Sofie Ward is a Swedish transgender musician and blogger from Hässleholm, a small town in southern Sweden. She
combines her creative interests with academic studies in Art, specializing in Cultural Leadership, at Linnaeus
University in Växjö. Music is an important part of Sofie’s life. She plays bass with the Swedish band Zip of
Fire, whose sound draws on the roots of Motown, while her own musical interests extend across a wide range of
styles. She also writes a blog, using it as a space to share her experiences and thoughts rather than pursuing
the more traditional route of writing a memoir. Sofie has a distinctly down-to-earth approach to being
transgender. Rather than defining herself primarily through her trans identity, she sees it as one part of a
much broader life that includes music, education, relationships, fashion, and everyday interests. She is also
refreshingly skeptical of the tendency to place transgender people into separate categories, whether in
entertainment, politics, or beauty. Her perspective is particularly interesting for its emphasis on
individuality and the idea that being transgender should not determine the limits of what a person can become.
