May’s Most Anticipated LGBTQ Literature
Author: Sydney Heidenberg
April 29, 2021
The month of May; a time of blooming buds, brighter skies, and a variety of appreciation days ranging from mothers to the Star Wars franchise. We are in a season of growth and gratitude. Overall, it’s a pretty exciting time.
To top it off, here’s this month’s list of the most anticipated LGBTQ literature. From memoirs to fantasy to poetry, this list has you covered whether it’s for your own flourishment or to gift a teacher, nurse, or any of the others celebrated during May.
Follow Brody Parrish Craig as they reconcile southern and queer identities with their new collection, Boyish: Poems. Starting with a Louisiana Baptist upbringing and growing into transgender liberation, Boyish dreams of a nonbinary utopia by emphasizing the necessity of upheaval of systemic oppression to dismantle the status quo.
Take a look at Jamal Jordan’s Queer Love in Color. Featuring photographs and the stories of couples and families across the United States, this compilation examines the intersection of POC and Queer identity while honoring love across a diverse spectrum.
Read the tender story of Michael Koresky and his mother in Films of Endearment: A Mother, a Son, and the ‘80s Films That Defined Us. Now a film critic, Koresky reflects on the female-driven movies of the ‘80s he and his mother watched during his childhood. This memoir is poignant and profound as it celebrates the bond between a mother and son.
Learn of Eve Adams in Jonathan Ned Katz’s biography, The Daring Life and Dangerous Times of Eve Adams. Adams was an early and daring activist that pushed boundaries with her book Lesbian Love in 1925, leading to her eventual arrest and deportation back to Poland, where she ultimately is murdered in Auschwitz. This is the first biography that celebrates Adams’ intense life, and it even contains a reprint of her long-lost book.
Who doesn’t love a good old-fashioned enemies-to-lovers storyline? Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar reenvisions the concept after popular Hani comes out as bisexual, but isn’t believed because she has only dated guys. Panicking, Hani claims she’s dating Ishu, someone her friends hate. Hani and Ishu make a pact and start fake dating, but this only gets complicated once they start developing real feelings for one another.
Sarah Schulman is releasing a new book that has been twenty years in the making. Based on over two hundred interviews, Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993, explores the legendary group ACT UP’s inner workings, conflicts, and achievements during the AIDS crisis. This 800-page tome showcases the diverse and often ingenious tactics that ACT UP employed, from direct actions on corporate and government buildings to weaponizing art and advertising; Schulman documents and unpacks the wide scope of work this historic coalition undertook in their fight for AIDS treatment for all.
Every fantastic book released this month is an opportunity to learn and grow. Go ahead, peruse the list, and enjoy one of May’s most anticipated LGBTQ books. As always, if our list is missing an author or a book, or if you have a book coming out next month, please email us.
Bio/Memoir
- All the Rage: A Partial Memoir in Two Acts and a Prologue by Brad Fraser, Doubleday Canada
- Films of Endearment: A Mother, a Son, and the ‘80s Films That Defined Us by Michael Koresky, Hanover Square Press
- Gears for Queers by Abigail Melton & Lilith Cooper, Sandstone Press Ltd
- Hillbilly Queer by J.R. Jamison, Facing Project Press
- Horses in the Sand by Lorrie Potvin, Inanna Memoir Series
- The Last Man Takes LSD: Foucault and the End of the Revolution by Micthell Dean & Daniel Zamora, Verso
- Loving Before Loving: A Marriage in Black and White by Joan Steinau Lester, University of Wisconsin Press
