Pass the remote: February

Upcoming events and recommendations from the remote body and others

February is the month to start preparing your seed beds for Spring in the U.K. It’s still winter but Spring is on it’s way. I love a misty and frosty February. It’s also a busy month for online activities and there is tons happening, which is exciting.

From the Remote Body:

Pre-orders for the remote body anthology “Out of sorts” are now open! Get your copy here.

Friday 20th February 19.30 GMT, Neuroqueer Lyric Workshop with heidi andrea and restrepo rhodes - £5 - £20

Despite mainstream neurotypical ideas about what constitutes poetry, neuroqueer poetics often reworks what is otherwise pathologized as symptom, revalues its lyrical potential, and queers its form. For example, through synesthesia, non-normative syntax, attention deficit redefined as attention abundance, animistic relating— how can we turn toward these neurodivergent modes of sensing and relating to space and time as openings for cultivating our poetic writing and artistic expression in ways more vibrant, strange, surprising, and transformative?

Elsewhere:

1st - 28th February - RestFest Film Festival

The wonderful RestFest is hosting a festival with events covering the whole of February. I highly recommend checking out the whole schedule.

Don’t miss the crip film club with the remote body on the 12th of February at 11.00 PST.

6th, 13th and 20th February - Disability solidarity workshops with Maymana Arefin

Workshops open to all LGBTQIA+ people aged 18-28. These are online disability solidarity workshops that are ‘come as you are’ spaces for chronically ill and disabled participants to rest, share and make art together.

Sunday 1st February 18.00 - 20.00 Witches & 90s Pop Culture - £17 - £26

This workshop traces the witch’s journey from feared outsider to pop-culture icon, showing how “the weirdos” stepped proudly into the mainstream. It’s a bit pricey but I couldn’t resist recommending a workshop all about 90s witches.

Saturday 7th February 12.15 - 18.30 Knitting History Forum 2026 Conference - £27

Join the Knitting History Forum annual online conference for an interesting range of presentations on knitting techniques and traditions.

Tuesday 10th February 18.00 - 20.00 GMT A guide to ethical interviewing

This workshop by Shado Magazine is being run by one of their Senior Editors and in it she unpacks how the current media landscape operates and shares practical ways to conduct interviews.

Thursday 12th February 13.30 - 15.00 Graphic novels: storytelling, process & business with Hari Conner £3.50 - £5

Award-winning author and illustrator Hari Conner shares their work and answers questions about comic-making and working with publishers.

Friday 13th February 19.30 or Saturday 14th February 19.00 Virtual show of Ballet Theatre of Maryland’s “Momentum: A Mixed Bill”

This sampler of classical and contemporary movement features world-premiering works by guest choreographers and BTM company members.

Saturday 14th February 20.00 - 21.30 GMT Writing Ghosts: A writing workshop with Dr. Icy Sedgwick £0 - £6.13

This workshop is another run by Romancing the Gothic and explores ghosts and their associated folklore. This is a writing workshop and it promises to generate new ideas for ghost stories. I signed up to this as soon as I found it.

Sunday 15th February 20.00 - 21.30 GMT Story of Chlamydia Through the Ages 20.00 - 21.30 GMT £3.35

I’m a huge fan of the history of medicine so could not resist including this talk. It’s part of a series called “Plagues of Passion.” Chlamydia trachomatis has shaped far more than modern sexual health statistics—it has left its mark on human history, medicine, and even cultural perceptions of disease. In this third part of the series, Viktor Wynd traces chlamydia’s journey from obscure ancient ailment to one of the most reported infections worldwide.

Monday 16th February 20.00 - 21.30 GMT - Poetry in Pyjamas: an evening of poems with Laurie Bolger & Troy Cabida £16.96

I went to one of these a few months ago and it’s great fun to sit in pyjamas listening to great poetry be read to you.

Tuesday 17th February 14.00 - 15.00 - Mapping the beetle tree of life Free

Dr Beulah Garner (from the Natural History Museum) discusses new efforts to comprehensively map the phylogeny of 400,000 beetle species worldwide.

Friday 27th February 12.00 GMT - ‘All the Lonely People’: The work of American Realist Edward Hopper £10.46

Hopper was a painter of loneliness and melancholy; from solitary figures in offices, motel rooms and diners, to deserted towns. He portrayed a changing America and the isolation of the individual in the modern city. Join art historian Stella Grace Lyons in a talk about some of his most famous works.

Friday 27th February 15.00 GMT - Hidden Love: LGBTQ+ relationships in the archives £0-£15

A talk by the National Archives exploring what their collection shows about the policing and regulation of sexuality and gender identity but also moments of defiance, everyday acceptance and queer joy, including the innovative and creative ways members of the same sex met and communicated with each other to forge relationships.

Char recommends:

• Ache magazine issue 4

Jenny recommends:

I’ve been having a huge 90’s nostalgia binge over the last month, so all my recommendations are from the past:

• The TV show Star Trek Voyager - fave quotes “get the cheese to sickbay” and

  “there’s coffee in that nebula.” I’m completely obsessed. Everyone please watch this and then come talk to me about it.

• The book series His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. This one straddles the past and present as the original trilogy was published in the 90s but there is also a new trilogy called The Book of Dust. Highly recommend the audiobook version of The Book of Dust as it’s read by Michael Sheen.