Michael Cashman’s One of Them is not only a rich, often hilarious, occasionally heart-breaking and surprisingly candid memoir, but also a fascinating and important document of social history and the fight for LGBTQ+ equality. It’s gripping from the very first page where Cashman describes the day of his civil partnership (legal recognition for same-sex couples... Continue Reading →
Author Stephen Bourne was at London's British Film Institute last night to discuss his new book Playing Gay in the Golden Age of British TV and kindly offered The Queer Review the below extract from his talk. When the theatre company Gay Sweatshop was founded in the 1970s it quickly established a reputation for the... Continue Reading →
Dean Atta’s The Black Flamingo is being presented as a 'Young Adult' book, but don’t let that make you think it’s childish, this is a gorgeous and moving first person exploration of sexuality, poetry, blackness and love that most ‘adult’ books struggle to achieve. The Black Flamingo is the story of Michael, a mixed-race child... Continue Reading →
The Coming of the Night (1999) is a novel that shouldn’t work. Readers ought to be left frustrated, disappointed, and confused. How, they may wonder, was the book authored by the mastermind behind City of Night (1963), a landmark in gay storytelling? Often, when plot fails, characters can save a text. We fall for their... Continue Reading →
There is something utterly joyous and enlightening about Maia Kobabe’s graphic novel, Gender Queer: A Memoir. In part an autobiography, as well as a primer on non-binary gender issues, Kobabe unveils a personal story with such warmth and beauty it’s impossible not to love. It’s the paradox of art that specificity creates universality (the more... Continue Reading →
