A denunciarlo i molti shoppers che dal 1 gennaio si sono visti addebitare onerose spese aggiuntive su acquisti effettuati presso siti europei.

I prodotti dovranno comunque essere conformi alle cosiddette “norme di origine” in grado di stabilire se, per composizi

Londra, Italia • 22nd January 2021

Brexit e pandemia, in 700mila lasciano temporaneamente Londra

Ma le cause dell’esodo – come viene chiamato nel rapporto – non sono da ricercarsi soltanto nell’attuale emergenza sanitaria, che ha generato la perdita di milioni di posti di lavoro e costretto altrettanti impiegati ad accettare riduzioni salariali, ma anche nella Brexit che ha aggiunto alle preoccupazioni di tipo economico altre incertezze di tipo burocratico, legale e previdenziale.

Londra avrebbe visto partire 700.000 residenti, tra lavoratori e studenti, e ad oggi non si sa quanti destinat

Londra, Italia • 10th December 2020

Rembrandt, Canaletto e Tiziano: la mostra a Londra attesa da 45 anni

“Questi quadri avrebbero potuto finire in un deposito o, in alternativa, essere messi in mostra. Ed ecco l’occasione. Li abbiamo portati qui, alla Queen’s Gallery, una galleria moderna, dove la luce è perfetta. E ne abbiamo fatto un’esposizione dei capolavori della collezione regia che capita una volta sola nell’arco di una generazione,” dichiara lo storico dell’arte e curatore della mostra Desmond Shawe-Taylor.

Londra, Italia • 9th December 2020

L'Inghilterra alle prese col 'pasto sostanzioso', che nessuno conosce. Neppure chi serve gli Scotch Eggs

I monaci trappisti in Belgio la chiamavano “pane liquido” in quanto unica fonte di sostentamento durante i periodi di digiuno, ma secondo il governo Johnson: no, la birra non costituisce un pasto sostanzioso.

Iniziamo dalle premesse. Il nuovo regolamento per il settore dell’hospitality nelle zone in tier 2 prevede che “solo i bar e pub che possono operare come ristorante potranno aprire e che questi potranno servire alcolici soltanto se accompagnati da un pasto sostanzioso. Al termine del pasto

Londra, Italia • 1st December 2020

Sistema a punti: dal primo gennaio l'UK chiude le frontiere a chi non parla inglese

Semplice (o non esattamente)! Si tratta di una serie di requisiti in materia di lavoro, salario, formazione e competenze linguistiche che, se soddisfatti, danno diritto a 10 o 20 punti ciascuno. Ma ottenere tutti i 70 punti non è certo banale, soprattutto per i cosiddetti “lavoratori poco qualificati” o per chi la lingua non la mastica perfettamente, e la domanda che sorge spontanea è: che cosa ne sarà delle migliaia di italiani che ogni anno partono per il Regno Unito con in tasca solo qualche

Londra, Italia • 19th November 2020

Post Brexit, a rischio i lavori "au pair". Il governo UK li vuole assoggettare al nuovo sistema a punti

Sono moltissimi i giovani italiani che ogni anno scelgono il Regno Unito come meta per lavorare come ragazzi e ragazze alla pari. Ma la Brexit potrebbe segnare la fine di una tradizione di scambi culturali che dura da generazioni.

A lanciare l’allarme è l’Associazione Britannica per le Agenzie di collocamento AuPair (BAPAA), secondo cui nonostante il governo conservatore avesse promesso, ad inizio mandato, di supportare i programmi Au Pair europei, in quanto importante risorsa sia per l’economi

Londra, Italia • 27th October 2020

Coronavirus, quando a decidere il lockdown locale è un governo lontano centinaia di miglia

Mentre non appena Londra varca la soglia del livello 2, ecco che il cancelliere Sunak si arma per presentare delle variazioni al nuovo Jobs Support Scheme tra cui aiuti economici a business ed industrie che si trovano nelle aree più colpite. Perché queste misure non sono state applicate prima, quando il Nord si trovava nella stessa identica situazione in cui Londra si trova oggi?

Per chi a Manchester ci vive e ci lavora, le cose non sono però così semplici. Tralasciando i commenti sarcastici a

Londra, Italia • 1st October 2020

Gestione della pandemia nelle università UK: gli studenti si dicono insoddisfatti e chiedono il rimborso delle tasse

‘£9,000 per cosa?,’ ‘Lasciateci uscire!,’ ‘La salute mentale prima di tutto. Liberateci!,’ Sono alcuni dei messaggi che si leggono sulle finestre degli studenti attualmente in lockdown forzato in due delle residenze universitarie della Manchester Metropolitan University.

La notizia arriva dopo la pubblicazione delle stime ufficiali del Ministero della Salute secondo cui una significativa percentuale dei nuovi contagi da Covid-19 arriverebbe proprio dal settore educativo ed, in particolar modo,