Queer Lit

This fortnight, we’re going east (and back in history) with fabulous historian Tuğçe Kayaal (Furman University). Tuğçe explains how she queers history and the archives, how she researches homoerotic intimacies in poetry and advice books, and what religion has to do with morals, relationships and friendships. She talks about the most frequently misunderstood aspects of the Ottoman empire and what i...

In this dynamic discussion, Dr Gabriel Knott-Fayle (University of Calgary) and I talk about cisgenderism, heteronormativity and masculinity in sports and sports media. We discuss how trans* and queer bodies are treated and medicalised in narratives surrounding different sports but also how (amateur) sporting environments can be affirming and create safe spaces. Although as queers so many of us hav...

Legend-alarm! We have queer anthropology’s parent on the podcast: Prof Esther Newton joins me to talk about queer spaces, drag shows, lesbian festivals, and about how all the lesbians ended up in Cherry Grove. Esther explains why every queer person should experience being in the majority at least once in their life and how this might allow you to see things you have never quite seen before. She ta...

Be it about Marmite or podcasts, I’ve always believed that more is more, so here is part two of the end-of-year special, where I ask former Queer Lit guests: What is the queerest thing you did this year? Featuring: Susan Stryker, Nick McGlynn, J.P. Der Boghossian, and Jas Morgan. What a cast!

Oh, yes, you heard right: It’s a festive end-of-year special! Making resolutions and rules is not very queer, so we are celebrating the year in all its gaiety instead! Tune in to hear about the queerest things my Queer Lit guests did this year. References: Dyking Out “Queer Rural Spaces and Asexualities” with Joe Jukes https://www.spreaker.com/episode/48480045 CTSG Centre for Transforming Sexualit...

Have you ever thought about how your queer life is connected to the land that you live it on? In this episode, Joshua Whitehead (University of Calgary) will take you on a Two-Spirit Indigiqueer journey from Stonewall in New York to the Forks in Winnipeg. Josh talks about how healing communion with the land is, how the stories of our queer bodies need to be read and told in relation to place, and a...

Let’s get magical! In this episode, Prof Jes Battis (University of Regina) explains why magic is queer (or why queerness is magical?) and how wizards and witches live out their queerness in medieval texts as well in contemporary retellings. Jes also conjures up wonderful examples of how neurodiversity, queerness and witchcraft are all linked. Side effects of listening to this spellbinding episode...

Spoiler alert: Jane Traies is the best. And this episode is proof that if you don’t know any older, wiser lesbians already, you’re missing out! Jane talks to me about (in)visibility across queer generations, about queer kinship and (very efficient) lesbian networks, about the stories of LGBTQIA+ asylum seekers and about biphobia and exclusionism. From being friends with your ex to Peg Cruikshank’s...

Once upon a midnight dreary, Queer Lit pondered all things eerie… and believe me, this episode is quaint and curious queer horror galore! Horror writer and researcher Lucy Holmes take us on a trip down vampire lane and chills me to the bone with everything from 1930s gay directors to 1970s lesbian bloodsuckers to nonbinary and trans representation in contemporary horror shows. Lucy also reminds us...

It’s crossover time! In this week’s episode, Queer Lit enters a unicorn union with This Queer Book Saved My Life!, a brilliant new podcast by J.P. Der Boghossian. Before we get to the books that were our personal saviours, J.P. and I talk about The Queer Armenian Library – a digital resource of queer Armenian texts, shows, films, poetry and so much more. In addition to creating incredibly impactfu...

Oo-De-Lally! Dr Amy Louise Morgan (she/her, Surrey University) tells me tales of feminist dragons, gender-nonconforming foxes, wild princesses and all kinds of other queer characters from Disney’s medieval(ish) films. We compare favourite VHS tapes, most fantastic princesses, and try to figure out whether we (or was it just me?) wanted to be, or be with, Robin Hood. Amy also tells me all about Dis...

Listen up, glitterati, we have some eco-friendly scholarship coming your way: Prof Nicole Seymour (California State University, Fullerton) shares her thoughts on queer ecologies, trans ecologies, petrol masculinities, trashy environmentalism and, most importantly, glitter. In a sparkling synopsis of all things queer environmentalism, Nicole explains why the doom-and-gloom narrative of climate just...

