The Sunday Independent

Books to read this Pride Month

HANNAH GOOD

AFTER decades of marginalisation from mainstream publishing, transgender literature is having a moment in the spotlight.

Trans literature defies definition, but scholars like LaVelle Ridley, a doctoral candidate at the University of Michigan, define it as work that thinks critically about gender as a way to process the world.

Often, it’s work by trans people, for trans people – but that may be changing, says historian

Jules Gill-Peterson.

This shift has been signalled by the success of novels like Torrey Peters’ Detransition, Baby, which was among the first by a trans woman to be published by a major house.

“We’re often pushed to consider visibility as progress, when in reality, for trans women – especially trans women of colour – our hypervisibility has not improved our lives,” said Gill-Peterson. “On the contrary, it’s directly led to forms of backlash.”

We rounded up recent releases by transgender and non-binary writers to check out this Pride Month.

Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir by Akwaeke Emezi (June 8)

In their first memoir, best-selling Nigerian author Emezi tells the story of exploring their gender and body, their path to success as a writer and the turmoil of relationships.

Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee (2021)

Noah Ramirez, the lead of this young adult novel, keeps a blog called the Meet Cute Diary, a collection of trans “happily everafters” – that he happened to make up. When a troll exposes the blog as fiction, Noah’s world unraves.

Lote by Shola von Reinhold (2020)

Protagonist Mathilda discovers a photograph of the forgotten black modernist poet Hermia Druitt and resolves to learn as much as she can about the mysterious figure.

The Subtweet by Vivek Shraya (2020)

Canadian writer and musician Vivek Shraya found critical acclaim with her 2018 novel, I’m Afraid of Men. Her latest novel is about an indie musician whose song is covered by an internet artist – and then it goes viral.

Darryl by Jackie Ess (2021)

In this debut black humour novel, Jackie Ess explores the themes of marriage, manhood, basketball, sobriety and the secret lives of Oregonians.

More Than Organs by Kay Ulanday Barrett (2020)

Kay Ulanday Barrett is a poet, performer, multidisciplinary artist and disability advocate. The latest poetry collection is “a love letter to brown, queer, and trans futures”.

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon (2021)

In this new genre-bending work of Gothic fiction, protagonist Vern flees the religious compound where she was raised to give birth to twins. Vern finds herself a hunted woman.

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2021-06-13T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-13T07:00:00.0000000Z

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