It is impossible to talk about queer writing and literature without talking about the very real fear the community is feeling right now. Though Melbourne is known as a progressive city, the reaches of conservatism and censorship are pawing at our shores. The incredible autobiographical graphic novel Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe isn’t just the most banned book in America, but it’s now the subject of a censorship challenge in Australia too.
We promote a broad range of books that explore and celebrate the LGBTQIA+ experience, including fiction, nonfiction, and books for children and young adults. Browse some of my favourites below, and drop into one of our shops or call one of our friendly and knowledgeable booksellers, and we can help you find your next read, or try to track down that harder-to-find title.
Queer history
At a time when queer spaces are facing challenges to stay open, the history of queer spaces is more important than ever! Revel in the history of six iconic lesbian venues across America and England in A Place of Our Own by June Thomas, or The Secret Public by Jon Savage. Come a little closer to home with Making the Victorian Pride Centre, a gorgeous coffee-table book by Dr Judith Buckrich on the history, planning and construction of the first purpose-built centre for Australia’s LGBTQIA+ communities.
One resident of the Victorian Pride Centre is the Australian Queer Archives (AQuA), which is an exceptional resource that includes everything from handwritten correspondence to striking ephemera that allows us a glimpse into the lives of our Australian LGBTQIA+ community over the years. One researcher working with and contributing to the AQuA archives is local historian Graham Willet, whose book Before Mardi Gras tells the Australian history of LGBTQIA+ activism in the nine years before the first Mardi Gras in 1978. For a sneak peek into Willet’s writing and a visual feast for the historically inclined, check out the free 2021 AQuA digital report A History of LGBTQI+ Victoria in 100 Objects or order a printed edition here.
For more impeccably researched insights into not just the queer community, but those who tended to and cared for members of our community in their darkest hours, pick up the poignant Critical Care: Nurses on the frontline of Australia’s AIDS crisis by Geraldine Fela. Another title stemming from thoughtful, groundbreaking research is Transgender Australia: a history since 1910 by Noah Riseman, which includes findings from over 100 interviews to present a broad and intersectional history of the personal, political and legal lives of transgender Australians over 110+ years.
If all that history gets you keen for a little historical fiction, our March fiction book of the month First Name, Second Name, by debut author Steve MinOn is not to be missed. An exceptional story of modern-day queer experience and identity struggles (with a splash of the supernatural) blended with the stories of the four generations whose own emotional baggage has contributed so much to their descendant’s struggle to find himself.
Anthologies of life and love
There’s no better way to dip your toe in the ocean of incredible LGBTQIA+ writing than with an anthology, and you’ll be absolutely spoiled for choice. Two from prolific Melbournian author and editor Michael Earp are Out-Side - Queer Words and Art from Regional Victoria, which celebrates 34 unique emerging and established voices from across Victoria, and the lushly illustrated Everything Under the Moon, which reimagines fairytale tropes through a queer lens. Once you’ve devoured these newly written, future classic fairytales, you may want to discover their historical equivalents. Enter: Queer Mythology with stories from across the globe of ancient LGBTQIA+ deities, heroes and spirits.
If real life is more your style, you can learn from our historical heroes in How to Be Queer, a collection reaching through time with authors including Sappho, Plato and Anacreon. For a mix of historical and modern writing, author, editor and translator Frank Wynne’s Queer: A Collection of LGBTQ Writing from Ancient Times to Yesterday celebrates queer love and literature from Homer, Virginia Wolf, Alison Bechdel, Juno Dawson, Qiu Miaojin, Audre Lorde, and many more. If you’re keen on history that’s at least a little more recent, there’s the groundbreaking Some Men In London series, charting the private and public lives of queer men in London between the end of the second world war and the decriminalisation of homosexuality in the sixties, across two volumes: 1945–1959 and 1960–1967.
Flash back to the present, and our own backyard, and you’ve got plenty to choose from, including Nothing to Hide: Voices of Trans and Gender Diverse Australia or Growing Up Queer In Australia from the wonderful Black Ink Growing Up In Australia series. For more writing of lived experiences, check out Gender Euphoria: Stories of joy from trans, non-binary and intersex writers.
Education is fundamental
If you’re looking to educate yourself as an ally, we have plenty of options! Pick up a copy of Ending the Pursuit by Michael Paramo to uncover a blend of memoir and interviews, with a history of Asexual, Aromantic and Agender identities – from individual experience to the internet connections that have helped these communities come together. Discover what can be learned from those who live outside society’s binary perspectives on romance, sexuality and gender.
Another great book for self-education is the fearless and frank Dear Cis(gender) People: A Guide to Allyship and Empathy, in which author Kenny Ethan Jones blends his own life story and those of his community with richly researched insights into the trans experience.
Life is art, art is life
The last few years have seen the release of some incredible queer photography and art books, including Queer Art and Photography – A Queer History. Or step back in time to 1979 and the groundbreaking Eye to Eye: Portraits of Lesbians, collating the images, stories and lived experiences of lesbians from all walks of life. For a blend of history, interview and a delicious visual feast, look no further than Drag Race Down Under season one contestant Art Simone’s lavishly photographed Drag Queens Down Under. This joyful and colourful celebration of creativity, talent and expression features personal stories and bold images of 30 of our finest and fiercest local drag artists. Once you’re good and inspired, feeling crafty and creative, The Big Book Of Queer Stickers has you covered from LGBTQIA+ to Z with 500+ slogans, flags, rainbows and more!
