Most people have filthy thoughts. Degrading fantasies. Explicit desires they’d never say out loud, let alone write down. And if they did write them? They’d hide them, delete them, burn them. Because who gave them permission to be that explicit, that raw, that obscene?
Matt Skully does. He wants to see just how filthy you can get. And to help you become an erotica author.
The London-based kink practitioner and writer runs what might be the UK’s most provocative writing workshops where participants aren’t just allowed but actively encouraged to use the dirtiest vocabulary possible.
Operating primarily out of the legendary Bishopsgate Institute‘s extensive fetish archive, Skully has built a space where being filthy isn’t shameful. It’s the entire point.
His approach is simple: sometimes the worse your erotica is, the better it becomes.
Sometimes you need permission to write the things you’ve only thought about.
And sometimes, in an era when conservative movements are trying to legislate sexuality out of existence, the act of putting your dirtiest thoughts on paper becomes a radical act of preservation.
So how does giving “permission to be filthy” actually work? We started with the basics.
Why Books Get You Off Better Than Porn
BERLINABLE: You’ve said that literature gives people the chance to be their own director rather than a passive viewer. Can you explain that?
Matt Skully: “For sure. I think one thing I’ve discovered is, especially running the writing workshop and consuming so much erotic literature, it gives you that time to explore things within yourself. And it’s not reliant on another partner. So it really does open up a world of perspectives and opportunities without leaving the comfort of your own home. And I think as well, the more you consume, the more it helps you form your own feelings towards certain practices or certain types of erotica. You get to be your own director. It’s great for being able to form an opinion on pieces of work as well.
BERLINABLE: So, other than watching porn, reading erotica makes you become more creative?
Matt Skully: Yes, because you train to use your brain. I love dissecting both historical and more modern, contemporary pieces of erotica and getting people to think about how it’s written, why it’s written, who’s the audience. So, when they are looking to write their own pieces, it gives people an understanding of what direction they want to go in and what voice they want to add. You don’t have that with porn videos.”
BERLINABLE: What would you say is the actual difference between watching porn and reading erotica?
Matt Skully: “First of all, you can do it in more public places. I think reading erotica is, in some ways, more stimulating in a different way. I think it gives you the power of imagination. It gives you the power to explore those topics and themes visually. But also, I think consuming a book or reading something online, it gives you license to come back to it as well. Sometimes when you’re watching pornography, you’re there staring at a screen with your brain switched off.
I know that a lot of people read on a device, but I’m a huge fan of physical books. Just the concept of holding a book I find really sexy. And I think a lot of people need that break of stimulus, especially from an erotic standpoint. People need to move away from consuming so much media, especially around sexual media. Obviously it’s getting harder and harder with everything that’s being put in place, so I do feel that there is a renaissance when it comes to consuming and reading about erotica and sexuality. I feel like people are embracing erotica more.”
BERLINABLE: Can people actually masturbate to literature? Does it work like that?
Matt Skully: “For sure, from the conversations I’ve had with a lot of people! And I definitely have done this. If people can use words and harness them well and put pen to paper, that is always going to turn me on. I think it turns a lot of people on as well. In some ways the writer is seducing the reader, and I think if you’re using terminology or vocabulary that is arousing and is going to invoke specific feelings in someone, of course, there’s the option to masturbate to it. I find it really interesting because one of the exercises I do in our writing workshop is: we get people to write down lists of places where they read or have read about either erotica, sex, or sexuality. Whether it’s dirty magazines that you found in your parent’s cupboards or it’s a Cosmopolitan article.
Also, there’s two schools of thought. There’s a lot of people who have grown up on the Internet, and then there’s people who are pre-internet. There’s a lot of specific types of literature that have really formed people’s idea and their stepping stone within understanding their own sexuality. A lot of them, for example, are young adult books. So, things that not necessarily have been written for an erotic audience, but due to the developmental ages of where you are, there is an erotic overtone to it. It’s fun to explore that and laugh at it but also give it the appreciation and the acknowledgment that it deserves. Because, actually, it has started the process of people’s sexual explorations.”
