So important, Robin. My parallel experience was reading ‘new woman’ stories from the 1890s to 1910s. In those stories the woman could usually only have her independence by choosing death at the end. Reading them a century later I realised that conditions had to improve before these women could even imagine a world in which they could be both free and alive. Until we are all free, none of us is free. Any story in which the protagonist has to overcome problems unrelated to their transness gets my vote.
This reminds me of how I felt reading the graphic novel “A Boy Named Rose” by Gaëlle Geniller for the first time. It’s about a young person growing up in a cabaret in 1920s Paris. And nothing bad happens at all. Rose is loved by his cabaret family, and they are all completely supportive of Rose exploring his/her gender expression and attraction to men. And the book is so sweet and kind, I felt my heart heal a little. I can’t wait to learn more about this book you can’t tell us about yet!
Yes! I've read two books via Substack that bring queer hope and futurity. James Worth's 'Mars in Retrograde' is literary, magical, and a beautiful drawn-out love story. I'd love to read more of that quality fiction that has hope embedded within the complexities of struggle. I also picked up something very far from my usual lit style reading: a fun thing about a drag queen ghost who helps some queer coffee shop owners build a safe and happy space. Lots of love, queer mutual support, gender euphoria etc. Pearly Gates, by Bonnie Solomon was a light and straightforward story, and I think there's a place for this kind of not-lit, comforting tale. Cosy Queer, I suppose? I'll always prefer the written complexity of a 'Mars' style book, but I can see that in a world of genre fiction, work like 'Pearly' offers some very necessary normalisation and affirmation.
This sounds like a story I would love to read. Would you say it is in the hope punk genre? My wife and I look especially for hope punk books for the community solution aspect rather than lone hero. Thanks for sharing about this.
Thank you for writing this Robin, you've put into words what I've been feeling and searching for across a few years now. I've waded through various dark times where I needed to see a different opportunity, a different outcome, a different possibility. There is such equal importance in this kind of softer, healing, more hopeful work.
Btw, my ref to futurity is a nerd-drop around Edelman /Halberstam. Their arguments around the cishet "reproductive futurism" imperative, and the resistant potential of non-procreative sex / risky partying etc etc has done a lot of important work. But between the "no future" radical queers, and the conservative capitalism-addled assimilated white gays, we do also need space for that secret third thing: queers in families and homes, nurturing and building, while still being system-critical. There's also a whiff of whiteness for me in the "no futurism" stance; like white rad feminism's hard critiques of 'family', these people aren't really thinking about Global Majority people, who've had to struggle for the right to build and hold family, in the face of waves of state dismantlings, from slavery to migrant family reunion policies. So yeah, I'm here for stories of queer families embedded in wider communities and just doing life, alongside their neighbours.
So important, Robin. My parallel experience was reading ‘new woman’ stories from the 1890s to 1910s. In those stories the woman could usually only have her independence by choosing death at the end. Reading them a century later I realised that conditions had to improve before these women could even imagine a world in which they could be both free and alive. Until we are all free, none of us is free. Any story in which the protagonist has to overcome problems unrelated to their transness gets my vote.
Well said.
I can't wait to read this book you can't give details about yet!
This reminds me of how I felt reading the graphic novel “A Boy Named Rose” by Gaëlle Geniller for the first time. It’s about a young person growing up in a cabaret in 1920s Paris. And nothing bad happens at all. Rose is loved by his cabaret family, and they are all completely supportive of Rose exploring his/her gender expression and attraction to men. And the book is so sweet and kind, I felt my heart heal a little. I can’t wait to learn more about this book you can’t tell us about yet!
Yes! I've read two books via Substack that bring queer hope and futurity. James Worth's 'Mars in Retrograde' is literary, magical, and a beautiful drawn-out love story. I'd love to read more of that quality fiction that has hope embedded within the complexities of struggle. I also picked up something very far from my usual lit style reading: a fun thing about a drag queen ghost who helps some queer coffee shop owners build a safe and happy space. Lots of love, queer mutual support, gender euphoria etc. Pearly Gates, by Bonnie Solomon was a light and straightforward story, and I think there's a place for this kind of not-lit, comforting tale. Cosy Queer, I suppose? I'll always prefer the written complexity of a 'Mars' style book, but I can see that in a world of genre fiction, work like 'Pearly' offers some very necessary normalisation and affirmation.
I love this! 💖
This sounds like the world I want my daughter to be able to live it.
This sounds like a story I would love to read. Would you say it is in the hope punk genre? My wife and I look especially for hope punk books for the community solution aspect rather than lone hero. Thanks for sharing about this.
Thank you for writing this Robin, you've put into words what I've been feeling and searching for across a few years now. I've waded through various dark times where I needed to see a different opportunity, a different outcome, a different possibility. There is such equal importance in this kind of softer, healing, more hopeful work.
Robin, this moved me in uncomfortable and beautiful ways.... You move me, friend. Thank you for this.
Btw, my ref to futurity is a nerd-drop around Edelman /Halberstam. Their arguments around the cishet "reproductive futurism" imperative, and the resistant potential of non-procreative sex / risky partying etc etc has done a lot of important work. But between the "no future" radical queers, and the conservative capitalism-addled assimilated white gays, we do also need space for that secret third thing: queers in families and homes, nurturing and building, while still being system-critical. There's also a whiff of whiteness for me in the "no futurism" stance; like white rad feminism's hard critiques of 'family', these people aren't really thinking about Global Majority people, who've had to struggle for the right to build and hold family, in the face of waves of state dismantlings, from slavery to migrant family reunion policies. So yeah, I'm here for stories of queer families embedded in wider communities and just doing life, alongside their neighbours.