All right, so maybe my gender itself isn’t entirely ‘new’ – considering I’ve been an enby my whole life and out for six years now – but I am in the process of legally changing my gender to non-binary. It’s exciting, but not easy. And I certainly wasn’t sure. Do I want to be on a state list of gender minorities? Am I prepared for the fact that my passport will become useless for travel to transphobic states? Why do I even need to do this, when my gender is my business?
But I’m doing it anyway. Because I can. Because it’s important to me. Because recognition grants us something intangible, but no less vital for it.
So, once the three-month waiting period is over, I will be a legal enby. To reflect this shift, I’m dropping the ‘Jon’ from my professional name and will be simply going by ‘Redfern Barrett’. And, as you may have noticed from the URL above, I have a swanky new web address to go with it. From now on, you can check redfernbarrett.com for all me-related news.
Speaking of which, to the right you’ll notice a delightful picture of this soon-to-be-legal enby wearing some swanky new clothes they got this summer.
New stories!
You may be surprised to learn that filling out government paperwork isn’t the only thing I’ve been doing.
No, don’t be ridiculous, I haven’t been going outside. I’ve been writing! Aside from an all-new project I’ve been feverishly labouring over (and which, for now, will remain secret), I’ve been working on some new short stories.
‘Flatlands’ is a short horror story that was published in Macabre Magazine in July. Set in rural Lincolnshire – one of the creepy backdrops of my childhood – the story follows an elderly man as the village around him falls apart. Where is everyone disappearing to? What truly dwells among the distant trees? And just what is that noise his granddaughter keeps humming?
You can read ‘Flatlands’ at Macabre Magazine’s website at this link.
Another story of mine will be featured in Fiction on the Web in September. ‘Big Boat’ is a trans+ cyberpunk story set on the world's largest ship – a haven for the immortal elite, whose staff work to fulfill their every need...
I had a lot of fun with this one, and will post more once it’s released.
Trans in the Machine: Chronicling the New Cyberpunk Canon
This is exciting: I was recently interviewed by Stefanie Carter Cuthbert for a new book on trans+ identities in cyberpunk. The project itself looks fascinating (and met its Kickstarter goals), but I’m doubly thrilled because some absolute icons of the trans+ community were also interviewed for the book, including Jessie Gender and Steph Sterling. I can’t wait to read this once it’s out. And post about it fanatically.
Upcoming appearance on Story Hour
Finally, I’m delighted to be an upcoming guest on the Story Hour podcast, where I’ll be reading one of my favourite speculative short stories. The episode is being recorded on September 2nd at 4 a.m. my time, but I shall still look and sound glamorous. Assuming I don’t fall asleep halfway through…
That’s a joke. I don’t sleep.
As always, I’ll be posting links here once the episode is online, so check back here. Do it every twenty minutes so I know you care.
That’s all for now, at least until I realise there’s something else important that I forgot to mention and post again in a couple days. Until then, it’s a hearty ta-ra from this non-binary giant.*
- Redfern
*The ‘giant’ part is literal and I’m tired of hitting my head on doorways and light fixtures.
