Originally founded in the USA by Rodney Wilson, LGBT+ History Month is an annual celebration of the community and its history related to the civil rights movement and the continued fight for equality. Founded in 2005, UK LGBT+ History Month is held every February to commemorate the abolition of Section 28 of the 1988 Local Government Act.
At Head of Zeus, we wanted to curate a ‘Title Spotlight’ of just some of our more recent books to celebrate, support and promote greater visibility of LGBT+ voices across genres for all to enjoy.
Queer: A Collection of LGBTQ Writing from Ancient Times to Yesterday, edited by Frank Wynne
Published this January, Queer is a must read for lovers of LGBTQ writing from ancient times to the modern day. Frank Wynne, award winning translator and the editor of this collection, has selected eighty of the finest works representing queer love by LGBTQ authors.
With stories, poems, extracts and scenes from countries the world over, Queer is an unabashed and unapologetic anthology, giving a voice to writers, narratives and works of literature that are often silenced.
These pieces straddle the spectrum of queer experience, from Verlaine's sonnet in praise of his lover's anus and Emily Dickinson's exhortation of a woman's beauty, to Alison Bechdel's graphic novel of her coming out, Juno Dawson's reflections on gender and Oscar Wilde's 'De Profundis'.
In a recent article, ‘LGBT+ literature taught me to love myself’, Wynne wrote of his connection to LGBT+ writing and why he created this anthology:
It is not too much to say that books saved me – they encouraged me to love myself and to dare to love others. In the end, I realised, my anthology was a homage to all those writers across the centuries who taught me. In the words of the glorious Rita Mae Brown: “The only queer people are those who don't love anybody.”
A must read for anyone who is looking for a collection of work that represents queer love in all of its forms from around the world!
No Modernism without Lesbians by Diana Souhami
Coming out in paperback this February, Souhami’s No Modernism without Lesbians explores the extraordinary story of how a singular group of women in a pivotal time and place – Paris, Between the Wars – fostered the birth of the Modernist movement.
Sylvia Beach, Bryher, Natalie Barney, and Gertrude Stein. A trailblazing publisher; a patron of artists; a society hostess; a groundbreaking writer. As women who loved women, they rejected the patriarchy and made lives of their own – forming a community around them in Paris.
Each of these four central women interacted with a myriad of others, some of the most influential, most entertaining, most shocking and most brilliant figures of the age. An insightful read for history lovers and readers alike, Souhami weaves their stories into those of the four central women to create a vivid moving tapestry of life among the Modernists in pre-War Paris.
'A book about love, identity, acceptance and the freedom to write, paint, compose and wear corduroy breeches with gaiters. To swear, kiss, publish and be damned. It is vastly entertaining and often moving ... There isn't a page without an entertaining vignette' The Times
Dangerous Remedy and Monstrous Design by Kat Dunn
For readers who enjoy sci-fi, historical fiction and some romance,the Battalion of the Dead YA series is the one for you! Written by Kat Dunn, the series is an #ownvoices queer romance set amid the opulence and squalor of 18th-century London and Paris.
The first in a dazzling, historical adventure series Dangerous Remedy follows Camille: a revolutionary's daughter, leads a band of outcasts – a runaway girl, a deserter, an aristocrat in hiding.
As the Battalion des Morts they cheat death, saving those about to meet a bloody end at the blade of Madame La Guillotine. But their latest rescue is not what she seems. The girl's no aristocrat, but her dark and disturbing powers means both the Royalists and the Revolutionaries want her. But who and what is she?
In a fast and furious story full of the glamour and excesses, intrigue and deception of these dangerous days, no one can be trusted, everyone is to be feared. As Camille learns the truth, she's forced to choose between loyalty to those she loves and the future.
A whirlwind of action, science and magic reveals, with a diverse cast of fearless heroines, a band of rebels like no other, the second installment, Monstrous Design, comes out June 10th 2021.
