diversify your queer reads: 2014 books featuring queer people of color
Earlier this year, author K Tempest Bradford challenged readers to try a year of books that aren’t written by straight, white, cis men. Some see challenges like this as limiting our reading choices - but in a culture where white, straight, cis narratives continue to dominate, intentionally diversifying the stories we read is an exercise in expansion.
As in the past two years, I put together this list of publications from 2014 with the help of resources like the Lambda Literary Foundation and Sistahs On The Shelf, as well as reviewers around tumblr, goodreads and elsewhere. It has grown thanks to the efforts of small presses like Kórima Press and biyuti publishing. These are all books that feature the voices of queer people of color and/or QPOC protagonists.
Annual disclaimer: There’s no way this list is exhaustive. These are also not personal recommendations, just every title I could find. If I was unsure about a book’s contents (that is, if I was unsure if the qpoc characters were prominent, or if I thought the book might be exploitative), I tried to give weight to who the author is (i.e. I was more likely to include books I know were written by people of color). Of course, I’ll happily add books to the list if you have any suggestions that fit the theme - only books about QPOC, and only works published in 2014.
Here’s everything I found, arranged by genre:
Fiction
Otros Valos by Jamie Berrout
The Rules by S. Renee Bess
Love Enough by Dionne Brand
The Girl with the Treasure Chest by V.A. Fearon
For Today I am a Boy by Kim Fu
Souljah by John R. Gordon
Rapture by Myesha D. Jenkins
Prairie Ostrich by Tamai Kobayashi
The Paths of Marriage by Mala Kuma
Part the Hawser Limn the Sea by Dan Lopez
Last Words of Montmartre by Qiu Miaojin
Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab by Shani Mootoo
The Walk-In Closet by Abdi Nazemian
A Lesbian in God’s House by Phenomenon
She of the Mountains by Vivek Sharya
Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror
Skin Deep Magic by Craig Laurence Gidney
The Beast of Callaire by Saruuh Kelsey
Love in the Gilded Age by Saruuh Kelsey
Sacred Fire by Tanai Walker
Desire at Dawn by Fiona Zedde
Desire: Gay Passionate Short Stories by Orville Lloyd Douglas
Let The Love Be by Sheree L. Greer
How Can An Angel Take My Heart, Part II: The Armanèe by Regina Knox
Pieces of Her by A.C. Mims
Les Tales: Tempted to Touch by Skyy, Nikki Rashan and Fiona Zedde
Surrender: Two Hearts & A Rainbow Series by Monique BT Thomas
Treasure by Rebekah Weatherspoon
Safe Haven by B.L. Wilson
When She Says Yes by Fiona Zedde
Difficult Fruit by Lauren Alleyne
i just want freedom by b. binaohan
The New Testament by Jericho Brown
The Cha Cha Files: A Chapina Poética by Maya Chinchilla
Floating Brilliant Gone by Franny Choi
Make Love to Rage by Morgan Robyn Collado
Under My Skin by Orville Lloyd Douglas
Prime: Poetry & Conversation by Darrel Alejandro Holnes, Saeed Jones, Rickey Laurentiis, Phillip B. Williams and L. Lamar Wilson
The Possibilities of Mud by Joe Jiménez
Prelude to Bruise by Saeed Jones
Don’t Go Back To Sleep by Timothy Liu
Naming Ceremony by Chip Livingston
I Look For You In Other Truths by Ramon Loyola
Amorcito Maricón by Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano
Haiti Glass by Lenell Moise
This Way to the Sugar by Hieu Minh Nguyen
Everybody’s Bread by Claudia Rodriguez
Language Arts by Cedar Sigo
[insert] boy by danez smith
The Fateful Apple by Venus Thrash
Bird in the Hand by Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas
BOOTYCANDY by Robert O’Hara
A Boiz Life: A play in one act by E.J. Loveson
The Beast of Times by Adelina Anthony
Jotos del Barrio by Jesús Alonzo
The Prince of Los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood by Richard Blanco
Fire Shut Up in my Bones by Charles M. Blow
Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
Memoirs of a GayShe by Garland G. Guidry
A Cup of Water Under My Bed by Daisy Hernandez
The Transsexual from Tobago by Dominique Jackson
Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round: Forty Years of Movement Building with Barbara Smith edited by Alethia Jones & Virginia Eubanks with Barbara Smith
Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More by Janet Mock
My Life is No Accident by Tenika Watson and Jennifer Daelyn
Willful Subjects by Sara Ahmed
James Baldwin: The Last Interview and Other Conversations
Under Bright Lights: Gay Manila and the Global Scene by Bobby Benedicto
Gender on the Edge: Transgender, Gay, and Other Pacific Islanders edited by Niko Besnier & Kalissa Alexeyeff
decolonizing trans/gender 101 by b. binaohan
The Queer Caribbean Speaks Interviews with Writers, Artists, and Activists by Kofi Omoniyi Sylvanus Campbell
Firelight of a Different Colour: The Life and Times of Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing by Nigel Collett
Hold Tight Gently: Michael Callen, Essex Hemphill, and the Battlefield of AIDS by Martin Duberman
Underserved Women of Color, Voice, and Resistance Claiming a Seat at the Table edited by Sonja M. Brown Givens & Keisha Edwards Tassie
Black and Gay in the UK: An Anthology edited by John R. Gordon & Rikki Beadle-Blair
A View from the Bottom: Asian American Masculinity and Sexual Representation by Nguyen Tan Hoang
Black Queer Identity Matrix: Towards An Integrated Queer of Color Framework by Sheena C. Howard
Queer & Trans Artists of Color: Stories of Some of Our Lives by Nia King
Island Bodies: Transgressive Sexualities in the Caribbean Imagination by Rosamond S. King
Namibia’s Rainbow Project: Gay Rights in an African Nation by Robert Lorway
Queen for a Day: Transformistas, Beauty Queens, and the Performance of Femininity in Venezuela by Marcia Ochoa
Unbought and Unbossed: Transgressive Black Women, Sexuality, and Representation by Trimika Melancon
Queer Beirut by Sofian Merabet
In the Life and In the Spirit: Homoerotic Spirituality in African American Literature by Marlon Rachquel Moore
Sensational Flesh: Race, Power, and Masochism by Amber Jamilla Musser
Imperial Blues: Geographies of Race and Sex in Jazz Age New York by Fiona I. B. Ngô
Sexual Futures, Queer Gestures, and Other Latina Longings by Juana María Rodríguez
The Avowal of Difference: Queer Latino American Narratives by Ben. Sifuentes-Jauregui
Black Gay Genius: Answering Joseph Beam’s Call edited by Charles Stephens & Steven G. Fullwood
Queer Masculinities in Latin American Cinema: Male Bodies and Narrative Representations by Gustavo Subero
The Queerness of Native American Literature by Lisa Tatonetti
Delectable Negro: Human Consumption and Homoeroticism within US Slave Culture by Vincent Woodard
The Voices in Between by Charlene Challenger
The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan & Maureen Johnson
The Sowing by Steven Dos Santos
Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis
Moon at Nine by Deborah Ellis
Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan
Climbing the Date Palm by Shira Glassman
Always Leaving by Gene Grant
Pukawiss the Outcast by Jay Jordan Hawke
Gabi, A Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero
Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Tell Your Story, Tell A Dream Birthday Cake by Angela Bermudez & Flor Bermudez
Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It by Anne Ishii, Chip Kidd & Graham Kolbeins
100 Crushes by Elisha Lim
More and More of You by Takeshi Matsu
Cruising Diaries by Brontez Purnell & Janelle Hessig
Fishermans Lodge by Gengoroh Tagame
