Branwell Roberts

I am excited to share this photograph of lichenologist Elke Mackenzie in 1975! Prior to her transition in the 1960s, Mackenzie was the botanist on Operation Tabarin, a 1943-46 British expedition to the Antarctic Peninsula. Thanks to the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation for digitising 🏳️‍⚧️🐧

It can be hard to talk about trans history without these kinds of images. Do you use a pre-transition photograph, or no image at all? I hope this photograph will allow us to discuss Mackenzie while seeing her as she wanted to be seen.

Intro: I’m Branwell, a poet working towards a creative PhD at the University of Tasmania. My work involves writing a poetry collection about Antarctic history, as well as research into the uses of poetry on expeditions of Antarctica’s “Heroic Age” (1897-1922).

I enjoy giving poetry readings and talks to the public and other academics. I have recently spoken on Tennyson and Browning in Antarctica, the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, and what Antarctic explorer Herbert Dyce Murphy can tell us about the handling of queer lives in popular histories.

Intro: I’m Branwell, a poet working towards a creative PhD at the University of Tasmania. My work involves writing a poetry collection about Antarctic history, as well as research into the uses of poetry on expeditions of Antarctica’s “Heroic Age” (1897-1922).