Mag Hags

Anarchy, lycra, and the lesbian moment - with DIVA founder Frances Williams


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Have you recently joined the Labour party? Are you searching for the perfect cycling shorts? Did you just accidentally stub out your cigarette on a priceless artwork? It’s probably time to launch a new magazine.


This week, Franki catches up with founder of DIVA magazine, and self-confessed “delinquent mother” Frances Williams. From sipping tea with Derek Jarman to getting drunk in the pages of Time Out, Frances shares her memories of the optimism and anarchy that ran through mid-90s queer culture. And how  ”swirling in the world of lesbianism in London” led to her founding the world’s biggest lesbian magazine on a shoestring budget.


Find out more about Queer Circle, their work, and the events they run here.


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LINKS


Watch: Framed Youth: Revenge of the Teenage Perverts, Channel 4, 1984 

Read: Shado magazine 

Read: Shocking Pink 

Read: Queer Creative Health, by Meg-John Barker for Queer Circle


CHAPTERS


01:21 - Intro to 1994


05:43 - Embracing 90s optimism and the “lesbian moment”


18:58 - “Keep it going, have fun” : The launch of DIVA magazine


38:05 - Delinquent mothers and sensible children: How queer culture has changed


44:21 - “We find ways” : DIY publishing is thriving despite the loss of print


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Mag Hags is created and hosted by Franki Cookney and Lucy Douglas.

Editing and audio production by Franki Cookney.

Our theme music is Look Where That Got You, Mattie Maguire. Additional music: Leotard Haul, Dez Moran. Both courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Mag HagsBy Franki Cookney & Lucy Douglas