Join us on the Lesbian beach for a sapphic special episode with someone I am very lucky to call a friend: Leah Davidson. Leah is a queer therapist, a hiking dyke, a lesbian mom, an extremely clever reader and an absolute joy. On the beach in Skala Eressos, we talk about the early days of the lesbian* community that travels to Lesvos every summer, in search of connection, queer roots, and poetry. T...

Sweet Christmas, darling gays! (It’s a superhero catchphrase. I looked it up.) Prof andré carrington (UCR) brings us truth, justice and a queerer tomorrow in this Queer Lit quest. With great knowledge comes great responsibility and andré is ready to take it: he takes us on a deep dive into queer black comics, fan studies, queer cartoonists, and introduces me to awesome characters from Aqualad to J...

One episode more! In this bonus track, Nemo Martin (Royal Holloway) tells me about their research on race, racism, and racist tropes in Hugo’s classic Les Misérables, but also in the fanfiction based on Hugo. Nemo kindly shares some insights on how these depictions of race are entangled with nonnormative genders and asexuality. What Nemo doesn’t mention in the recording is that they’re also a bril...

Imagine a publishing world in which your editor is a Black trans person, your publicist is a queer person with autism, and your graphic designer is a two spirit queero. And guess what: it’s real and it’s called queer publishing. Alex DiFrancesco is a trans author and editor who has worked with several radical and progressive publishing houses over the years and joins me for a chat about their work...

Brighton’s first radical queer bookshop finally opened its doors! The Queery is a very special trans and queer cooperative that is a workshop space, a pay-as-you-can vegan café, a community venue, and (this is where it gets really dreamy) a very gay bookshop and library! The selection is on point, with lots of former Queer Lit guests and their reading recommendations in stock, as well as merch by...

Come for the indigenous activism, stay for the queer joy – the delightful Dr Jas M. Morgan (Toronto Metropolitan University) is here for both. In this deep dive into queer indigeneity in literature, art and academia, Jas talks about their brilliant writing, their creative communities, their kick-ass students, and how their trans nonbinary perspective shapes their work. Jas also explains why talkin...

In this special bonus episode, Sarah Wingrove (University of Surrey) is back to tell us more about Anne Lister and Gentleman Jack and about all the impressive efforts the fan community is putting into reviving the HBO/BBC TV series Gentleman Jack after a surprising cancellation. F-Annes around the world are demanding to see more of the 19th century gender nonconforming lesbian, whose detailed diar...

Ever wondered what the 2S inLGBTQIA2S+* stands for? Then this is the episode for you. Two-Spirit is an umbrella term that some native people in Canada and the US use to describe something that may look like non-binary gender on the outside but, like a rainbow cake of gender expansiveness, is filled with entirely different contexts and rich histories. In this first part of a double feature on queer...

THE Prof Lee Edelman (Tufts) joins me to talk about one of my favourite topics: nothing. Lee’s extremely clever (and incredibly influential) work in queer studies has most recently led him to write an entire book about all the things that nothing can mean and what this has to do with queer life, film, and literature. Lee also talks about his previous work on reproductive futurism and No Future, ab...

“When the earth spoke to me, I was moved to compose a collection of love letters between Black women.” -- This is how Dr Briona Simone Jones (University of Connecticut) describes their work in the introduction to their mind-expanding anthology Mouths of Rain. In this episode, Briona tells me how and why they took on the feat of publishing this book while also finishing a PhD on Black lesbian aesth...

“Sometimes a kiss can make you feel free.” This beautiful line by Prof GerShun Avilez (University of Maryland) was one of the many, many reasons I wanted to learn more about his book Black Queer Freedom. In addition to the freeing potential of queer kisses, GerShun talks about how literature can help us better understand the ways in which Black queer bodies are harmed every day. He also explains w...

Hold on to your pussyhats! The incredible Prof Susan Stryker joins me for this whirlwind through trans histories, nows, and futures, in which we talk about the power of narrative and affect in research and media and about what transness might teach us about possible ways of existing in the world. Susan shares entertaining insights from her ground-breaking publications and films, as well as the cre...

In this special treat of a minisode, you will get to meet one of the amazing architects of Lesbian Lives: Prof Katherine O’Donnell (University College Dublin), who is herself an activist, artist and academic. Katherine tells me about her research, the rich queer history of Cork, about colonialism and queerness in Ireland, and she reveals Fiona Shaw’s real name… If you’re as intrigued by Katherine’...