MENSTRUATORS is a period-poverty MA dissertation project Iwriting a poetry/ lyric essay collection about menstruation/ blood (and wider menstruation-related experiences e.g. menopause, pregnancy, PMDD, PMS, early onset menopause) and poverty in the contexts of war, stigma, oppression, religion, homelessness, disability, and neurodivergence. Please feel free to share any thoughts on a post-it note. There will be some prompts to help evoke memories, but share anything you think might be relevant. Response post-its to other people’s responses also encouraged to start conversations.

Nafeesa (b. Kashmir 1993, bred in Birmingham) is a poet; playwright; educator; performer; and director. When she’s not archiving city council bankruptcy, Nafeesa uses the intersectionality of her identity to inform her multi-disciplinary creative practice. Her poetry collection Besharam (Verve Poetry Press) was highly commended in the Forward Prizes 2019. Nafeesa is published in Forward Poems of the Decade 2011-2020 (Faber Poetry), The Things I Would Tell You: British Muslim Women Write, (Saqi Books). Nafeesa has appeared on BBC Bitesize; BBC Radio 4 Comedy; The Verb; and at literary festivals across the UK, Ireland and Germany. In 2023 she received a scholarship for Writing Poetry MA at Poetry School London, where she continues developing a body of work about corner shop culture, car boots, faith, and divine love.