KOLE FULMINE
they/heI’m a writer, researcher and editor. I have recently become a Churchill Fellow and will be continuing my research into transgender athletes internationally. Prior to this I completed my PhD at Queen Mary University of London in Creative Writing under the supervision of Isabel Waidner. My research is concerned with fairness and inclusion with regards to the transgender community in sport. Previously I studied Critical Writing (MA) at the Royal College of Art and Graphic Design (BA) at University of the Creative Arts.
I am an editor and one of the co-founders of The BitterSweet Review, a queer literary platform that celebrates queer and trans voices. We are currently working on the third issue of the magazine.
My writing has been published by Jessica Kingsley publishers, Refinery 29, The Roundtable Journal, Tissue Papers, Fruit Journal, The BitterSweet Review, Soft Opening Gallery, Subtexts and Fen Women. I am a regular reader at trans and queer poetry events.
I have taught Creative Writing at QMUL and am a visiting lecturer at the RCA in the writing department.
My work as a fitness professional hugely informs how I navigate my way through the topic of trans athletes. I strive to build community daily through movement and have established several queer and trans classes including; Queer Running Club and Pecs Education. These clubs have received vital external funding due to their social value, encouraging more trans people into exercise.
The subject matter of my research is urgent. Trans people are discussed daily, problematised and stigmatised for our existence. We are an issue that no one has the solution for. And yet, solutions are constantly evolving without our consultation. Rather than include trans people in sports, policy makers would rather go to extreme lengths to defend the binary by forcing fairness and justice to the forefront of their agendas. Sport, however, has never been fair, biological, socioeconomic, race differences exist everywhere. Sport was designed by cishet men in order to support cishet men.
As a creative non-fiction writer, I have spent several years exploring what sport feels like for the queer and trans community. The product of this research takes the form of a book proposal with the working title Looking for Neutral.
Please contact me directly for more information on my research and if you would like me to attend a panel discussion on trans athletic inclusion.