Donna Marcus Duke is an award-winning writer, performer and curator based in London. They  currently hold a Visiting Scholarship in Life Writing at the University of Oxford and work as the Curatorial Research Assistant at Del Vaz Projects in L.A. Their writing & criticism on queer and trans art culture & politics has been featured in the likes of Frieze, Numero Art, I-D, AnOther, Vogue Italia, Dazed & 3AM, whilst their essays have appeared in various independent collections & published by Pilot Press, Sticky Fingers Publishing, Worms, and UCL Press. They have lectured & hosted talks at the University of Oxford, London’s Institute of Contemporary Art, the Royal College of Art, & Goldsmith’s University. They are currently developing their debut novel, ‘Cult Trans’, which explores the role of faith & spirituality in contemporary trans discourse.

As a nightlife organiser, Donna founded the performance collective Haute Mess in 2016 which showcases & promotes work by queer & trans nightlife practitioners. Working with San Diego based DJ Acid Sally, the collective has curated events for art institutions across the U.K., including Manchester Art Gallery & Modern Art Oxford. Haute Mess currently holds a bimonthly residency at renowned queer East London nightclub, Dalston Superstore.

In 2022, Donna also founded TISSUE with fellow writer Sam Moore, a trans* literary initiative which seeks to showcase, publish & facilitate writing by trans people.

At RUPERT, they shall be developing their work on renegade 70s writer Charlotte Bach, who’s bold theories understood transsexuality as the thrust of evolution.