Ticketed

Essential Information

Type Talks and tours
Location
Date and Times Wednesday 14 August 2024 | 7pm-9.30pm
Prices Adult: £6

Members: £4. Not a member? Join now

Sold out
Sold out

Please note that this event has now sold out.

Join us for an evening of maritime mythologies and more at the Queen's House in celebration of the launch of Queer as Folklorethe new book from writer, historian and community organiser Sacha Coward.

Traces of many of the creatures, historical figures and magical beings treated in Coward's book can be found in Royal Museums Greenwich’s own collections; namely pirates and mermaids. A notable example is Evelyn De Morgan’s The Sea Maidens, an aestheticist painting by the 19th-century spiritualist painter, which hangs in the Queen's House. Coward will discuss these and queer histories of folklore more broadly with Katherine McAlpine, Director of the Brunel Museum.

Storyteller Aaron Oliver will explore and subvert the narrative tropes familiar from childhood, with an original story of his own composition.

Researcher Ema Sala will also present a talk on "female sailors", a term used through the nineteenth century to refer to people raised as women who went on to sail as men. These real-life sailors became the protagonists of a tradition of ballads, often represented as resourceful, seductive tricksters. Investigating this repertoire of songs as a repertoire of bodies, Sala will employ these depictions to challenge contemporary assumptions on the presence of trans people in historical documents.

This event will be BSL interpreted.

Drinks will be available to purchase throughout the evening through Benugo.

If cost represents a barrier to access, please contact bookings@rmg.co.uk 

Programme:
6.40pm - Doors and Bar Open
7.10pm - "Female Sailors" with Ema Sala
7.30pm - Interval
7.50pm - Storytelling from Aaron Oliver
8.10pm - Interval 
8.25pm - Sacha Coward in Conversation with Katherine McAlpine

Image
Sacha Coward stands with his hands crossed, wearing a brown gilet and blue shirt. He stands in the centre of some rainbow coloured wings painted on the wall

About Sacha Coward

Sacha Coward is a researcher, historian and public speaker. He has worked in museums and heritage for fifteen years running tours focused on LGBTQ+ history for museums, cemeteries, archives and cities all around the world.

Sacha has featured on a variety of television, radio and podcast shows and written articles on topics as varied as Turing's Law, the rainbow flag, Caravaggio's paintings and Viking burials. Queer as Folklore is Sacha's first book. He lives in Stroud.

Image
Ema Sala smiling at the camera with their head resting on their hand, wearing a white tshirt and beige cap

Ema Sala

Ema Sala is part of the Queer History Club at the National Maritime Museum. They research transmasc history, in particular Female sailors, people raised as women who went to sea as men in the 19th century. Their research interests include ballads, clothing, and nosing through ship lists.

What’s On

Man and woman looking at gingerbread on cutty sark
Talks and tours

Shipkeeping in action

This is your chance to meet the team who care for and conserve Cutty Sark
Every Wednesday | 11am-3pm | Drop-in
Free for Cutty Sark ticket holders
Cutty Sark
A member of the conservation team shows a tour group a globe
Talks and tours

Behind the scenes tours at The Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre

Explore the inner workings of Royal Museums Greenwich and see conservation in action on one of our guided tours
Second and fourth Thursday of every month (see page for details) | 1.30pm
Adults: £16 | Members: £12
Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre
Inside Royal Museums Greenwich collections centre - rows of objects including two ships figureheads
Talks and tours

Saturday Super Store Tours

Come behind the scenes and explore the stores at the Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre
First Saturday of every month at 1.30pm
£12
Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre
A man dressed in period sailor costume leads a tour of the National Maritime Museum, with kids and parents following behind
Talks and tours

Character Encounters at the National Maritime Museum

Visit the National Maritime Museum every Saturday to discover a different character from history with their own fascinating story to tell
Every Saturday
Free
National Maritime Museum
Talks and tours | Member events

Members' Tour

Embark on a voyage of discovery around the Museum in the company of one of our volunteer guides
Various dates | 11am - 12pm
Free for Members | Booking essential
In Greenwich
The gold hilt of a sword against a dark fabric background. The outline of a human skull has been digitally superimposed on to the right side of the hilt, creating an unsettling central motif
Talks and tours | BSL tours

BSL Tour: Pirates

Join John Wilson for a British Sign Language (BSL) tour of our Pirates exhibition at the National Maritime Museum
Thursday 15 May and Saturday 1 November 2025 | 2pm-3pm
Adult: £15 | Student: £11.25 | Child: £7.50
National Maritime Museum
The Sailor [Maurice Alan Easton] - Cropped
Talks and tours | Art and culture

