Every summer, CTSG awards its annual LGBTQ+ dissertation prize. This prize celebrates the research and scholarship of University of Brighton undergraduate students and is awarded based on originality, commitment to improving LGBTQ+ lives, and potential to make a positive impact. This is the prize’s 12^th year of running.

For summer 2024, the panel have awarded the prize to BA(Hons) Creative Writing student Sandy Swain for her dissertation ‘Take Me or Leave Me: using fringe theatre to represent and critique the oppression of female bisexuality’. Sandy’s work was nominated by her dissertation supervisor Dr Bea Hitchman, who noted not just its academic achievement but also its commitment to working with and satirising stereotypes of the ‘bad bisexual’ – greedy, fickle and promiscuous.

Sandy’s dissertation combines detailed critical engagement with scholarship on bisexual representation, with an original script for a play – ‘Barsexual’ – based on this work. In awarding the prize, the panel explained that ‘Even for those of us without a creative writing background Sandy’s work was a joy to read: contemporary, hilarious and beautifully curated. It showcases art with an activist bent’.

In response to the announcement of her win, Sandy said ‘I’m so grateful to accept this dissertation prize. I’d like to thank my supervisor Bea Hitchman, and my friends and family, for supporting me through the process. I worked extremely hard on this dissertation and I’m glad that the CTSG liked my play and its depiction of bisexual issues!’.

In addition to a certificate for her achievement awarded at her graduation, Sandy wins a £150 voucher as part of her award.

CTSG would like to thank all of the other submissions for the prize this year, and is pleased to see that the University of Brighton remains a hub for socially-engaged and boundary-pushing student research on LGBTQ+ lives.

Sandy Swain