Norena Shopland
Norena Shopland | |
|---|---|
 Welsh LGBT+ historian and researcher |
Norena Shopland is a Welsh historian and writer who specialises in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans+ (LGBT+) research and history. She repeatedly features on lists of Welsh LGBT+ people of note. She gives talks and lectures on Welsh heritage and LGBT+ history. She has organised, curated and consulted on exhibitions and events within the heritage sector in Wales.
She is one of the founders of the network forum Hanes LHDT+ Cymru / LGBTQ+ Research Group Wales, which unites and supports LGBT+ history of Wales enthusiasts and researchers.
She is Diversity office for the Womens History Network[1]
Biography
Born in Cardiff, Shopland initially trained as an archaeologist, and did various digs and stints for organisations including The British Museum. She was awarded a grant by English Heritage to pursue an MA in Artefacts at University College London (UCL) and subsequently wrote two books Archaeological Finds: An Identification Guide and An Archaeological Finds Manual.[2]
She describes her interest in LGBT+ history as ‘inevitable[2]’, and went on to work for the Lesbian and Gay Newsmedia Archive ( LAGNA). She worked on the Reassessing What We Collect project for the Museum of London, and an oral history on women with HIV/AIDS at Positively Women in association with the British Library.
When she moved back to her native Wales, Shopland focused on Welsh LGBT+ history.
Shopland has worked with Amgueddfa Cymru/National Museum Wales and other museums and archives raising awareness on the inclusion of equality and diversity in their collections. She also worked with Cardiff Story Museum on the Celebrating LGBT Cardiff exhibition.
She frequently travels to give talks including a presentation at the House of Commons to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Sexual Offences Act (1967) and to make TV and Radio appearances.
She currently resides in the South Wales area with her wife.
Contribution to Welsh LGBT+ history and heritage
Shopland's first involvement in this sector was for Welsh Pride, a 2012 initiative funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund (NLHF) the first of its kind to focus exclusively on Welsh LGBT+ history. John Davies, the celebrated Welsh historian, gave his first speech on gay history. Shopland asked the National Poet of Wales, Gillian Clarke, if she would write a poem. This became the first poem that a National Poet of any country in the world had written celebrating the LGBT+ people of their country. Taking her inspiration from the Ladies of Llangollen, Clarke wrote Sarah at Plas Newydd, July 5th 1788, which appears in the poets collection 'Ice[3]'.
Another item created by the project included a timeline of notable Welsh LGBT+ history dates that Shopland later resurrected and published as an e-magazine with funding from Rhondda Cynon Taff (RCT) pride in 2020.
In 2018 with co-author Daryl Leeworthy, Shopland produced a research guide for Glamorgan archives entitled Queering Glamorgan . This free download provides a guide to searching archives for LGBT+ historical material.
Shopland published 'A Practical Guide to searching LGBTQIA records' with Routledge in 2020. This led to numerous engagements, including a speaking engagement with CILIP at their 2021 Festival of Pride and Knowledge event.
She consulted with Race Council Cymru on their Windrush Cymru project, that was scheduled to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the arrival of HMS Windrush to the UK. The exhibition launched at St. Fagans, and will tour other venues in Wales until March 2022
Using the methodologies outlined in 'Queering Glamorgan' and 'A Practical Guide...' , Shopland demonstrated how they could be applied to other areas of diversity, as discussed in her article for the History Matters Journal
Norena Shopland was commissioned by the Welsh Government to deliver LGBTQ+ language and history training for all local museum, libraries, and archives in Wales, believed to be the only government in the world to have done this. [4]
Shopland also writes on Welsh women's history. Her work led to the opening of the exhibition Tip Girls in September 2021 at the National Coal Museum (Big Pit), highlighting the experience of Women both over-ground and under-ground in the coal industry.
Published works
| Title | Date Published | Publisher | Notes/Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forbidden Lives: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Stories from Wales | 2017 | Seren | A historical examination of LGBT+ stories from Wales. Read an interview with Shopland about the book here, and a feature from WalesOnline here |
| The Curious Case of the Eisteddfod Baton | 2019 | Wordcatcher Publishing | A celebration of choral singing and Welsh goldmining. |
| The Veronal Mystery: Suppressed Evidence, Missing Witnesses - Was it Murder? | 2020 | Wordcatcher Publishing | The death of Eric Trevanion from an overdose of Veronal - or was his 'close companion' Albert Roe implicated?
