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Different voices

  • Series
Photograph of a multi-frame photo frame containing six photographs, one in colour and the others in black and white. The frame is hung on a light blue wall above a grey tabletop.
Francesca Martinez's photo frame, Benjamin Gilbert. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Francesca Martinez invited five female writers to share the powerful stories behind their activism. Their insightful, poetic and moving essays explore the events and ideas that not only changed their lives but led them to finding their voices and raising them on behalf of others. Discover through these deeply personal accounts how looking at society from a different perspective could change the world for the better.

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Rejecting shame and a decade of change

Jess Thom spent years trying to ignore and suppress the tics of Tourette’s syndrome. Read what happened when she decided to celebrate them instead.

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Leaving Mexico and finding refuge in hope

In Mexico, violence of all kinds – organised, street, domestic – is accepted as normal. From the UK, Laura Morales speaks out and fights to help those suffering back home.

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A story of death, trauma and austerity

Marienna Pope-Weidemann, whose teenage cousin Gaia died after going missing, advocates a rethink of our systems, which currently fail many in mental distress.

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Fleeing fear, defying prejudice

As teenage refugee Sedra Al-Yousef grappled with rebuilding her life and education in another country, at the same time she used compassion and humanity to demolish populist anti-refugee myths.

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Words of hope and anger

Author and spoken word poet Penny Pepper remembers her childhood dreams, and speaks out against the barriers society uses to prevent disabled people from fulfilling their potential.

About the editor

Black and white, head and shoulders portrait of Francesca Martinez.

Francesca Martinez

Francesca Martinez is a wobbly performer, writer and campaigner whose work is known for challenging preconceptions, questioning norms and passionately celebrating human diversity. Her first play, "All Of Us" explores the impacts of austerity and opens at the National Theatre's Dorfman space next year.