More on Polari

Yesterday (22nd July 2017), I gave a 20 minute presentation on Polari - a favourite topic - at the A Step Forward? event held by the National Archives to mark the 50th anniversary of the Sexual Offences Act 1967.
(http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk)
 

Me in full flow

Speakers included:

• Sammy Sturgess on the lives of gay men in the 1950s-60s;
• Dr Caroline Derry on the invisible women of Wolfenden - gay women are barely mentioned in the Wolfenden Report but there's lots of evidence that they were consulted by the Committee in the National Archives;
• Mark Dunstan on the impact of the Act;
• Me (Chris Park) on Polari as a form of social camouflage;
• Dan Glass on Queer Tours of London and modern activism; and last but definitely not least
• Jeffrey Weeks on the legacy of the 1967 Act.

The feedback from the attendees was gratifying positive. :o)

Here are the slides and my speaking notes for my part:

• https://1drv.ms/p/s!AmNn5dfpgGQng4gABbsvKeBpEmZceg - Slides
• https://1drv.ms/w/s!AmNn5dfpgGQng4d_GwewTqGwjzOP6g - Notes

We also got our friends at the National Archives to print out a few copies of my 'pocket dictionary of Polari', so here's that file too:

• https://1drv.ms/w/s!AmNn5dfpgGQng4gBkHueMO3lo64EMw

Feel free to share, if you know someone who would be interested.