Read these reviews from Tatler[5]; The Times[6] and Wales Online[7] |
| A Practical Guide to Searching LGBTQIA Historical Record | 2020 | Routledge | |
| A History of Women in Men's Clothes: from cross-dressing to empowerment[8] | 2021 | Pen & Sword | Examining convention-defying women that dressed as men. Read a guest blog for the Women's history network by Shopland here |
| The Welsh Gold King: a biography of William Pritchard Morgan MP | Due 2022 | Pen & Sword | The life of the man behind the last gold rush in the UK. Read a guest blog for the Amgueddfa Genedlaethol by Shopland here |
TV and Radio appearances
BBC Radio Wales – The Story of LGBT Wales (2017)
Radio Cardiff - Forbidden Lives (2017)
BBC Radio Wales - Sunday Supplement (2018)
The Welsh Agenda - ‘Forbidden Lives’ (2018)
BBC One - Dark Land: 'The Hunt for Wales' Worst Serial Killer' (2022)
Guest Blogs
August 2017 Amgueddfa Cymru/National Museum Wales – 'A Story on a Plate: The Ladies of Llangollen'
November 2017 Guest Blog for Wen Women - Why History Matters to You'
February 2018 Welsh Assembly ‘As a member of a minority – does your history matter?’
May-June 2018 The Gay & Lesbian Review - 'Belated Vindication for John Boswell'
November 2019 Amgueddfa Cymru/National Museum Wales – 'Gifts of the Welsh Gold King.'
February 2021 Parliamentary archives - 'Let them disguise themselves'
February 2022 Llyfrgell Genedlaethrol Cymry/ National LIbraru of Wales - 'A Queer Bawdy Ballad'
Recognition
Shopland featured on the Wales Pinc List (an annual list compiled by Walesonline of the most influential LGBT folk in Wales) in 2019, 2020, & 2021[9].
She was highlighted by Walesonline as one of Wales’ most influential gay women during Lesbian Visibility Week in 2021
For International Womens Day 2020, Wales Arts Review writers included Shopland in a list that suggested 100 Welsh women who were sufficiently interesting or inspiring to merit a follow on Twitter.[10] Shopland has contributed articles on Heritage topics for Wales Arts Review, most recently on the efforts of the Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales to invite visitors to join a tour intended to view the permanent collection through an LGBT+ lens.
Shopland is included in the Womens Equality Network (WEN) Wales 100+ Welsh Women list which seeks to credit brilliant Welsh Women both past and present.[11]
A regular contributor to LGBT+ History Month, Shopland wrote a guest blog for Llwydroeth Cymru/Welsh Government in 2018, in which she wrote about her motivation for researching and writing Forbidden Lives, concluding that 'Because history and politics aside, they’re rattling good stories - and after all, everyone loves a good story!'[12] Shopland also wrote a guest blog for the Amgueddfa Cymru on the 'Ladies of Llangollen', who had featured in one of the stories from 'Forbidden Lives'. Another story from the book discusses the academic and historian John Boswell and Gerallt Cymro, whose Topographia Hibernica was cited by Boswell in his controversial last book, Same-Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe (1994). Shopland wrote in defence of Boswell for The Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide[13] Shopland was interviewed for Celtic Life International Magazine in August 2021 for an article entitled 'The Celtic Rainbow' which discussed LGBT+ history across the Celtic nations.
External links
List official websites, organizations named after the subject, and other interesting yet relevant websites. No spam.
- ^ "Steering Committee Biographies". Women's History Network. 2015-01-02. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
- ^ a b "Scholar". Women Also Know History. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
- ^ Clarke, Gillian (2012-10-25). Ice. Carcanet Press Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84777-199-5.
- ^ "Museum, Archive, and Library staff in Wales offered LGBTQ+ training". GOV.WALES. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
- ^ Nast, Condé (2020-03-17). "Historian sheds new light on the 'murder' of the Queen Mother's cousin". Tatler. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
- ^ Bridge, Mark. "How the 'murder' of a cousin of the Queen Mother went unsolved". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
- ^ Powell, Amanda (2020-03-29). "Did a Swansea sailor get away with murdering the Queen Mother's cousin". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
- ^ A History of Women in Men's Clothes. 2021-06-18. ISBN 978-1-5267-8767-5.
- ^ Mosalski, Ruth; Ali, Joseph (2021-08-22). "Pinc List 2021: Wales' most influential LGBT+ people". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
- ^ Review, Wales Arts (2020-03-08). "#IWD2020 | 100 Women Of Wales On Twitter". Wales Arts Review. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
- ^ "Norena Shopland". www.100welshwomen.wales. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
- ^ "As a member of a minority - does your history matter?". senedd.wales. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
- ^ "Belated Vindication for John Boswell". The Gay & Lesbian Review. 2018-05-04. Retrieved 2022-02-03.