Jump to content

Norena Shopland

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Gem nain (talk | contribs) at 09:59, 12 April 2022 (Changed external links to ref). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

  • Comment: I think this article has potential, but some of the wording needs improvement to remove some of the puffery and make the article represent a neutral and formal tone. Bsoyka (talk) 21:09, 22 March 2022 (UTC)
  • Comment: Please note we don't use external links in the body of an article, they will need to be removed or converted to references. Theroadislong (talk) 16:11, 8 March 2022 (UTC)
Norena Shopland

Norena Shopland is a Welsh historian and writer who specialises in (LGBTQ+) research and history. She has featured on lists of Welsh LGBTQ+ people of note, and gives talks, lectures and workshops on Welsh heritage and LGBT+ history. She has organised, curated and consulted on exhibitions and events within the heritage sector in Wales.

Shopland is one of the founders of the network forum Hanes LHDT+ Cymru / LGBTQ+ Research Group Wales[1], which unites and supports LGBTQ+ history of Wales enthusiasts and researchers.

She is Diversity office for the Womens History Network.[2]

Biography

Born in Cardiff, Shopland initially trained as an archaeologist, and performed various jobs internationally 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.[3]

Shopland describes her interest in  LGBTQ+  history as ‘inevitable[3]’, and went on to work for the Lesbian and Gay Newsmedia Archive ( LAGNA) as well as on the Reassessing What We Collect project for the Museum of London, and an oral history on women with HIV/AIDS at Positively Women[4] in association with the British Library.

When Shopland moved back to her native land of Wales, she focused on Welsh LGBTQ+ history.

Shopland has worked with Amgueddfa Cymru/National Museum Wales and many 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 LGBTQ+ 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.

Shopland 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 LGBTQ+ history in relation to Wales. John Davies, the Welsh historian, gave his first speech on gay history during the event. Shopland asked the National Poet of Wales, Gillian Clarke, if she would write what became the first poem that a National Poet or Poet Laureate of any country in the world had written celebrating the LGBTQ+ people of their country. Clarke took her inspiration from the Ladies of Llangollen, to write Sarah at Plas Newydd, July 5th 1788, which appears in her collection 'Ice.'[5]

The project created a timeline of notable Welsh LGBTQ+ history dates, people, allies and events that Shopland resurrected and published as an e-magazine[6] with funding from Rhondda Cynon Taff (RCT) Pride[7] in 2020.

In 2018 with co-author Dr. Daryl Leeworthy, Shopland produced a research guide for Glamorgan archives entitled Queering Glamorgan.[8] This is available as free download and provides a guide to searching archives for LGBTQ+ historical material.

Shopland published 'A Practical Guide to searching LGBTQIA records' with Routledge in 2020. This led to an invitation to collaborate with CILIP at their 2021 Festival of Pride and Knowledge[9] event.

Using the methodologies outlined in 'Queering Glamorgan' and 'A Practical Guide...' , Shopland demonstrated how they could be applied to other diverse areas, outlined in her article for the History Matters Journal[10].This was demonstrated in work with Race Council Cymru[11] on their Windrush Cymru project, that coincided with the 50th anniversary of the arrival of HMS Windrush to the UK. The exhibition launched at St. Fagans, and toured other venues in Wales.[12]

In 2021 Shopland was commissioned by the Welsh Government to deliver LGBTQ+ language and history training for all local museum, libraries, and archives in Wales.[13]

Shopland also writes on Welsh women's history. Her most recent 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 underground and overground in the coal industry.[14]

Recognition

Shopland featured on the Wales Pinc List (an annual list compiled by Walesonline of the most influential LGBT persons in Wales) in 2019, 2020, & 2021[15]

She was highlighted by Walesonline as one of Wales’ most influential gay women during Lesbian Visibility Week in 2021[16]

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.[17] Shopland has contributed articles on Heritage topics for Wales Arts Review, such as Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales Queer Tour which invited visitors to join a tour to view the permanent collection through a Queer lens.[18]

Shopland is included in the Womens Equality Network (WEN) Wales 100+ Welsh Women list which credits brilliant Welsh Women both past and present.[19]

A regular contributor to LGBTQ+ 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!'[20] Shopland also wrote a guest blog[21] 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[22] Shopland was interviewed for Celtic Life International Magazine in August 2021 for an article entitled 'The Celtic Rainbow' [23]which discussed LGBTQ+ history across the Celtic nations.

Following publication of 'A History of Women in Mens Clothes', Shopland wrote a guest blog for the Parliamentary archives.[24]

On March 12th 2022 a new exhibition entitled 'Trawsnewid' (Transformation) opened at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea, honouring Welsh LGBTQ+ people and their culture. A new portrait of Shopland was displayed as part of an exhibit of 12 portraits by the artist Aled Wyn Williams. Each portrait showing someone who has an 'active and positive' influence within Wales' LGBT+ community[25].