- Punch Me Up to the Gods: A Memoir by Brian Broome, Houghton Mifflin
- Reflections from Both Sides of the Glass Ceiling: Finding My True Self in Corporate America by Stephanie Battaglino, Loste Vineyard Press
- The Secret to Superhuman Strength by Alison Bechdel, Houghton Mifflin
- Tawdry Tales and Confessions from Horror’s Boy Next Door by William Butler, Dark Ink
- United States of Grace: A Memoir of Homelessness, Addiction, Incarceration, and Hope by Lenny Duncan, Broadleaf Books
- Valentine Ackland: A Transgressive Life by Frances Bingham, Handheld Classics
Fiction
- A Door Behind a Door by Yelena Moskovich, Two Dollar Radio
- After Francesco by Brian Malloy, John Scognamiglio Book
- The Beekeeper by Bev Prescott, Bywater Books
- Burn It All Down by Nicolas Didomizio, Little Brown and Company
- Burning the Night by Glen Huser, NeWest Press
- Closer to Fine by Jodi S. Rosenfeld, She Writes Press
- Darryl by Jackie Ess, Clash Books
- Day For Night by Jean McNeil, ECW Press
- The Guncle by Steven Rowley, G.P. Putnam’s Sons
- Here Is a Game We Could Play by Jenny Bitner, Acre Books
- The Pleasure of the Text by Sami Alwani, Conundrum Press
- Secrets of Happiness by Joan Silber, Counterpoint LLC
- Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon, MCD
- Stone Fruit by Lee Lai, Fantagraphics Books
- Things We Lost to the Water, Eric Nguyen, Knopf
Nonfiction
- Between Certain Death and a Possible Future: Queer Writing on Growing Up With the AIDS Crisis by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, Arsenal Pulp Press
- The Daring Life and Dangerous Times of Eve Adams by Jonathan Ned Katz, Chicago Review Press
- Elizabeth and Monty: The Untold Story of Their Intimate Friendship by Charles Casillo, Kensington Publishing Corporation
- Touching Creatures, Touching Spirit: Living in a Sentient World by Judy Grahn, Red Hen Press
- Twilight Man: Love and Ruin in the Shadows of Hollywood and the Clark Empire by Liz Brown, Penguin Books
LGBTQ Studies
- The Ex-Girlfriend of My Ex-Girlfriend Is My Girlfriend: Advice on Queer Dating, Love, and Friendship by Maddy Court, Chronicle Books
- Fat and Queer: An Anthology of Queer and Trans Bodies and Lives by Miguel M. Morales, Bruce Owens Grimm, & Tiff Ferentini, Jessica Kingsley Publishers
- Gossip Men: J. Edgar Hoover, Joe McCarthy, Roy Cohn, and the Politics of Insinuation by Christopher M. Elias, University of Chicago Press
- Hijras, Lovers, Brothers: Surviving Sex and Poverty in Rural India by Vaibhav Saria, Fordham University Press
- Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993 by Sarah Schulman, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- One of the Children, Gay Black Men in Harlem by William G. Hawkeswood, University of California Press
- Queer Love in Color by Jamal Jordan, Ten Speed Press
- Queer Nightlife by Kemi Adeyemi, Kareem Khubchandani, & Ramon H. Rivera-Servera, University of Michigan Press
- Queer (Words of Change Series): Powerful Voices, Inspiring Ideas by Coco Romack, Spruce Books
- Raising LGBTQ Allies: A Parent’s Guide to Changing the Messages from the Playground by Chris Tompkins, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
- Screening Queer Memory: LGBTQ Pasts in Contemporary Film and Television by Anamarija Horvat, Angela Smith, & Claire Nally, Bloomsbury Academic
- Vice Patrol: Cops, Courts, and the Struggle Over Urban Gay Life Before Stonewall by Anna Lvovsky, University of Chicago Press
Romance
- A Woman to Treasure by Ali Vali, Bold Strokes Books
- Before. After. Always. by Morgan Lee Miller, Bold Strokes Books
- Bet the Farm by Fiona Riley, Bold Strokes Books
- Cow Girl by Kirsty Eyre, HarperCollins
- Fate’s Attraction by Dirk Greyson, Dreamspinner Press
- Give in to Me by Elle Spencer, Bold Strokes Books
- Gracie & Zeus Live the Dream by Elizabeth Roderick, Cinnabar Moth Publishing LLC
- Hang the Moon by Alexandria Bellefleur, Avon Books
