"Gemma Lees is a Romany Gypsy, disabled and neurodiverse fine art installationist, performance poet, facilitator, journalist and theatre-maker from Bury. Her practise focuses on protest, advocacy, inclusion and telling the stories that no one else is. This year she has worked with: Arts and Homelessness International, Traveller’s Times, Headteacher Update, SEN Magazine, ACERT, Queer Britain, Turnpike, Cartwheel Arts, BBC Radio Manchester, Triple C, Warwickshire Libraries, CultureDale, WOW Fest and CRIPtic. She’s a core team member of Girl Gang Manchester and creator and facilitator of their monthly writer’s group, ‘Write Here, Right Now’, her poetry chapbook, ‘1000 Years’ will be published by Written Off in February 2025, she’s currently on the Factory International Fellowship and Lyra McKee Bursary for Investigative Journalism programmes and is studying stand-up comedy thanks to an Unlimited Development Bursary. She regularly facilitates both adult and family-friendly arts workshops in a variety of venues, including ‘Making Sense’, her interactive installation based around neurodiversity and sensory and artistic exploration.

https://linktr.ee/gemmaleesartist"