<div>Hi! I’m Isobel. I run a small trans zine press and tape label called <a href="https://echosequence.space/otherspaces" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Other Spaces</a>; I co-organize a free, community-focused film series called <a href="https://echosequence.space/transfilm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Trans Film / Trans Space</a>; and I do a lot of community organizing work, which mostly involves helping people find resources to pay rent, access medical care, etc. In addition to all that, I’m a poet, musician, critic, comedian, theorist, multimedia artist, and more. <a href="https://echosequence.space/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Here’s my CV</a>.
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<div>I do a lot of stuff is what I’m saying, and I don’t make money off any of it. Every resource I have either goes back into these projects or goes toward supporting my community. I haven’t had any paid work in over a year, I’ve been rejected for all the funding that I’ve applied for, and I’m reaching a point where I can no longer keep going. I have mounting bills, dwindling funds, and serious medical issues that are only getting worse as they go unaddressed.
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<div><strong>About Other Spaces</strong>
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<div>Other Spaces publishes and distributes work from trans writers and artists on the topics of space, place, time, and moment. You can check out the work we’ve published so far on <a href="https://otherspaces.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">our Bandcamp page</a>. We pay contributors up front for their work and split net sales 50/50. This lets me keep buying ink and paper while supporting our contributors as much as possible. The downside of this model is that I don’t personally make any money, and I don’t have much to invest back into the press.
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<div>Your support would allow me to invest in some basic tools to improve the press and my own life, e.g., a good paper guillotine, a better stapler, printing and binding supplies, printmaking supplies, tape duplication hardware and supplies. It would also allow me to pay contributors more. I have a connective tissue disorder that causes joint hypermobility, and I’m currently using a ten year old stapler that injures my wrists every time I staple a new batch of zines. It hurts!
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<div><strong>About Trans Film / Trans Space</strong>
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<div>Trans Film / Trans Space is an ongoing, community focused screening series highlighting trans cinema. It grew out of my previous work as a professional film programmer and cinema projectionist and a desire to make a trans space at the cinema, a space where trans audiences could engage critically with trans film and build community. My co-organizers and I have been hosting bi-monthly screenings and discussions at Hallwalls in Buffalo, NY this year, including screenings of Lingua Franca (Isabel Sandoval, 2019), The People’s Joker (Vera Drew, 2024), and an upcoming short film program featuring a Q&amp;A with filmmaker Nyala Moon.
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<div>I’m lucky to have great co-organizers and financial support from SUNY Buffalo for this project, but I don’t get paid for it. All the funding we receive goes toward booking fees, venue space, supporting trans filmmakers, and providing free snacks. I put a lot of work into this both on the back end (programming, booking) and up front (introducing films, hosting talkbacks). I live a few hours away from Buffalo, so I have to travel for these screenings.
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<div>I love doing all this. I love hosting and talking about these movies. I love spending time in Buffalo. I've met a lot of cool people and made a lot of friends and in general this film series is a dream come true. But it is a lot of work, and I’m not sure how long I can keep it up if I don’t have any money to take care of myself.
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<div><strong>About My Art</strong>
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<div><strong>Music:</strong> I’ve been playing experimental music for about 25 years. Most recently, I’ve been involved in gorge music, dungeon synth, and various experiments with FM synthesis and drum machines. I also play bass, clawhammer banjo, and do a lot of stuff with field recording. Much of my solo work is available for free or “pay what you want” on <a href="https://isobelbess.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">my personal Bandcamp page</a>. I like collaborating with other artists and playing live when I can.
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<div>I will always share my music freely with anyone who wants to hear it, which means I don't really make any money from it.
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<div><strong>Poetry:</strong> I’ve been involved in the trans poetry scene for about a decade. I’ve published a few books, and I place work in journals pretty sporadically these days. I’m probably best known for agitating against classist gatekeeping in poetry and trying to get poets paid for their work. I’ve had some success at that, but I’ve also pissed some rich people off in way that’s probably hurt my “career.” I’m the reason contributors to Nightboat’s Radical Trans Poetics anthology (representing the current academic trans poetry canon) were paid a $25 honorarium, but my work was not included in the anthology for that reason.
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<div>I’m currently working on a full-length collection-in-fragments exploring the idea of trans space. I was a finalist for a $10,000 grant to support the project, but I was told that my work didn’t fit in well enough with the other projects selected. Completing the book in its current form would require funding for travel and also generally keeping myself alive so I can write.
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<div><strong>Theory:</strong> I’ve been co-publishing with Amy Marvin in various academic journals on the topics of trans space and trans cinema. We have essays in <em>Philosophia: A Journal of Transcontinental Feminism</em> and <em>APA Studies on Feminism and Philsophy</em>. We did an invited talk at Duke University, which covered our travel and food but didn’t otherwise pay any money. Academics seem to be generally excited about our collaborative work and about my own work on trans space, but so far they’ve been unwilling to share their money or access to institutional resources. Without money, I can’t keep doing this work.
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