- Hard Sell by Hudson Lin, Carina Adores
- Hidden Dreams by Shelley Thrasher, Bold Strokes Books
- How to Find a Princess: Runaway Royals by Alyssa Cole, Avon Books
- In the Spotlight by Lesley Davis, Bold Strokes Books
- Love’s No Joke by Cheri Ritz, Bella Books
- One Weekend in Aspen by Jaime Clevenger, Bella Books
- Pas de Deux by E.J. Noyes, Bella Books
- Playing the Palace by Paul Rudnick, Berkley Books
- Prize Money by Celeste Castro, Interlude Press
- Pursuit: A Victorian Entertainment by Felice Picano, Bold Strokes Books
- Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake by Alexis Hall, Forever
- Worthy of Love by Quinn Ivins, YLVA Publishing
- Unrivaled by Radclyffe, Bold Strokes Books
Mystery/Thriller
- Nothing But Good by Kess McKinley
- Not the Real Jupiter by Barbara Wilson, Cedar Street Editions
- Old Wounds by Carrsan T. Morrissey, Carrsan Thomas Morrissey
- Origins by Jen Jensen, Bold Strokes Books
- The Sower by Rob Jung, Hawk Hill Literary, LLC
- Yes, Daddy by Jonathan Parks-Ramage, Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy/Horror
- Black Star by Eric A. Glover, Abrams Comicarts – Megascope
- Cettia’s Shadow by Emily Wilson & Celia Oliva, Emily Wilson & Celia Oliva
- Dropnauts by J. Scott Coatsworth, Mongoose on the Loose DBA Other Worlds Ink
- Exiles of Tabat by Cat Rambo, Wordfire Press
- Highway Bodies by Alison Evans, Echo Publishing
- In the Ravenous Dark by A.M. Strickland, Imprint
- A Marvel of Magick: Madden and the Dark Unicorns of Danuk by Ericka Trevor Page, Ericka Trevor Page
Young Adult Literature
- Aetherbound by E.K. Johnston, Dutton Books for Young Readers
- All Kinds of Other by James Sie, Quill Tree Books
- Any Place But Here by Sarah Van Name, Sourcebooks Fire
- Arcadia by Emmanuelle Bayamack-Tan, Steven Stories Press
- Baby and Solo by Lisabeth Posthuma, Candlewick Press (MA)
- Coming Home (Cherrington, #2) by Rebecca J. Caffery, Srl Publishing Ltd
- Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler, Wednesday Books
- Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar, Page Street Kids
- How to Become a Planet by Nicole Melleby, Algonquin Young Readers
- Indivisible by Daniel Aleman, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
- It Goes Like This by Miel Moreland, Feiwel & Friends
- Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee, Quill Tree Books
- Not My Problem by Ciara Smyth, Harperteen
- Pumpkin by Julie Murphy, Balzer + Bray
- The Story of My Life Ongoing, by C.S. Cobb by Candas Dorsey, Inanna Young Feminist Series
- Some Girls Do by Jennnifer Dugan, G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
- When You Get the Chance by Robin Stevenson & Tom Ryan, Running Press Kids
Children’s/Middle Grade Literature
- The Best of Assigned Male by Sophie Labelle, Jessica Kingsley Publishers
- Daddy & Dada by Ryan Brockingtonnn & Isaac Webster, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
- Oscar’s Tower of Flowers by Lauren Tobia, Candlewick Press (MA)
- Pride Puppy! by Robin Stevenson, Orca Book Publishers
- Tuesday Is Daddy’s Day by Elliot Kreloff, Holiday House
- Two Grooms on a Cake: The Story of America’s First Gay Wedding by Rob Sanders, Little Bee Books
- What Are Your Words?: A Book About Pronouns by Katherine Locke, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Poetry
- Boyish: Poems by Brody Parrish Craig, Omnidawn
- Dead Dad Jokes by Ollie Schminkey, Button Poetry
- The Essential June Jordan by June Jordan (Author), Jan Heller Levi (Editor), & Christoph Keller (Editor), Copper Canyon
- First by Arleen Paré, Brick Books
- Imagine Us, The Swarm by Muriel Leung, Nightboat Books
- The Language We Were Never Taught to Speak, Volume 21 by Grace Lau, Guernica Editions
- Permanent VOLTA by Rosie Stockton, Nightboat Books
- The Renunciations by Donika Kelly, Graywolf Press
- Shoreditch by Miguel Murphy, Barrow Street
