SUBTEXTS: ALL POETS HAVE CRIP SOULS - D. MORTIMER & ELIOT DUNCAN

When: Tuesday, March 17, 2026, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Where: BLOC Cinema, Mile End

Speaker: D. MORTIMER & ELIOT DUNCAN

SPEED GLUM HERO – All poets have crip souls

With D. Mortimer and Eliot Duncant

Subtexts (in collab with MHSJN) hosts a reading/performance by D Mortimer of his work ‘‘Speed Glum Hero’ (published by Sticky Fingers) followed by a conversation with Eliot Duncan (author of PONYBOY) on writing (& visualising) madness, the different lives of Lake Lorazepam, refusing to conform to people’s expectations of gender non-conformity and experiences that put our souls at stake.

Speed Glum Hero is a tryptic of stories exploring madness and grief, butchness, friendship, transgression and survival. It’s about breaking down and what it takes to stay gripping to the earth. The only way out is through.

About the writers:

D Mortimer is a writer, performer and playwright from London interested in the crip unknown. Their debut collection, Last Night a Beef Jerk Saved My Life was published by Pilot Press London in 2021. Mortimer held a techne scholarship at The University of Roehampton where they also completed their doctorate in trans autofictions. Their monograph Speed Glum Hero was published with Sticky Fingers Publishing in Autumn 2024.

Eliot Duncan is a writer, editor and teacher living in New York City. He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop where he was a Truman Caopte Fellow. His debut novel, Ponyboy (Norton, '23) was nominated for the National Book Award.

This event is a collaboration with Mental Health Social Justice Networks "Mad Labs" @mhjustice_network