About this Archive

Administrative/Biographical History

Juliet Jacques (b 1981) is a writer and filmmaker based in London. She is the author of two books, Rayner Heppenstall: A Critical Study (Dalkey Archive, 2007) and Trans: A Memoir (Verso, 2015), with her third, a volume of short stories entitled Variations, due for publication by Influx Press in June 2021. She writes short fiction, journalism, essays and criticism on literature, film, art, music, politics, gender, sexuality, and football. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, where she documented her gender reassignment in a landmark series entitled "A Transgender Journey". She has also been published in London Review of Books, Granta, Sight & Sound, Frieze, Art Review, New York Times, The Washington Post, TimeOut, New Humanist, Five Dials, New Inquiry, The New Statesman, Berfrois, Schirn, Mal, 3:AM, and many other places.

Jacques has written and co-directed two 16mm films – Approach/Withdraw(2016), and You Will Be Free (2017). She also directed a documentary entitled Revivification: Art, Activism and Politics in Ukraine (2018), as part of a residency with the Izolyatsia platform for cultural initiatives in Kyiv.

Jacques founded and co-hosted Suite (212) on Resonance 104.4fm – a radio programme that looks at the arts in their social, cultural, political, and historical contexts.

Jacques teaches queer fiction at City Lit in London, and the Contemporary Art Practice MA at the Royal College of Art. She has given guest lectures and workshops at Brunel, Central Saint Martin’s, Studio Voltaire, Birkbeck, the University of Sussex, The American University of Central Asia (Bishkek), and elsewhere. She completed her PhD in Creative & Critical Writing at the University of Sussex in July 2019.

Jacques has been included on The Independent on Sunday Pink List of influential LGBT people in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015, and appeared on a panel at the PEN International Congress in 2014. Her column "My Transgender Journey" was longlisted for the Orwell Prize for blogs in 2011, and Trans: A Memoir was runner-up in Polari LGBT Literary Salon’s First Book Award for 2016. In 2019, Val McDermid chose her as one of ten British LGBT+ writers for an International Literary Showcase.

Scope and Content

The Juliet Jacques Archive includes: unpublished manuscripts, hand-written reports, materials relating to an attempted biography of Justin Fashanu, her Creative and Critical Writing PhD work, an annotated TV pilot script, an annotated script for "Aphorisms on Self-Care". research relating to an attempted book on the Transgender History of Britain, a letter sent via PEN International to President Atambayev of Kyrgyzstan, and her NCTJ coursework in Magazine Journalism; books including Jacques' book "Trans : A Memoir", "Brighton Trans*formed" where she wrote the forward, and Jacques’ personal library which includes books she has reviewed; magazines featuring articles written by and about Jacques; newspapers featuring Jacques and articles written by her; postcards written by, to and bought by Jacques; Zines which feature or were purchased by Jacques; ephemera which Jacques has collected over the years including films, programmes and catalogues; papers written by Jacques whilst a student including term papers for her Literature and Visual Culture MA at the University of Sussex, her undergraduate dissertation on German and Soviet modernism for my History BA (Hons) at the University of Manchester, and her final Creative & Critical Writing PhD submission at University of Sussex; articles Jacques wrote for various news publications; writings including attempted books on Justin Fashanu and a Transgender History of Britain; the blogs she wrote during her residency in Kyiv; unpublished works; a history of trans people in the media; a eulogy for her uncle; an experimental piece of writing called "Pripyat, the Last Day"; a text called "Reminiscences of a Journey to Israel/Palestine"; a report on football and transphobia; posts from two different blogs she ran; the offer letter for her book "Variations"; and the flyer and press release for the launch of her book "Rayner Heppenstall : A Critical Study"; video files and scripts of the films made by Jacques including "Approach/Withdraw"; "Revivification"; "You Will Be Free"; "Aphorisms on Self-Care" and "The Exhibition"; the music and lyrics of the two bands Jacques was a part of "Standards of Care" and "Juliet Jacques and Morgan King"; episodes of the radio programme "Suite (212)" hosted by Jacques, Tom Overton and Lara Alonso Corona on Resonance 104.4fm as well as episodes of "Suite (212) Extra" and "Suite (212) Sessions", the latter of which Jacques made as a podcast. There is a spreadsheet detailing these episodes. Recordings of Jacques' appearances on Montez Press Radio and at Resonance 104.4fm's 18th birthday are also included; recordings of Jacques reading her work and being interviewed; photographs of Jacques' family, friends and herself. (c1908-2020)