Out Here: An Anthology of Takatapui and LGBTQIA+ Writers from Aotearoa
Voting ended onJun 6
Book summaries below:
This Much is True by Miriam Margolyes
BAFTA-winning actor, voice of everything from Monkey to the Cadbury's Caramel Rabbit, creator of a myriad of unforgettable characters from Lady Whiteadder to Professor Sprout, Miriam Margolyes, OBE, is the nation's favourite (and naughtiest) treasure. Find out how being conceived in an air-raid gave her curly hair; what pranks led to her being known as the naughtiest girl Oxford High School ever had; how she ended up posing nude for Augustus John as a teenager; why Bob Monkhouse was the best (male) kiss she's ever had; and what happened next after Warren Beatty asked 'Do you fuck?'
From declaring her love to Vanessa Redgrave to being told to be quiet by the Queen, this book is packed with hilarious stories. With a cast list stretching from Scorsese to Streisand, a cross-dressing Leonardo di Caprio to Isaiah Berlin, This Much Is True is as full of life and surprises, as its inimitable author.
Nonfiction, memoir
Out Here: An Anthology of Takatapui and LGBTQIA+ Writers from Aotearoa, edited by Emma Barnes and Chris Tse
A remarkable anthology of queer New Zealand voices. We became teenagers in the nineties when New Zealand felt a lot less cool about queerness and gender felt much more rigid. We knew instinctively that hiding was the safest strategy. But how to find your community if you’re hidden? Aotearoa is a land of extraordinary queer writers, many of whom have contributed to our rich literary history. But you wouldn’t know it. Decades of erasure and homophobia have rendered some of our most powerful writing invisible. Out Here will change that. This landmark book brings together and celebrates queer New Zealand writers from across the gender and LGBTQIA+ spectrum with a generous selection of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and much, much more. From established names to electrifying newcomers, the cacophony of voices brought together in Out Here sing out loud and proud, ensuring that future generations of queers are afforded the space to tell their stories and be themselves without fear of retribution or harm.
QOTD: Who’s a celebrity you’d like to know more about?
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This was just as hilarious and unflinchingly honest as I expected it to be. Miriam Margolyes is an expert storyteller and this book was a joy to listen to.
I loved learning about her early life and her time at Cambridge, hearing stories about all the unique, talented, wonderful people she’s bumped shoulders with throughout her life.
She has an opinion on just about everything, and while we don’t always agree, I can’t fault her honesty and at times even found it had me laughing out loud.
We are all scared. We are all secretly shaking with fright inside, uncertain of what we should be doing, saying and thinking; anxious about what are lives are going to be. I believe that if you can allay those fears, if you can soothe people, and hug them, and make them feel it's going to be alright, you're doing a public service.
01.30.22 | FINALLY remembered to write the correct year. Anyway. Spent another lovely Sunday in the city. My brain refuses to shut up so it’s nice to have a change in scenery that can compete for my attention <3 I had my first job interview for post-undergrad life last Wednesday and it has literally wreaked havoc on my nervous system. It went well but given that I can’t start until May bc of school, my odds still feel stacked. It would be such a cool opportunity and I can’t help but mentally prepare for a rejection, but at this point I just wish they’d tell me their decision so I can get it over with kzdfjgkljdh
It’s always times like this where I wish I could be better at compartmentalizing :’’’’’)