Inside the Writing Workshop: Structure and Practice
BERLINABLE: It’s a compelling case for why reading beats watching. But what actually happens in your writing workshop series?
Matt Skully: “Each writing workshop explores sexual subcultures. In the first three, we look at subcultures as a whole. Understanding why it’s important to write about those things. The second one, we do look at more historical written pieces. There’s a particular text by a Victorian male sex worker which has grains of truth in it, but a lot of it is elaborated and built to sell to an audience.
So, we explore how you can write about something in a fictional way and still have a grain of truth in there. It gives people the opportunity to have a little bit more fun with fiction as opposed to having to write from a factual point of view. The third writing workshop, we look at and explore sex work. We look at pieces written by sex workers, and things written about sex workers.
BERLINABLE: This sounds like a literature course at university, very academical.
Matt Skully: “Oh no! This is just one side. The workshops are very interactive. One of the best exercises that I really enjoy doing is in the third one where participants are encouraged to write out what’s called a ‘slut card’, which is a card that talks about all of the services you would offer and not offer as a sex worker. Then people must swap and then write a review of that experience with this specific sex worker.
And the next series, we do a bit more of a deeper dive within leather culture, rubber culture, and then the idea of transformation. Like pup play, sissification, and understanding the headspace you’re in around that.”
BERLINABLE: You work extensively with the Bishopsgate Institute’s archives. Why?
Matt Skully: “I work a lot with the Bishopsgate Institute. This is a huge archive. They have a big fetish and leather archive and stuff from the 1900s all the way up, through the 70s, 80s. All of which are really great source material to pull from. Just using the bank of knowledge that is within that space, it hopefully encourages people to read more, but also do research.
There’s such a wealth of knowledge in the archives that I can just spend all day in. Being there means that participants get to explore whatever they want. Whether it be a specific kink or sexual practice to queer culture. It’s there. People can go off and do whatever they want with it.”
BERLINABLE: All of this sounds intense. Slut cards, Victorian sex workers, century-old fetish archives. Which raises the obvious question most people are probably thinking.
Can Anyone Write Erotica? Who Attends the Writing Workshop?
Matt Skully: “Yeah. When I was working in the pandemic with a gay fetish company, one of my main jobs was to go out into the community and get people to write pieces. A lot of the time it was just to get new voices, also for our newsfeed. It was used as a function to constantly have content within the page, and it was really interesting. I really enjoyed it because it did give people an opportunity to write. I think, a lot of the time, people just need permission.
When I created the workshops, I wanted them to be accessible to as many people as possible. So, you could be a first-time writer, you could have never written anything before, or you could be an established writer. The idea was to create exercises and to get people to think: about why they should write about either erotica or their sexual experiences, also understanding of your body connection and being able to express emotions on paper. Coming to any writing workshop gives people permission and motivation to write that. Because otherwise, why would you? It can be quite an intimidating, daunting task to try and put pen to paper.
I have struggled with it for years for so many reasons, mainly being that I’m not university educated. I came out of school, went into sex work and have had various roles throughout the years. There was this kind of stigma attached. Eventually, when I was being asked to write articles, there was this weird stigma I’d attached to myself where I thought, ‘Well, what or who gives me the authority to write?’ Actually no one. No one needs to give me the authority. I’m already living in and exploring the world within the kink scene, and I have a lot of stuff to write about. I have an opinion. So I’m gonna do that.
I think the more voices you do add into the mix, the richer the tapestry you get of what this scene is like and how people experience sexuality. In short: Yes, anyone can write erotica. And yes, anyone can attend my writing workshops.”
BERLINABLE: Would you actually encourage people to write erotica even if they’re not skilled or formally educated?
Matt Skully: “Absolutely! Sometimes the fun is not being good. It can be as fun as you want. It can be as secret as you want as well. No one is saying you must write something down and then publish it. But writing erotica gives you the opportunity to maybe share your thoughts and experiences with people. It can be quite an intimate exercise that you have with yourself. It does help you explore your erotic being in a different way.
So, yeah, I would encourage it.
