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Queer Books From Around The World
15
items There's a nasty habit in Western (and even more so American!) gay culture of pretending the rest of the queer world stops at our borders. Open any of these books and the inverse is true.
Sections
2
Fiction
Non-Fiction
Fiction
The stories I rate highest outside of American LGBTQ+ literature.
Our protagonist escapes a homophobic southern family by heading to Bulgaria to be thrown headfirst into a tender but toxic relationship with a charismatic local hustler…how different are these two worlds really…an award-winning debut novel by Garth G...
Bulgaria - What Belongs to You
This one defies easy description. Not geared around a - mutual - love story but rather the role of a trans woman in the underground resistance against Pinochet's fascist dictatorship. The depiction of the dictator (whose perspective is periodically told from the first person) is skilful without descending into parody.
Chile - My Tender Matador
My favourite book of last year - thing Birdsong with a gay relationship at the centre against the backdrop of WW1. For a debut novel, Alice Wynn smashes it out of the park - she's masterful in her depiction of character, emotion, joy and horror.
(WW1) England and France - In Memoriam
I read this with very little context on Baldwin and continue to find it utterly remarkable that this was written in 1956. The mutually destructive relationship between the protagonist and Giovanni is searingly honest and feels far more contemporary than is probably comfortable.
France - Giovanni's Room
Anyone who knows their Greek history laughs at the idea that gay folk were invented in the late 20th century. This is the capitvating and tragic story of Achilles told by his ‘room-mate’ (no, not really!) Patroclus. Even if you know the Trojan War by heart, you'll be held spellbound.
(Ancient) Greece - The Song of Achilles
Set in an unnamed Middle Eastern country (Lebanon seems most people's guess), a story that plays out over 24hrs with sufficient speed, drama and intrigue with a memorable cast of nuanced characters that belie lazy stereotypes.
Middle East - Guapa
Set in 1980s Communist-Poland, a really well observed depiction of love, duty and repression. Believable and raw from start to finish
Poland - Swimming in the Dark
Calling this a gay ghost story is possible the least helpful description imaginable. Set during the Sri Lankan civil war (eye-openingly educational) from the perspective of a murdered gay photographer, it's a gripping, heartbreaking and occasionally very funny glimpse into a culture I knew very little about before reading
Sri Lanka - The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
A remarkable story that flashes between Vietnam and the US and how war shapes queer identity, memory and grief.
Vietnam - On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
Plot spoiler in the title but this is a revealing and brutal look into Nigerian culture and the uneasy but extremely nuanced intersectionality with queer identity
Nigeria - The Death of Vivek Oji
Non-Fiction
…and the true stories which inform where we are today.
I don't cry at books…until I finished Holding The Man. Single handedly the most devastatingly personal telling of the AIDS crisis through the prism of a flawed, messy but incredibly real relationship. It'll stay with you longer than any other book you'll read in a year.
Australia - Holding the Man
100 years ago, Berlin's queer scene wasn't a million miles from what we know today - loud, proud and open. A remarkably well researched story, which also provides a sobering reminder of how rights can be lost at the hands of nazis in no time if you don't fight back.
Berlin - Gay Berlin: Birthplace of a Modern Identity
Why must all the gays be heroes or villains? This book - following the podcast series - tracks a range of (in)famous gays from Hadrian to James I to J. Edgar Hoover and recounts their lives and loves in trademark gossipy style. More revealing than you'd think!
Everywhere (Ancient Rome, England, Ireland, Germany, US): Bad Gays
Yep, we've been at it since Roman times through various phases of persecution, participation (cough, cough, the royal family!) and turning a blind eye. One for everyone who pretends gays didn't exist before 1970.
London, UK - Queer City
The only American entry here, simply because it's a history very few people know. I was gifted this on my last birthday and am VERY excited to read this given how much I love the music.
Southern US - Queer Blues