The Queen's House Curator Tour: The Art of Naval Portraiture

Join Dr Katherine Gazzard, Curator of Art at Royal Museums Greenwich, for a unique tour of the Queen’s House, exploring the complex and often surprising history of naval portraiture
5 and 19 June 2025 | Tours start at 3.30pm
Adult: £5; Adult (includes a signed copy of the book): £20 | Adult Member: Free; Adult Member (includes a signed copy of the book): £18
Queen's House
The Great Equatorial Telescope dome of the Royal Observatory Greenwich, lit up at night with a full moon in the sky above
Talks and tours | Member events

Members' Lecture: Astrophotography at the Royal Observatory - behind the scenes

Join Dr Greg Brown as he showcases the Observatory’s most recent work in the field of astrophotography
Tuesday 3 June 2025 l 6.30pm-7.30pm
Free | Members only
Royal Observatory
The red planet, Mars
Talks and tours | Member events

Members' Online Lecture: Mars - A Beginner's Guide to Exploring the Red Planet

Get a comprehensive introduction to the Red Planet from astronomer Brendan Owens
Tuesday 10 June 2025 l 6.30pm-7.30pm
Free for Members
Online
Photo of the Andromeda Galaxy - a dark black sky sprinkled with stars
Talks and tours | Observatory lectures

Think Space Lectures

Listen to astrophysicists about cutting-edge research in space science with our free online lectures.
Next Lecture 12 June 2025 | 6pm-7pm
Free
Online
A portion of the Ocean Map at the National Maritime Museum showing major port cities around Asia and Africa
Talks and tours | Ocean Court

Members' Tour: Ocean Map

Join Tim May, Curator of Maps and Mobilities, to learn how the new Ocean Map was developed and about the deeper history of ocean-centric cartography
Monday 16 June 2025 l 11am-12pm
Free for Members
National Maritime Museum
Close-up view of a woodblock-style illustration of pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read. Bonny is in the centre holding a lamp, while Read is off to the right
Talks and tours | Member events

Members' Lecture: Pirate Queens

Join Dr Rebecca Simon to delve deeper into the lives of two of the most infamous female pirates, Anne Bonny and Mary Read, who terrorised the Caribbean in and around Jamaica
Thursday 19 June 2025 l 6.30pm-7.30pm
Free | Members only
National Maritime Museum
Print of the Royal Observatory Greenwich
Talks and tours | Member events

Flamsteed Lecture: 350 years of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich

Join Dr Louise Devoy, Senior Curator, as we celebrate three and a half centuries of perseverance, ingenuity and public duty at Royal Observatory Greenwich
Monday 23 June 2025 | 7.15pm
Flamsteed Members: FREE | Guests of Flamsteed Members: £15 | Royal Museums Greenwich Members: £12
National Maritime Museum
An image showing a market woman holding and selling a pineapple. She is next to a basket full of other fruits.
Talks and tours | Salons in the Queen's House

Salons in the Queen's House: The Seeds of Survival

In this free lunchtime talk historian Akosua Paries-Osei will explore the empire-disrupting botanical knowledge of enslaved women
Wednesday 25 June 2025 | 1pm-1.30pm
Free
Queen's House
Call Me Ishmaelle Cover.jpg
Talks and tours | The ocean

Members' Lecture: Call Me Ishmaelle

Join author Xiaolu Guo as she reimagines the epic battle between man and nature in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick from a female perspective, Call Me Ishmaelle.
Thursday 26 June 2025 l 6.30pm-7.30pm
Free | Members only
Cutty Sark
A branch of the bread fruit tree with fruit
Talks and tours | Salons in the Queen's House

Salons in the Queen's House: Breadfruit and the Creolising of Caribbean Foodways

In this free lunchtime talk historian Jade Lindo will explore the historical and cultural significance of breadfruit in the Caribbean
Wednesday 16 July 2025 | 1pm-1.30pm
Free
Queen's House
Talks and tours | BSL tours

BSL Tour: Cutty Sark

Join guide John Wilson for a British Sign Language (BSL) tour of Cutty Sark and discover what life was like aboard the iconic sailing ship
Thursday 4 September 2025 | 2pm-3pm
Adult: £20 | Student: £14 | Child: £10 | £2 (for those in receipt of Universal Credit and other named benefits)
Cutty Sark
Collections tour
Talks and tours | BSL tours

BSL Tour: The Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre

Join guide John Wilson for a British Sign Language (BSL) tour of our state-of-the-art conservation and storage facility
Thursday 23 October 2025 | 2pm-3pm
Free
Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre