Queer Naija Lit: Akwaeke Emezi’s “Pet” and “Bitter” Explore the Costs of a Different World
A new world isn’t possible without people believing it is.
In “Nona the Ninth,” Tamsyn Muir Zooms In on Her Goth Puzzle Box World
If you want to feel the dazzling space-goth world of Gideon and Harrow within reach, to pull it close enough to see its day-to-day details, then Nona will feel like a veritable feast.
“I’m the Girl” Is a Harrowing, Complex Story of Abuse That’s Difficult To Read
Courtney Summers’ latest thriller tries to hold our culture accountable for its crimes against teen girls. Does it succeed?
Queer Graphic Novel “Coven” Will Fill the Buffy-Shaped Hole in Your Heart
Do you like witches, gays, and found family, and fictional teen angst? Is there a Buffy- or Baby-Sitter’s Club- or Motherland: Fort Salem-shaped hole in your heart? Good news, this one’s for you!
Slow Takes: “Stone Fruit” and Choosing Given Family
I learned about the concept of chosen family from a heterosexual uncle I don’t talk to anymore.
Juniper Fitzgerald’s Queer Memoir-in-Fragments Examines Her Identities as a Sex Worker and Mother
Enjoy Me Among My Ruins bypasses the expectation to tell one’s story in a neatly contained narrative.
In “Diary of a Misfit,” Casey Parks Creates Records of Lives Left Out of History
What is most compelling about Diary of a Misfit is how brilliantly organized it is. All at once, we get a biography, a memoir, a family history, and the active history of a place that most people are unfamiliar with.
Queer Naija Lit: “We Are Flowers” Documents the Beauty and Resilience of Nigeria’s Queer Community
We Are Flowers, a Queer Nigerian anthology, is defiant and audacious. It has no choice but to be.
Rather Than a Coming Out Story, “Body Grammar” Is About Queer Characters Coming Into Themselves
Jules Ohman paints the harsh, sharp-angled modeling industry with soft, tender prose and tells many queer narratives at once in the novel.
“All This Could Be Different” Review: A Novel So Good I Dreaded Finishing It
Whether she’s writing about Gantt charts or economic turmoil or oysters or blue and green or sex or hunger, Sarah Thankam Mathews’ sentences seduce and swathe.
Putsata Reang’s New Memoir Fills In the Gaps of Lost Family History
Putsata Reang’s memoir “Ma and Me” grapples with what it means to carry intergenerational trauma not only as an Asian American, immigrant, and refugee but also as a queer person.
In LGBTQ Sci-Fi Anthology “Out There”, the World Is Screwed — But Queer Love Finds a Way
“Out There: Into the Queer New Yonder” features work by Leah Johnson, Z Brewer, and more.
“Body Language” Anthology Offers Invitation To Reckon With Our Messy Bits
Body Language — a new anthology from Catapult — is one of the best essay collections I’ve read in a long time.
“The Bruising of Qilwa” Review: A Trans and Queer Fantasy Novella That Packs a Punch
The short book by Naseem Jamnia is an extremely fast-paced, engaging read.
“The Golden Season” Is a Queer Love Letter to West Texas
The writing is gorgeous and filled with beautiful imagery and insightful quotes.
New “Fire Island” Book Weaves Personal, Historical Narrative To Highlight Power of Community Solidarity
More a place-based memoir than a straightforward history, “Fire Island” provides unique insight on the history, present, and future of this almost mythical place.
“The Romance Recipe” Is the Steamy Beach Read You Need
Thankfully, Ruby Barrett doesn’t make us wait long for the simmering lust to boil into something more.
Michelle Tea’s Queer Pregnancy Memoir Is for Everyone — Not Just People Who Want To Become Parents
For most of my life, I was convinced that some day, somehow, I’d be a parent.
Did Somebody Say Lesbian Sasquatch Horror-Comedy “Bachelor” Parody?
An epistolary lesbian love story, monster horror, final girl thrills, and sharp commentary on reality television and social media collide in this bloody, hilarious, chilling novel.
Queer Naija Lit: “Under the Udala Trees” Honors the Past and Paints the Future With Hope
In light of current conditions for queer Nigerians — and global conditions facing queer people — a book like 2015’s Under the Udala Trees is ever-timely.