Ray Vincent-mills

Describe yourself in 3 words…

– Enthusiastic
– Curious
– Camp

What inspires you?

– Hip hop
– Community
– Eavesdropping
– Eating desserts
– Being able to have two dinners because I can
– Surprising myself with what I create
– Other people taking something from a piece I’ve work I’ve created that I hadn’t thought about.

Tell us about your worst ever gig?

Honestly nothing terrible has happened really apart from me getting in my own head.

What’s your number one poetry pet peeve?

People apologising profusely before they read!

Whose words do you love at the moment?

The last book I read was Strange Beach by Oluwaseun Olayiwola & ‘my mother raised a normal man‘ I think is a perfect poem!

Shearlings debut album Motherfucker: I am both Amen and hallelujah I think sits at a very cool intersection of poetry, music and theatre and I think the lyrics are great! Saw them live recently and wen through every human emotion.

I recently went to a talk about the history of camp trans by a trans butch woman called Sadie Crabtree. I really enjoyed her talking about how activism has shifted in the age of social media and how we can use how our actions and language in more intentional ways. I also just think its rare to hear about the history of something like that in person amongst people who all share the same identity. Was neat and cool!

What piece of advice would you give to your younger self?

You were right all along, congratulations you’re a boy, go be one it’s gonna be okay!

Beach or mountains?

Mountains! My mums side are all hiking enthusiasts which meant I’d be dragged along to 3-5 hour hikes when I was like ten.

Also sand is terrible! So small!