nonfiction Archives

butch

memoir

book lists

Butch Memoirs To Check Out in Honor of “Hijab Butch Blues”

This is not an exhaustive list of butch memoirs, and I would love to hear about more.

Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya —

Feb 4, 2023

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memoir

Lives of Great Men by Chike Frankie Edozien

lgbt book reviews

Queer Naija Lit: “The Lives of Great Men” Interrogates the Measures of Masculinity and Greatness

My internal identity journey as a black genderfluid person involves engaging with my relationship to masculinity.

Chinelo Anyadiegwu —

Jan 30, 2023

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nonfiction

Mareid Sullivan's book Lesbian Death is purple and features the words: “That I find it so anxiety-producing to create a project on the lesbian is precisely why I have written this book. I have written this book because I am not a lesbian. I have written this book because associating my work with lesbian makes me endlessly nervous. I have written this book because I find so much richness in lesbian histories and lesbian culture. I have written this book because I have spent endless hours in archives of lesbian activists, and I have loved every minute. I have written this book because lesbians have saved me, gave me a home, gave me language, showed me a future. I have also written this book because lesbian has been weaponized, used to instigate, justify, and perpetuate anti-trans violence and vitriol. I have written this book because I want the generations that worry that lesbian has been or is being forgotten to know that we remember. I have written this book because I feel myself holding on to the political and identitarian commitments that served me but no longer serve my students. I have written this book because I feel scared to be branded as a lesbian scholar (rather than a scholar of the lesbian). I have written this book because I cannot let lesbian go. Mostly, I have written this book because I really do love lesbians.”

lgbt book reviews

Mairead Sullivan’s “Lesbian Death” Tells Us Why the L Isn’t Disappearing

Mairead Sullivan’s new book, Lesbian Death: Desire and Danger between Feminist and Queer explores and aims to disrupt our contemporary anxieties around the disappearance of the term “lesbian” as an…

Lauren Herold —

Jan 27, 2023

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memoir

lgbt book reviews

“Fieldwork” Review: A Lush, Chewy Memoir Full of Mushrooms

Michelin-star chef Iliana Regan takes you back to her family’s farmhouse.

Stef Rubino —

Jan 24, 2023

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nonfiction

Selfie Aesthetics: Seeing Trans Feminist Futures in Self-Representational Art by Nicole Morse

book features

Nicole Morse Wants You To See Trans Feminist Futures in Selfies

Selfie Aesthetics: Seeing Trans Feminist Futures in Self-Representational Art is a book about selfies and our relationships to them.

Lauren Herold —

Jan 4, 2023

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memoir

How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler

lgbt book reviews

I’ll Never Look at the Ocean the Same Way After Reading Sabrina Imbler’s “How Far the Light Reaches”

Sea creatures become iridescent queer metaphors in this wonderfully queer memoir.

Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya —

Dec 16, 2022

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HIV/AIDS

Two protesters with Act Up march in 1988

lgbt history

Marika Cifor Wants You To Activate Your Nostalgia for ACT UP

Marika Cifor’s new book Viral Cultures: Activist Archiving in the Age of AIDS explores how LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS archives shape our understanding of history.

Lauren Herold —

Dec 6, 2022

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interview

book features

A Memoir Isn’t a Self-Help Book

Author Jeanna Kadlec talks about her new memoir Heretic, the loss of leaving a life, gay Bible stories, and more.

Stef Rubino —

Nov 4, 2022

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memoir

Heretic by Jeanna Kadlec features the title of the book in neon pink letters and a glowing pink light against a dark background

lgbt book reviews

Jeanna Kadlec’s “Heretic” Is a Memoir for the Witches Who Grew From Good Christian Women

Heretic is part memoir, part cultural critique, part political analysis, and part history, all viewed through the queer lens of a woman who grew up in the Midwest trying her…

Heather Hogan —

Oct 21, 2022

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memoir

Three identical images for the cover of The Family Outing, which is written in rainbow letters on a blue background, with arrows on some of the letters.

lgbt book reviews

“The Family Outing” Is a Vivid Memoir of Neglect, Secrets, and the Power of Family

Over the course of five years, Jessi Hempel came out as a lesbian; her dad then came out as gay, her sister as bisexual, and her brother as trans.

Darcy —

Oct 7, 2022

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memoir

lgbt book reviews

Cecilia Gentili’s “Faltas” Is One of the Best Memoirs I’ve Ever Read

Faltas: Letters to Everyone in My Hometown Who Isn’t My Rapist is an exciting and, at times, breathtaking addition to the canon of works about “messy trans lives.”

Stef Rubino —

Oct 5, 2022

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essay collection

It Came From the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror

lgbt book reviews

“It Came From the Closet” Gave Me New Appreciation for the Horror Genre

Because we’re so frequently othered, many LGBTQ+ people find ourselves in horror film monsters.

Abbie Jones —

Oct 4, 2022

nonfiction

Most Popular

To Protect Trans Kids, We Have To Actually Listen to Them

‘The Garden Against Time’ Asks, Who Gets To Live in Paradise?

Looking Back on 1970s Lesbian Feminist Film and Sci-Fi To Reimagine the Future

‘Carrie Carolyn Coco’ Isn’t Like Any Other True Crime You’ve Read

‘Unsuitable’ Looks at the Dynamic History of Lesbian Fashion

Your Ancestors Are Your Best Friends: Juju Bae’s LGBTQ-Inclusive Approach to African Traditional Religion

‘Why Are People Into That?’ Asks Incisive Questions About Kink

‘The Other Olympians’ Is Essential Reading Heading Into This Year’s Summer Olympics

When it Comes to Queer Fertility, There Are No Perfect Choices

Maggie Nelson’s New Book Urges Us To Revel In the Art We Love

To Protect Trans Kids, We Have To Actually Listen to Them

‘The Garden Against Time’ Asks, Who Gets To Live in Paradise?

Looking Back on 1970s Lesbian Feminist Film and Sci-Fi To Reimagine the Future

‘Carrie Carolyn Coco’ Isn’t Like Any Other True Crime You’ve Read

‘Unsuitable’ Looks at the Dynamic History of Lesbian Fashion

Your Ancestors Are Your Best Friends: Juju Bae’s LGBTQ-Inclusive Approach to African Traditional Religion

‘Why Are People Into That?’ Asks Incisive Questions About Kink

‘The Other Olympians’ Is Essential Reading Heading Into This Year’s Summer Olympics

When it Comes to Queer Fertility, There Are No Perfect Choices

Maggie Nelson’s New Book Urges Us To Revel In the Art We Love

Butch Memoirs To Check Out in Honor of “Hijab Butch Blues”

Queer Naija Lit: “The Lives of Great Men” Interrogates the Measures of Masculinity and Greatness

Mairead Sullivan’s “Lesbian Death” Tells Us Why the L Isn’t Disappearing

“Fieldwork” Review: A Lush, Chewy Memoir Full of Mushrooms

Nicole Morse Wants You To See Trans Feminist Futures in Selfies

I’ll Never Look at the Ocean the Same Way After Reading Sabrina Imbler’s “How Far the Light Reaches”

Marika Cifor Wants You To Activate Your Nostalgia for ACT UP

A Memoir Isn’t a Self-Help Book

Jeanna Kadlec’s “Heretic” Is a Memoir for the Witches Who Grew From Good Christian Women

“The Family Outing” Is a Vivid Memoir of Neglect, Secrets, and the Power of Family

Cecilia Gentili’s “Faltas” Is One of the Best Memoirs I’ve Ever Read

“It Came From the Closet” Gave Me New Appreciation for the Horror Genre