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VIC CHAMPION

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Ferris Knight (they/them)

LIVED EXPERIENCE
Disability & Mental Health

KEY INFORMATION

Place of Birth: Essendon, VIC, Australia
Current location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Age: 31 years old
Language/s: English only
LGBTQIA+: Yes
NDIS Participant: Yes
Diagnoses: Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Rapid Cycling Bipolar 1, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Osteopenia, Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), Nutcracker Oesophagus,  Presbyesophagus, Endometriosis,
Chemical menopause, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS)
Healthcare Access: Primary Health Care, Mental Health, Allied Health, Secondary and Tertiary care

BIO

Ferris Knight is a queer and disabled writer, producer and advocate from Melbourne, Australia. Ferris has extensive experience of access to healthcare for physical and mental health conditions, giving them great insights into how person-centred models of care can best be co-designed with service users. Ferris is passionate about improving accessibility, after experiencing challenges with access as a walking frame and wheelchair user - especially in transport, public places and hospitality venues. They are eager to create public health and awareness campaigns combining their lived experience and creative talents. 

Ferris mainly writes about their lived experiences with mental and physical health conditions, as well as queer politics, poetry and fiction. They have also worked with organisations such as Arts Access Victoria, The Dax Centre and Women with Disabilities Victoria. In 2019 they produced their first Melbourne Fringe Festival show LEtGO of Stigma, walking 80 metres across Lego to talk about living with hidden pain and the resilience of those with mental illnesses. In 2020 they were a part of the anthology Closet Cases: Queers on What We Wear from Et Alia Press, writing about sexual harassment. They participated in the first Nexus professional development course from Arts Access Victoria in 2018, and in 2019 they returned to help out. Ferris was one of the Artist in Residences at The Other Film Festival in 2018. In 2019 they were part of the Being Enough fellowship, also from Arts Access Victoria. Ferris completed the Diploma of Professional Writing and Editing in 2021, and is currently studying the Bachelor of Media and Communications.

ACHIEVEMENTS

  • Highly Commended for WWDA Lead Art Prize 2021

  • Participated in the first Nexus professional development course from Arts Access VIC (2018)

  • Artist in Residences at The Other Film Festival (2018)

  • Being Enough fellowship with Arts Access Victoria (2019)

  • Produced first Melbourne Fringe Show ‘LEtGO of Stigma’ (2019)

  • Helped facilitate the Nexus program (2019)

  • Published piece titled ‘Boxes’ in Quartz

  • ‘Four’ with Schizy Inc. (2019)

  • ‘Chain Reaction’ with Arts Access Victoria (2019)

  • Published pieces in Ramona Magazine (2018)

    • ‘More Than Just Happy’

    • ‘Feminism and Self-Love Don’t Always Go Hand in Hand’

    • ‘To Those I’ve Loved’

    • ‘Self Care and the Plebiscite’

    • ‘Boundaries’

  • Published in anthology ‘Closet Cases: Queers on What We Wear’ from Et Alia Press (2020)

  • Published piece in ‘The Village News’ a fiction anthology (2021)

  • Editor for Backstory Magazine (2021)

  • Photo series as part of Arts Access Victoria’s ‘The Museum of Us’. The series explores the systematic issues within our society, and how important having a voice is. Ferris wrote an accompanying piece titled ‘No one ever told me I was disabled’ (2021)

LINKS

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