Sometimes the worse it is, the better it is.
Doing a short exercise where you write about a sexual experience and you put in as many grotesque words as possible, and you use vocabulary that is as degrading as you possibly could use, is very cathartic when you read it back.
I get people to write something that isn’t shared with anyone within the class and then take it home. Then I get people to reread it in a week or two’s time and see what power or what effect it has on them a week later. And it’s a great exercise to do because a week’s gone by. You kind of know what you’ve written, but then you explore it again. You think, oh, do those words still have as much of an impact on me as they did a week ago? Now it’s on pen and paper and I’ve had it. Does it still hold the same weight?”
BERLINABLE: Who actually shows up to a writing workshop like this? What’s the mix like?
Matt Skully: “What I find the most interesting is actually the people who come to the workshops. Because when you sit and speak to them afterwards, it’s sometimes weirdly intimidating. I think, oh God! I’ve sat and just spoke to this one guy who’s doing research and a whole piece on exploring British coastal towns which celebrate queer culture and sexuality. Or that psychologist who was doing a deep dive about the psychological impacts within the kink scene.
There were some real heavy hitters, but then you’ve got some people who just thought it would be a fun thing to do erotica on a Sunday. It’s nice to be able to have a mixture of everything.”
So it’s accessible, cathartic, and attracts everyone from academics to Sunday hobbyists. But there’s another dimension to Skully’s work that’s become increasingly urgent:
Why Writing Filthy is Now Political
BERLINABLE: Queer and kink spaces are under attack everywhere. What role does erotic literature play in this cultural battle?
Matt Skully: “It’s the camaraderie. It feels like things are always being taken away from me. That just makes me want to fight harder for them and it makes me want to make sure I’m fighting with other people as a part of a collective movement.
The first writing workshops I did were in a queer venue that opened up in London. I thought, I’ll do the workshops for free. People are free to come along. Come and just check out the space. The people will buy a drink or two at the bar.
It was important for me that people are aware that this venue is in existence. Because London has seen the closure of so many queer spaces in the past 10, 15 years. It’s horrifying. It’s really hard to see all of your spaces diminish. Those kink and fetish spaces are also going and it’s all interlinked.
For me, having physical spaces diminish and then having to maneuver throughout the constant attacks from the MAGA, alt right, conservative, or radical Christian movements. Whenever I see there’s a form of resistance against that conservative backlash, I think: yes, let’s all collectively do that!
I think the role of erotic literature is super important in that because if you’re going to take away our pornography, if you’re going to make it harder for sex workers, if you’re gonna criminalize queer people, if you’re gonna do all of this, at some point you will come for books. But we won’t let this happen.
I think it’s really important that people can find new outlets to be able to explore sexuality that people can’t take away from you. Whether that be more mentally or emotionally in the form of writing or exploration from reading.
For me, erotica gives people a toolkit in an ever changing society where you think everything’s been taken away. What can’t be taken away? Your imagination is one of them. Literature is the basic form of expressing imagination.”
The Power of Pen and Paper
What emerges from Skully’s work is a simple but radical proposition: in a world increasingly hostile to sexual exploration and expression, the act of writing about desire becomes an act of preservation and defiance.
His writing workshop series doesn’t just teach a craft. They build archives and culture, creating community, and ensuring that the voices of sexual subcultures aren’t erased by conservative backlash or algorithmic content moderation.
By connecting contemporary writers with historical texts from the Bishopsgate archives, Skully creates a lineage that spans over a century. Participants of his writing workshop learn they’re not alone in their desires or experiences. They’re part of a tradition of people who’ve been writing about the erotic, the taboo, and the beautifully perverse long before them.
And perhaps most importantly, he’s given permission. Permission to write badly, explore without formal education, and add your voice to the conversation simply because you live in this world and have something to say about it. In times when so much is being taken away from queer and kink communities, that permission, and the imagination it unlocks, might be one of the few things that can’t be legislated, banned, or shut down.
As Skully puts it: your imagination is one thing they can’t take away. And that might be the most powerful toolkit we have.
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