Dzanc Books, the 2023 winner of the AWP Small Press Publisher Award, is living up to that reputation with their latest exciting collection, Be Gay, Do Crime.

Edited by Molly Llewellyn and Kristel Buckley — who previously worked together on Peach Pit: 16 Stories of Unsavory Women — Be Gay, Do Crime is “an anthology of stories exploring chaotic queer characters engaging in hacking, trespassing, hoax threats, scams and other lies in their journeys to justice, revenge and just getting by.”

Even if I didn’t know any of the authors included that description alone would have me excited. Be gay, do crime may be a simple internet meme, but it also speaks to a queer ethos that understands our identities and histories are tied to criminality. It’s a reminder that queer people have long had to turn to crime to survive and thrive and that queerness itself is often criminalized. Also it’s fun!

The great news is this collection is packed with authors whose work you know and love or should know and will love. First of all, the collection includes Autostraddle’s Managing Editor — who also happens to be one of my very favorite writers — Helen House author Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya. It also includes Venita Blackburn (Dead in Long Beach, California), Emily Austin (Interesting Facts About Space), Francesca Ekwuyasi (Butter Honey Pig Bread), Alissa Nutting (Made for Love), Elle Nash (Deliver Me), Temim Fruchter (City of Laughter), Myriam Gurba (Creep), Priya Guns (Your Driver Is Waiting), Mac Crane (I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself), SJ Sindu (The Goth House Experiment), Aurora Mattia (The Fifth Wound), Myriam Lacroix (How It Works Out), Maame Blue (Bad Love), Soula Emmanuel (Wild Geese), and Sam Cohen (Sarahland).

The Be Gay, Do Crime collection is set to be released in spring 2025, but while we wait for pre-order information, feel free to read the authors’ previous works and feel free to both be gay and do some crimes.

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