Published works

Title Date Published Publisher Notes/Reviews
Forbidden Lives: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Stories from Wales[26] 2017 Seren A historical examination of LGBTQ+ stories from Wales. The book was featured[27] in WalesOnline. Shopland was also interviewed[28] about the book.
The Curious Case of the Eisteddfod Baton[29] 2019 Wordcatcher Publishing A celebration of choral singing and Welsh goldmining.
The Veronal Mystery: Suppressed Evidence, Missing Witnesses - Was it Murder?[30] 2020 Wordcatcher Publishing The death of Eric Trevanion from an overdose of Veronal - or was his 'close companion' Albert Roe implicated?

Reviewed by Tatler[31]; The Times[32] and Wales Online[33]

A Practical Guide to Searching LGBTQIA Historical Record[34] 2020 Routledge
A History of Women in Men's Clothes: from cross-dressing to empowerment[35] 2021 Pen & Sword Examining convention-defying women that dressed as men. Shopland wrote a guest blog[36] on the subject for the Women's History Network.
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.Shopland wrote a guest blog[37] for the Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Cymru.

TV and Radio appearances

These are some of Shopland's media apperances that are still available on line:

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 LIbrary of Wales - 'A Queer Bawdy Ballad'

References

  1. ^ "lgbtqhanescymru". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  2. ^ "Steering Committee Biographies". Women's History Network. 2015-01-02. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  3. ^ a b "Scholar". Women Also Know History. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  4. ^ "Women Know Best Report | Positively UK". positivelyuk.org. 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  5. ^ Clarke, Gillian (2012-10-25). Ice. Carcanet Press Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84777-199-5.
  6. ^ "WELSH PRIDE - A Timeline of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender (LGBTQ+) History In Wales". Rhondda Pride. 2021-02-24. Retrieved 2022-04-12.
  7. ^ "RCT Pride | South Wales". Rhondda Pride. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  8. ^ "Research guides". Glamorgan Archives. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  9. ^ "CILIP LGBTQ+ Network".
  10. ^ "Journal". History Matters. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  11. ^ "Race Council Cymru (RCC)". Race Council Cymru. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  12. ^ "Windrush Heritage Project: Our Voices, Our Stories, Our History". Race Council Cymru. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  13. ^ "Museum, Archive, and Library staff in Wales offered LGBTQ+ training". GOV.WALES. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  14. ^ "Tip Girls Exhibition". National Museum Wales. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  15. ^ Mosalski, Ruth; Ali, Joseph (2021-08-22). "Pinc List 2021: Wales' most influential LGBT+ people". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  16. ^ Ali, Joseph (2021-04-29). "Lesbian Visibility Week: Influential gay women from Wales". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  17. ^ Review, Wales Arts (2020-03-08). "#IWD2020 | 100 Women Of Wales On Twitter". Wales Arts Review. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  18. ^ "Queer lives celebrated: LGBTQ+ Tours at National Museum Cardiff". National Museum Wales. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  19. ^ "Norena Shopland". www.100welshwomen.wales. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  20. ^ "As a member of a minority - does your history matter?". senedd.wales. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  21. ^ "A Story on a Plate: The Ladies of Llangollen". National Museum Wales. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  22. ^ "Belated Vindication for John Boswell". The Gay & Lesbian Review. 2018-05-04. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
  23. ^ "The Celtic Rainbow – Celtic Life International". Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  24. ^ "Let them disguise themselves | Parliamentary Archives: Inside the Act Room". archives.blog.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  25. ^ Ali, by Joseph (2022-03-24). "The new exhibition honouring LGBT+ culture past and present in Wales". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  26. ^ "Forbidden Lives | Seren Books". www.serenbooks.com. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  27. ^ Walford, Jessica (2018-01-14). "These are the LGBT heroes who 'helped shape Welsh history'". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  28. ^ "Norena Shopland Talks Forbidden Lives". Fyne Times. 2018-02-02. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  29. ^ "The Curious Case of the Eisteddfod Baton released... by Norena Shopland". Wordcatcher Publishing. 2020-01-12. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  30. ^ "A Shocking Crime Examined in The Veronal Mystery by Norena Shopland". Wordcatcher Publishing. 2020-01-29. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  31. ^ Nast, Condé (2020-03-17). "Historian sheds new light on the 'murder' of the Queen Mother's cousin". Tatler. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
  32. ^ Bridge, Mark. "How the 'murder' of a cousin of the Queen Mother went unsolved". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
  33. ^ Powell, Amanda (2020-03-29). "Did a Swansea sailor get away with murdering the Queen Mother's cousin". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
  34. ^ "A Practical Guide to Searching LGBTQIA Historical Records". Routledge & CRC Press. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  35. ^ Shopland, Norena (2021-06-18). A History of Women in Men's Clothes. ISBN 978-1-5267-8767-5.
  36. ^ Jenkins, Lyndsey (2021-09-13). "A History of Women in Men's Clothes by Norena Shopland". Women's History Network. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  37. ^ "Gifts of the Welsh Gold King". National Museum Wales. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norena_Shopland&oldid=1082287183"