Men who want to be women (but never can)

Abigail Ottley and Emma Thomas in conversation with Alison Jenner

“Living with Transitioners”

Abigail Ottley is a ‘trans widow’, a former teacher of English, and, more recently, a prize-winning poet. An older woman writer from a strongly working-class background, she has been widely published in journals and anthologies and, recently, has enjoyed some success in national and international competitions. Abigail’s collection, ‘Out of Eden’ (Yaffle Press May, 2025) celebrates the strength and resilience of working class women in general and offers, in particular, an insight into the lives of the women of the author’s family across five generations. Born into a tribe of Londoners on the edge of East London, Abigail grew up in Essex and now lives in Penzance.

Emma Thomas founded the organisation Children of Transitioners in 2019, building on her experience of growing up in the 1980s with a father who identified as a transsexual. CoTs campaigns for the safety and dignity of all children of transgender people. She is a member of Genspect’s Killarney Group and contributed to Genspect’s ‘Gender Framework’.
Emma was one of the subjects of Vaishnavi Sundar’s groundbreaking film, ‘Behind the Looking Glass.’
She lives in rural Somerset.