Vermont Trans Audio Retreat!
For so long, stories about trans people have been told by cis people, and stories about rural people have been told by city people. We believe in the power of rural queer and trans people telling our own stories, in our own words, by us and for us.
Join Rae Garringer of Country Queers and Out in the Open staff members for a five-day storytelling retreat with other trans and nonbinary people living in Vermont! A group of 10 - 12 participants will spend time getting to know one another through story circles and writing prompts. We’ll explore hands-on audio recording techniques and listen to a variety of audio-storytelling styles (from oral history to audio diaries). And we’ll work together to produce 2-5 minute audio shorts. Built into the week will be plenty of time to relax, laugh, and rest together in a beautiful setting.
Participants will be paid, transportation support is available, and all meals and lodging will be provided.
Save the date for March 27 - March 31, 2023!
Applications will follow soon, and will be posted online via Out in the Open and announced through OITO's newsletter and social media accounts.
Contact us with questions: info@weareoutintheopen.org or 207.808.0623.
More about Rae:
Rae Garringer (they/them) is a writer, oral historian, and audio producer who grew up on a sheep farm in southern West Virginia, and now lives a few counties away on traditional S’atsoyaha (Yuchi) and Shawandassee Tula (Shawnee) lands with a large family of animals. When Rae founded the Country Queers project in 2013, they had no formal training in media production or oral history. But they did have an intense frustration with the lack of easily accessible rural queer stories at the time, and a deep personal need to meet and learn from other country queers. They learned a lot through trying things and making mistakes along the way.
Rae completed a BA at Hampshire College in 2007, and an MA in Folklore & American Studies at UNC Chapel Hill in 2017. They gained audio production chops as the Public Affairs Director at Appalshop’s community radio station WMMT 88.7fm in the coalfields of eastern Kentucky from 2017-2020. Rae is white, queer, nonbinary, and a hermit-introvert who prefers to be surrounded by animals and mountains.