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Buchtipps - Queer

Taboom Media and GALA Queer Archive are proud to launch our new anthology Hopes and Dreams That Sound Like Yours: Stories of Queer Activism in Sub-Saharan Africa to mark this year’s International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism, and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT).

In this stunning debut novel—a tale of self-discovery and feminist awakening—a feisty Nigerian-Ghanaian girl growing up amid the political upheaval of late 1960s postcolonial Ghana begins to question the hypocrisy of her patriarchal society, and the restrictions and unrealistic expectations placed on women. Young Esi Agyekum is the unofficial “secret keeper” of her family, as tight-lipped about her father's adultery as she is about her half-sisters’ sex lives.

What does it mean for a family to lose a child they never really knew? 

Exhale is a queer anthology wrapped in the idea of a release, a letting go, breathing out. An orgasm. These are the stories that come out when you play sip or spill, truth or dare, never have I ever and lasts longer than 7 minutes in heaven. With sexual experiences from all over Africa, this anthology introduces some exciting new literary voices and brings you some of your established favourites.

The first novel by an Equatorial Guinean woman to be translated into English, La Bastarda is the story of the orphaned teen Okomo, who lives under the watchful eye of her grandmother and dreams of finding her father. Forbidden from seeking him out, she enlists the help of other village outcasts: her gay uncle and a gang of “mysterious” girls revelling in their so-called indecency. Drawn into their illicit trysts, Okomo finds herself falling in love with their leader and rebelling against the rigid norms of Fang culture.

Ein Satz, der wie eine Selbstverständlichkeit klingt – «Ich bin Linus» –, doch er teilt sein Leben in ein Davor und Danach. Auf beeindruckende Weise erzählt Linus Giese, warum er einunddreißig Jahre alt werden musste, um laut auszusprechen, dass er ein Mann und trans ist und warum sein Leben heute vielleicht nicht einfacher, aber sehr viel glücklicher ist.

XX ist ein hoch brisanter, wagemutiger Roman, der nur Millimeter von der Wirklichkeit entfernt die Frage verhandelt, was wäre, wenn zwei Frauen ein leibliches Kind miteinander haben könnten. Egal, ob Mann oder Frau: Wer XX liest, steht vor entscheidenden Fragen.

“We put together this collection of twenty-five narratives to correct the invisibility, the confusion, the caricaturising and the writing out of queer women from history.” This stirring and intimate collection brings together 25 captivating narratives to paint a vivid portrait of what it means to be a queer Nigerian woman.

From award-winning novelist Nicole Dennis-Benn comes this beautifully layered portrait of motherhood, immigration and sacrifice WINNER OF THE LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD 2020 A TIME MAGAZINE 'MUST READ BOOK OF 2019' LONGLISTED FOR A PEN/FAULKNER AWARD 2020 Patsy yearns to escape the beautiful but impoverished Jamaican town where she was raised for a new life in New York and the chance to start afresh. Above all, she hopes to be reunited with her oldest friend, Cicely, and to rekindle their young love.

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family's history that began before he was born – a history whose epicentre is rooted in Vietnam – and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation. At once a witness to the fraught yet undeniable love between a single mother and her son, it is also a brutally honest exploration of race, class, and masculinity.