Music lovers have plenty to choose from, like 1984: The Year Pop Went Queer which charts the stories of the icons of that year including Queen, George Michael, David Bowie, Pet Shop Boys, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Madonna! Or travel further back to the 1920s and 30s with Queer Blues, which chronicles the life and work of LGBTQIA+ blues composers and performers including Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Josephine Baker and Frankie 'Half-Pint' Jaxon.
For music without a tune, the David Unaipon Award-Winning poetry collection how to make a basket by Jazz Money features stunning lyricism in a mix of both Wiradjuri and English. Money’s debut work examines identity in a colonial context, and celebrates the beauty of Blak and queer love. If you can’t get enough, fear not! Money published the equally powerful mark the dawn in 2024.
Biographies
We could write a whole blog post about biographies by and about LGBTQIA+ icons and legends, there are so many! One unmissable gem is the award-winning and unforgettable The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein, which tells the life story of Sandra Pankhurst, from her adoption in infancy, her harrowing childhood in West Footscray, her adulthood, parenthood and transition. Most remarkable about this story is the vivid portrait it paints of Sandra in her later years – using her untappable well of compassion to help others in her business as a cleaner of homes where hoarding or homicide had occurred.
Newly released is Bonjour, Mademoiselle by Tom Roberts and Jacqueline Kent, which tells the tale of fashion icon, socialite and transgender activist April Ashley MBE. For a historical biography that’s local, check out A Secretive Century by Tessa Morris-Suzuki, the story of Monte Punshon (known at various times in her life as Ethel May, Miss Montague, Monte, Mickey and Erica Morley), a pioneer of theatre, radio and secret drag parties held in Melbourne in the 1930s. Over her century of life (1882–1989), Punshon was a witness to history and sweeping changes in society and culture.
Another exceptional local biography is Detachable Penis by Sam Elkin, local transgender activist, lawyer and radio producer. Part autobiographical exploration of his own transition, part cultural meditation, Elkin “reflects on the double-edged sword of visibility post the 'transgender tipping point'.”
Now a classic of the genre (and a Tony Award–Winning Musical!) Fun Home is a groundbreaking autobiographical graphic novel by cartoonist and author Alison Bechdel. Speaking of recent adaptations, there’s also the unflinching novel Queer by William Burroughs, brought to the silver screen by director Luca Guadagnino and starring Daniel Craig.
Books for young readers
The first time this author read the following picture book, it cannot be denied, a few tears were shed. Not only is the story of Julian and the Mermaids inclusive, beautiful and unique, but the illustrations are absolutely breathtaking. Author-illustrator Julia Love has managed to capture the beauty of childlike curiosity and the innocence of early self-expression, while also weaving elements of imagination into her character’s world.
On the absolute flip-side of Julia Love’s imaginative mermaid-land is a picture book firmly grounded in reality: Juno Dawson’s You Need To Chill. Dawson’s cheeky and outspoken protagonist’s classmates suddenly realise that her brother has stopped coming to pick her up from school, and are naturally curious: “Is he lost in the park? Has he been eaten by a shark?” But the truth is, her sibling is still coming to pick her up from school, but she has a new name! This delightful book reminds us all that families can change and grow to contain new realities, and children are often the ones least fazed by those changes.
All children (and frankly a few adults) could learn a thing or two from Dr Seema Yasmin’s The ABCs of Queer History, or start small (and mighty) with the picture book primer on gender-diversity, As Bright as a Rainbow by Romy Ash, or the bright and joyful board book All the Colours of Our Rainbow by Daniel Gray-Barnett.
Middle grade and young adult fiction
While it may take a few books (or seven) for a main character to come out, the blockbuster middle-grade mystery series that begins with Murder Most Unladylike by Robyn Stevens features a range of supporting characters in the LGBTQIA+ community, and, eventually, a main character! The Swifts is another fabulous mystery for middle grade readers, featuring a non-binary character and lots of vocabulary-extending language that fans of Lemony Snicket will appreciate!
Readers aged 12+ will enjoy debut author Elisa Chenoweth’s award-winning Maria Petranelli is Prepared for Anything (Except This), the story of Italian-Australian Maria as she escapes her stifling family to study on exchange in Italy. Despite her background, Maria is completely unprepared: linguistically, culturally, directionally and romantically. What follows is a blend of murder, kidnapping and adventure, mixed with a sweet queer coming-of-age with comic flair.
The latest novel by Readings Young Adult Prize-Winning Author Gary Lonesborough, I'm Not Really Here is a complex coming-of-age tale of cultural identity, sexuality and belonging for readers aged 14+. Another tale tackling issues of identity and the challenge of hiding one’s true self, but through the lens of horror, is The Spider and Her Demons by debut author sydney khoo. Protagonist Zhi is a second-generation Australian high-schooler, balancing work at her aunt’s dumpling shop with school and friends with the secret she’s terrified will be discovered: she’s half spider-demon.
Invisible Boys by Western Australian author Holden Sheppard is an award-winning story of three very different boys struggling with their identities, for readers aged 15+. Nerdy Zeke, sporty Hammer and punk Charlie live in a rural town where homosexuality is never seen or spoken about, but an explosive revelation has devastating consequences,
No matter your age, your identity or your knowledge about LGBTQIA+ communities, there is an abundance of incredible Australian and international writing that will expand your worldview, entertain and educate you about the rich diversity of perspectives and lived experiences through LGBTQIA+ literature and beyond!
