Event: Exploring Non-Normative Desires in Art and Literature--- June 29th

Exploring Non-Normative Desires in Art and Literature

Hosted by the Centre for Gender Studies at International Christian University

The Centre for Gender Studies at International Christian University invites you to a special event exploring how literature and film represent non-normative desires. Through a mix of creative and critical sessions, the program looks at how artists and writers challenge dominant ideas of love, sexuality, and identity—opening space for queer perspectives, feminist narratives, and experimental forms of storytelling.

The day includes literary presentations, film screenings, a creative writing workshop, and group discussions. It is open to students, faculty, and anyone interested in literature, gender studies, media, or cultural theory.

Program Highlights

Presentation of La Seducción

A presentation of Sara Torres’s latest novel, La Seducción (The Seduction, 2024), which explores queer desire, intimacy, and the complexity of emotional relationships across generations.

Screenings: Works by Théophylle Dcx

A selection of short films and visual works by French artist Théophylle Dcx, whose practice engages themes of queerness, HIV, and underground culture.

Creative Love Letter-Writing Workshop

A hands-on session that explores the love letter as a form of queer expression and resistance.

Roundtable Discussions

Open discussions on literature, art, and the politics of representing desire and identity outside the norm.

Guest Presenters

Sara Torres (she/her) – Spain

Poet, Novelist, and Researcher

Sara Torres holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from Queen Mary University of London. Her work explores queer embodiment, intimacy, and feminist approaches to literature.

Selected Works

• La seducción (The Seduction, 2024) – A novel about intimacy, power, and creative life across generations.
• Deseo de perro (Dog’s Desire, 2023) – Dedicated to her dog Pan, this illustrated book is a poetic meditation on interspecies intimacy.
• Lo que hay (X Is Where I Am, 2022) – A novel on queer grief and love, winner of the Booksellers’ Prize for Best New Author. English translation forthcoming in 2026. Available now for preorder.
• El ritual del baño (The Bath Ritual, 2021) – Short pieces on suspended desire and queer temporality.
• Phantasmagoria (2019) – A hybrid of prose and poetry exploring memory, pain, and ghosts.
• Conjuros y cantos (Spells and Songs, 2016) – A poetic work on vulnerability, ritual, and eroticism.
• La otra genealogía (The Other Genealogy, 2014) – Her debut poetry collection, awarded the Gloria Fuertes National Poetry Prize.

Torres collaborates regularly with universities, cultural centers, and arts institutions across Europe.

Théophylle Dcx (he/him) – France

Poet, Novelist, and Visual Artist

Théophylle Dcx is a French artist working across poetry, performance, and video. His work addresses queer identity, HIV visibility, and nightlife as both personal and political space. Drawing on his own experience as a queer and HIV-positive person, he creates art that blends personal narrative with cultural commentary.

His novel Rose2Rage (Éditions Burn-Août, 2023) is a poetic tribute to friendship, queer resistance, and erotic joy.

Dcx’s work has been shown at venues including the Centre d’Art Contemporain La Ferme du Buisson, 100% La Villette, and the Palais de Tokyo. He has held residencies at the Palais de Tokyo and the Centre Maurice Chalumeau en Sciences des Sexualités in Geneva.

From June 13 to 22, an exhibition of his work will be on view at Datsuijo – (a) place to be naked, in Nerima, Tokyo.

Cleo Verstrepen

Translator, researcher, and curator

Cleo Verstrepen is a MEXT-funded PhD student at Tokyo University of the Arts and the University of Vincennes Saint-Denis (Paris VIII). Their interdisciplinary research, situated at the crossroads of art theory, urban studies, and social sciences, focuses on community-led art organizations engaged in rural and urban revitalization in Japan.

Cleo is a member of Datsuijo, a collectively run art space in Tokyo. Their curatorial projects include Feels Good to Know You Exist and One’s Room, both centered on queer intimacy and affective space. 

As facilitator and translator for this event, Cleo will support cross-linguistic exchange and help guide collaborative discussion throughout the program.

Supporters

This event is made possible with support from the Japan ICU Foundation (JICUF) and the Center for Research Planning and Support (CRPS).