Hello, and welcome! My name is Addye, and I’m not sure how to introduce myself. That’s part of what I’m doing here: figuring out how I want to present myself to the world as I reach the end of my PhD. You see, for the past 11 years, introducing myself has gone something like this: “Hi, I’m Addye, and I’m a [PhD Candidate/ master’s Student/ undergrad] at the University of [British Columbia/ Chicago/ Cambridge].” Even my time away from academia came with a convenient title; I spent a year as “a social justice fellow at Repair the World.”
Over the past few years, though, this formulaic introduction has felt increasingly off. It’s not that it’s incorrect; I am, in fact, a PhD candidate in political theory at the University of British Columbia. Broadly, I work on queer and trans theories, intersectionality, anarchic politics, DIY print media, and affect. My dissertation combines community- and arts-based research with critical political theory to explore trans joy and zines. I love my research; working on my dissertation is a delight.
At the same time, though, being a PhD candidate is only one piece of a much bigger life, one that is overflowing with joyful abundance. My life is full of community spaces, volunteer work, art, friends, cats, plants, you get the idea. PhD candidate is my job, but it’s not who I am.
Which brings us back to the question, who do I want to be to the world? In 9ish months, when I can no longer fall back on “PhD candidate” as a title, how do I want to introduce myself? I don’t know, but I need to finish this post, so let’s go with this: my name is Addye, and I’m a writer, an artist, an educator, and a person invested in community. I’m a trans, disabled, Jewish anarchist. I’m a White settler who immigrated from the US to Canada, and I’m someone for whom “the city” will always mean New York City. My favorite identity is being a cat parent to my perfect angel baby, Tiana.
So, that’s me, but what is this Substack? For the next few months, it will be something of an experiment. I’ll be posting essays from some ongoing and potential upcoming projects, including work exploring: trans joy and the spaces we find it; queer and trans media representation and zines; critical resistance media historically and today; going for extremely long urban walks; and more. You can also expect writing on current events that integrates feminist and queer thought. I’ll probably post some of my art zines. Maybe I’ll even share some of the fibre arts projects I’m working on, if people are into that sort of thing. I’ll almost certainly post a weirdly passionate essay about why RuPaul’s album Supermodel of the World is important cultural commentary at some point. Maybe I’ll eventually find my niche and settle in, maybe not. We’ll find out together.
Whatever I post, you can expect it to be both earnest and seriously unserious; I care deeply about my work, and I approach it from a place of joy and levity. I’m here to play with ideas and hopefully find something meaningful along the way. I hope you’ll come play with me.
Until next time,
Addye
P.S. Please help me name this publication something besides my name, lol. Send me any and all ideas!