Show Notes
If you can’t find me, I’m probably still browsing shelves of queer joy at Lighthouse, Edinburgh’s superb radical bookshop. The delightful owner Mairi Oliver took some time to chat with me about the long history of radical and queer bookshops that have come before and exist alongside this absolute gem of a queer space. We speak about queer spaces changing hands and transforming, rather than disappearing, about the magic of queer and trans book events, and about why radical booksellers are so important for local community.
References: Word Power Elaine Henry Constant Reader Bookshop Lavender Menace West & Wilde Sigrid Nielson Bob Orr J une Thomas’s A Place of One’s Own Jane Cholmeley’s A Bookshop of One’s Own Silver Moon Bookshop James Ley’s Love Song To Lavender Menace Naomi Klein Sara Ahmed Radical Book Fair Category is Books (Glasgow) Gay’s The Word (London) Housmans (London) Five Leaves (Nottingham) Alliance of Radical Booksellers https://www.radicalbooksellers.co.uk/ Bread and Roses Award Jake Hall’s Shoulder to Shoulder: A Queer History of Solidarity, Coalition and Chaos N.S. Nuseibeh’s Namesake
Questions you should be able to respond to after listening: Mairi speaks about how Lighthouse builds on a lineage of queer spaces. How do you feel about queer spaces transforming versus disappearing? In this context, we also speak about the higher expectations for queer spaces. Have you experienced this? Do you think queer spaces should be held to a higher standard? What is the effect of this? When we speak about the relationship between readers, booksellers and authors, Mairi makes some interesting points about how the role of writers is changing. What struck you as particularly important here? Mairi ends the episode with a note on the urgency with which we need to address current political discussions. How can books and bookshops help us do this?
More from Queer Lit
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Listen, this episode is as delightful as it sounds. Audiophile Stacey Copeland tells me all about feminist soundwork, radical radio, and lesbian podcasts – all of which Stacey writes about in the excellent new book Lavender Sounds. Tune in for the sonic histories, stay for the moment when Stacey illustrating the crafted intimacy of podcasts will make you a little weak in the knees. If you are interested in the politics and potential of audio media, you will absolutely love this episode.