Leyla Vural is an oral historian and social geographer based in New York City. Her work includes projects about New York City’s potter’s field; neighborhood change in New York and efforts to preserve sites of cultural importance in working-class communities and communities of color; interviews with LGBTQ New Yorkers about life before and after the 1969 Stonewall Uprising; interviews with folklorists, musicians, craftspeople, and historians for a series of cultural audio tours about Sligo and Donegal, Ireland; interviews with scientists about discovery and artists about creativity; interviews with union members, staff, and leaders about the struggle to win and maintain workers’ rights; and interviews for The Civilians, a theater company that writes and stages original plays, musicals, and cabaret shows from people’s real words. Leyla has presented her work in Belfast, Glasgow, and Montreal, and it is available online and held at The LGBT Community Center, the New-York Historical Society, the New York Preservation Archive Project, and The Rockefeller University. Leyla holds a Ph.D. in Geography from Rutgers University and an M.A. in Oral History from Columbia University. She is a community affiliate of the Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling at Concordia University.
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Location: New York City and the Northeast Corridor
Languages: English
Looking for: Freelance, Consulting
Skills/Interests: Interviewing, Teaching (workshops), Presenting, Consulting,
I interview activists, artists, scientists, and others who want to share the story of their experience of their time and place. I also edit interviews into short films, audio stories, and written narratives.
Email: leyla@lvcomm.com
Twitter: @lvuralnyc