Yaretsi’s at that awkward age: their testicles have descended, but their periods still haven’t started, and sex ed class isn’t helping them feel any less worried. Yaretsi begins to suspect they might be a man. But that’s impossible – no one is a man, or a woman; gender is a spectrum, and anyone who claims otherwise threatens the stability of this genderless utopia.
Half of Nothing is speculative fiction about a post-gender society. It was read at the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival, having previously been awarded their Amy Dalton bursary and published in their anthology, 18 & Coming of Age.
Audience feedback was helpful and generous. Reviewers said:
“Skolimowski is a political writer, gender politics, social norms, insisted identity, all end up on their heads. Yet her characters face the dilemma of a (new) society that still imposes gender identity and norms. This lense of opposites is used in lgbt+ writing and her treatment is fresh and revealing.”
The wonderful cast included Rachel Walshe, Roy O’Connor, Kate Conboy-Fisher and me.
The story is currently being developed as a novel.