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After decades of being relegated to the “queer” section of the bookstore, usually on a dusty bottom shelf in a dark back corner, more and more LGBTQ writers are having their work recognized and enjoyed by mainstream audiences.Today, these writers are seeing their words reach the tops of bestsellers lists, be optioned for TV series and movies, and celebrated with the world’s most prestigious literary prizes.We’ve compiled a short roundup of some of our more prideful writers for pride season–some newcomers, some more established–who are making an impact in the literary world and serving as a voice for generations of queer people.[/tps_header]
Roxane Gay is perhaps one of the hardest working writers of her generation. Her words are reshaping how people think about race, sex, gender identity, and sexuality.In addition to being the author of several bestselling books, including 2014’sBad Feminist and 2017’s Hunger,as well as a 2018 Guggenheim fellowship winner, Gay contributes opinion columns to theNew York Times.In 2016, she made history alongside poet Yona Harvey when they were hired as the first Black women to be lead writers at Marvel. The result wasBlack Panther: World of Wakanda,a spin-off ofBlack Panther which was hailed for its prominent portrayal of LGBTQ characters.In a recent column on Black Lives Matter published by theNew York Times, Gay, who identifies as bisexual, writes:
After decades of being relegated to the “queer” section of the bookstore, usually on a dusty bottom shelf in a dark back corner, more and more LGBTQ writers are having their work recognized and enjoyed by mainstream audiences.Today, these writers are seeing their words reach the tops of bestsellers lists, be optioned for TV series and movies, and celebrated with the world’s most prestigious literary prizes.We’ve compiled a short roundup of some of our more prideful writers for pride season–some newcomers, some more established–who are making an impact in the literary world and serving as a voice for generations of queer people.[/tps_header]Roxane Gay
Roxane Gay is perhaps one of the hardest working writers of her generation. Her words are reshaping how people think about race, sex, gender identity, and sexuality.In addition to being the author of several bestselling books, including 2014’sBad Feminist and 2017’s Hunger,as well as a 2018 Guggenheim fellowship winner, Gay contributes opinion columns to theNew York Times.In 2016, she made history alongside poet Yona Harvey when they were hired as the first Black women to be lead writers at Marvel. The result wasBlack Panther: World of Wakanda,a spin-off ofBlack Panther which was hailed for its prominent portrayal of LGBTQ characters.In a recent column on Black Lives Matter published by theNew York Times, Gay, who identifies as bisexual, writes:We all have to challenge ourselves. We have to consider ideas that previously seemed impossible. We have to take risks and make ourselves uncomfortable. We need to continue talking about all of the ways racism influences our lives.
Newcomer Dennis E. Staples is an Ojibwe writer from Bemidji, Minnesota, whose debut novelThis Town Sleepswas published earlier this year and has been met with wide acclaim from critics and audiences alike. The book follows a gay Ojibwe man from rural Minnesota who falls in love with a former high school classmate, a deeply closeted white man.Prior to publishing hisThis Town Sleeps, Staples wrote short stories and earned his MFA in creative writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts. He is also a member of the Red Lake Nation, a unique lineage of Ojibwe people who work to protect, preserve, and maintain its status as an independent nation that is federally recognized as an Indian tribe.Staples is one of only a few Native American writers of his generation writing about LGBTQ issues, and it’s something he says he hopes to continue doing.
Amrou Al-Kadhi is a non-binary UK-based Iraqi writer, performer, and filmmaker whose memoir
Adam Silvera is a bestselling queer young adult author. His debut novelMore Happy Than Not was published in 2015 when he was just 25 years old. Since then, he’s written three more novels and launched a trilogy calledThe Infinity Cycle. His stories often deal with themes of coming of age, coming out, identity, and relationships, all told through his unique lens as a gay Latino millennial.In the last couple of years, Silvera’s work has gained Hollywood notice. His fourth novel, co-authored withLove, Simon author Becky Albertalli, is currently being developed into a movie. Meanwhile, his bookThey Both Die at the Endis being developed into an HBO series, andMore Happy Than Not is being turned into a series by HBO Max.In a January 2020
Michael R. Jackson is an American playwright, composer, and lyricist who made history this year when his musicalA Strange Loop won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.The play tells the story of an overweight, gay, Black artist as he tries to survive in a heteronormative white world. Jackson’s win marked the first time a musical written by a Black writer received a Pulitzer.But the winning didn’t stop there.A Strange Loop also won the Lambda Literary Award for Drama, two Drama Desk Awards, two Obie Awards, and two Outer Critics Circle Award Honors. Oh, and it’s original cast recording peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Cast Albums chart.Perhaps no one was more surprised by the Pulitzer win than Jackson himself, who tweeted shortly after learning the news:
Marieke Lucas Rijneveld is a non-binary Dutch writer whose bestselling debut novelThe Discomfort of Evening, translated by Michele Hutchison, is nominated for the 2020 International Booker Prize.Celebrated by critics, the novel is inspired partly by the death of Rijneveld’s brother, who died when Rijneveld was three, and offers a rare glimpse of rural and religious life in the Netherlands, where Marieke suffered bullying and abuse.Speaking to theNew York Times in April 2020 about their non-binary identity, 29-year-old Rijneveld
