Queer people have always existed. In every era, in every culture, even when the world around us refused to see it, we’ve been here. And wherever queer life was forced underground, queer language finds a way to surface. Sometimes it’s in coded gestures or private diaries. Sometimes in poems, letters, or novels that seemed innocent … Continue reading Queer people have always found each other
Tag: Literature
Female Desire & Forbidden Truths in Le Fanu’s Carmilla
In Victorian literature, women often became the canvas for society’s unspoken fears and desires. The era was obsessed with controlling female sexuality and codifying gender roles, yet also fixated on the possibility of what might happen if those boundaries were crossed. Morality fiction thrived, and morality tales were even applied to history books in how … Continue reading Female Desire & Forbidden Truths in Le Fanu’s Carmilla
Queer book review: The Last Nude by Ellis Avery
Ellis Avery’s The Last Nude paints an intoxicating picture of 1920s Paris – its art, its women, the haves, the have-nots, and the dangerous glamour of being desired. For queer readers, it’s a novel that both seduces and unsettles, capturing the way infatuation can swing into self-delusion. The first section of the novel is, in … Continue reading Queer book review: The Last Nude by Ellis Avery
Queer book review: Bloom by Delilah S. Dawson
Writers can learn a lot by reading. This novella is a great study in plot and character arcs, pacing, feminine horror, representing less represented queer identities, and toxic relationship dynamics. Overview Bloom by Delilah Dawson is the story of Ro, a very new assistant professor of literature, and her obsessive relationship with Ash, an artisan … Continue reading Queer book review: Bloom by Delilah S. Dawson
“Kill what you can’t save”
I'm a long time admirer of Margaret Atwood and her work, but I'm not as familiar with her early poetry, which I've only recently begun to delve into. Atwood the author behind The Handmaid's Tale, which was initially thought to be a dystopian novel but is actually a prophetic look into future of the U.S. … Continue reading “Kill what you can’t save”
“The misprint seemed meant for me.”
I've been thinking about Elizabeth Bishop's poem The Man-Moth, which is a really interesting poem but also has interesting origins: A typo from a newspaper- the writer meant to use the word mammoth. "The misprint seemed meant for me," she later explained. Inspiration is a slithering thing - you never know where it might be … Continue reading “The misprint seemed meant for me.”
Narrative prosthesis
As someone who has a chronic illness that technically qualifies me (by law) as disabled, I think a lot about how much I dislike fighting language - I'm not a fighter or a warrior, bravely battling this disease. If anything, I'm an ally. We have to live together, so we need to get along. Really … Continue reading Narrative prosthesis
Unwise Sleeper
"...there are bad dreams for those who sleep unwisely." - Bram Stoker This line, from Chapter 3 of Stoker's Dracula, is the part of the novel (also seen in the 1992 movie) where Dracula warns Jonathan Harker not to fall asleep in any other rooms of the castle but the ones he has been given. … Continue reading Unwise Sleeper
When the narrative just won’t evolve
They say art reflects life, and the older I get, the more I turn to it and see within the very same lessons that I've learned, or am grappling with myself. I realized recently that there's a reason why two of my favorite books are The Great Gatsby and Love in the Time of Cholera. … Continue reading When the narrative just won’t evolve
Prime
There's a book I come back to periodically throughout my life - a strange piece of Scottish literature called The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. I encountered this book when I was quite young. I didn't completely understand it the first time I read it, but it stuck with me. The main character, Jean Brodie, … Continue reading Prime
Mental Wanderings: Art, Nature, Life 