#lgbt lit
recently I read this incredible short story in an antology set in distinct neighborhoods/locations in Nairobi (Nairobi Noir edited by Peter Kimani). Number Sita by Kevin Mwachiro describes a coming of age for a boy growing up in Nairobi–an intimate portrayal of masculinity and sexuality in the urban space of Kilimani, the neighborhood where the narrator has grown up that is now falling prey to gentrification, as well as his past relationship to a lesbian character in his neighborhood that taught him and his friends how to relate to women’s pleasure. the queerness is subtle in what is otherwise a straight male narrator voice, just a glimpse into gender and vulnerability in the context of modern Nairobi.
Kevin Mwachiro is a gay Kenyan author and runs the podcast Nipe Story (Tell Me a Story), where he shares Kenyan/other African short stories in audio format. definitely check them out!
— He wonders what Santa Chiara would think of them, a lost David and Jonathan, turning slowly on the spot.
Here is my piece for #ofszine! The zine, featuring 50+ artists who draw their own version of a chosen scene, is currently available on Ko-Fi for $3, and all proceeds go to LGBTQIA+ charities.
Thanks to @c_leadraw for making this possible, I am so proud to have been featured in the first issue of this project, alongside with so many talented artists!
(Also this marked my first time drawing Alex and Henry, so I hope I did them justice✨)
Characters belong to @casey.mcquiston!
home✧instagram✧more…
please do not repost or edit
Post link
LBGTQ* Children’s (Picture) Books To Keep On Your Radar
- Oh The Things Mommies Do! What Can Be Better Than Having Two? written by Crystal Tompkins; illustrations by Lindsey Evans (follow their tumblr HERE)
- The Boy Who Cried Fabulous written by Leslea Newman; illustrated by Peter Ferguson
- My Mommy Is A Boy written by Jason Martinez; illustrated by Karen Winchester (*book discussing gender)
- My Two Super Dads written by Bronny Falls and Munsta Vincent
- Pugdog written by Andrea U’Ren (*book discussing gender)
- The Baby Kangaroo Treasure Hunt, A gay parenting story written by Carmen Martinez Jover; illustrated by Rosemary Martinez
- My Princess Boy written by Cheryl Kilodavis ; illustrations by Suzanne DeSimone (*book discussing gender)
- Arwen and Her Two Daddies written by Jarko De Witte van Leeuwen (Translated from Dutch)
- Fairy Tales of the 21st Century writtenby Bill Carey (retelling of Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella)
- My Uncle’s Wedding written by Eric Ross; illustrations by Tracy K. Green
Post link
“My little sister once came home from school when she was in the second grade and asked me, ‘What’s a sanctuary?’ I guess they had been reading about wildlife preserves or the Hunchback of Notre Dame or something.
And it’s funny because no one ever taught me this, and I can’t even remember thinking about it very much, but the answer came flying right out of my mouth, like it had been waiting there since time immemorial.
‘A sanctuary is a place where the door only locks from the inside.’ I looked her in the eyes as I said it, and I could see right away she understood.”
–Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl’s Confabulous Memoir, by Kai Cheng Thom
This book is bringing me so much joy. If you like unreliable narrators, tough femmes, radical resistance of oppressive forces, lipstick, and prose that reads like rough-around-the-edges poetry, this is your new guilty pleasure. Trust me.
<3 Ruth Elizabeth
Post link
Bringing LGBTQ Folk Forms into Our Literature. (Tom Cho, Derrick Austin, Juliana Delgado Lopera, Michelle Tea, Sassafras Lowrey)
Zines, drag performance, oral history, feminist spoken word, and even 1950s and 1960s men’s physique magazines are among the folk forms that infuse LGBTQ writing. How can we reappraise these less celebrated forms and draw on them to energize the words we write today? This panel’s writers—invigorated by engagements around race, immigration, DIY, and queer punk ideologies, gender nonconformity, and other considerations—show how we can re-imagine and recast these vital forms in our own work.
Post link
