As World AIDS day approaches, the RSA Fellow-led LGBT Network are hosting their first event since before the pandemic, taking place on Monday 15 November at 18:30 GMT and focussing on AIDS awareness.
Despite antiretroviral drugs as an effective treatment and Prep as a preventative, there is still no cure for AIDS. This event aims to recognise AIDS as a current issue rather than a historic one. This will be explored through the work of award-winning poet and author Robert Hamberger.
Robert’s most recent work is a moving tale of loss and discovery as he explores the poetry of John Clare and taps into his experiences of escaping from an asylum in Epping Forest and embarking on an 80-mile walk home, grief-stricken by the AIDS related death of his lifelong friend, Artist Clifford Haseldine.
The event will be led by Trevor Wood FRSA, Network lead and Ambassador for AIDS Memory UK who are campaigning to erect a memorial to those who died of AIDS. At the event Robert will read an extract and share how the AIDS epidemic affected his work. There will also be time for questions and discussion.
Speaker Bio: Robert Hamberger is an award-winning poet and author. He was awarded a Hawthorden Fellowship and won first prize in Chroma's International Queer Writing Competition 2006. His work has appeared in both The Guardian and The Spectator and anthologies in Britain, USA and Japan. Between 1997-2019, he has published four volumes of poetry: Warpaint Angel (1997), The Smug Bridegroom (2002), Torso (2007) and Blue Wallpaper (2019).
Venue: Dr Cross room, Coffeehouse, RSA House
The event is free to attend and open to all, Fellows and non-Fellows.
We hope you can join us!
Taking part in RSA in-person events
We've been looking forward to finally being able to meet together in person. But of course we recognise it is important for us to stay cautious and make the environment safe for everyone.
We aim to have assurances from all venues that they will have basic Covid safety processes in place.
We’re asking all attendees of events to be respectful of personal space, to be mindful of others' preferences in regards to social distancing and to respect those that are wearing face coverings.
To participate in the event, you will need to register for a ticket so we can make sure we have an up-to-date list of those who plan on attending. This is for capacity purposes.
We request that all attendees evaluate their own health and that of those they’re in close contact with. We encourage all attendees that are sick or showing symptoms of illness to stay home and to cancel their Eventbrite ticket if they are no longer able to join the event.
If guidelines do change, the event may be cancelled at short notice.
If you have any questions, or to let us know of any access requirements or reasonable adjustments you require, please email: networks@rsa.org.uk.