Garrard Conley: On Surviving Ex-Gay Therapy, Writing His Memoir, and the Year in Queer Lit
“I remember in the 90s and even early 00s, the idea was still prevalent in popular culture and the media that gay sex equaled death. When you’re in this religious environment, it complicates it even further.”
Saleem Haddad: On the Arab Spring and Writing About the Queer Arab Experience
“It was very challenging to write this, about such a sensitive subject as sexuality and shame, knowing that it would be read both by a Western audience and an Arab audience. So I kept telling myself: Just tell the truth.”
In Conversation: Writers SJ Sindu & Gabrielle Bellot on the Publishing Industry, Marginalized Identities, and Being Labeled a Queer Writer
Writers Gabrielle Bellot and SJ Sindu discuss art vs. activism, marginalized identities, and being labeled a queer author
Michael Graves: On Writing, Relationships, and Practicing Hope
“[…] People are scared to talk about religion. They are less fearful of discussions concerning sex or guns. Why don’t we talk about God? Why don’t we talk about spirituality?”
Dawn Martin Lundy: On the Power of Forgetting and Her New Collection ‘Life in a Box is a Pretty Life’
“What I believe in is forgetting; it’s transformative, if not reformative, power. What does it mean to truly leave something behind? To excise a happening from not only your thoughts, but also from your body?”
Kirsty Logan: On Moving Through Grief by Writing, the Art of Worldbuilding, and Her New Novel ‘The Gracekeepers’
“I think that the world of The Gracekeepers is as accepting and as intolerant as our own world–that is to say, some people are incredibly tolerant of difference, and others just shriek about burning the witch (whoever and whatever the witch may be).”
Author Craig Gidney on Illuminating Race and Diversity in Speculative Fiction
“‘Death and Two Maidens’ was my response to my research on African-descended Victorians. I wanted to write a penny dreadful story that went beyond the usual (pale-skinned) cast.”
Shelly Oria: On Her New Collection ‘New York 1, Tel Aviv 0,’ Her Favorite Queer Writers, and the Power of Literature
“I’ve always thought that one of the biggest gifts literature offers us is the ability to hang out in another person’s mind. I mean, it’s a basic human fantasy, isn’t it?”
