What are the stories being told about queer people in this pandemic-stricken moment, and who is telling them? When the very idea of normal ...
What are the stories being told about queer people in this pandemic-stricken moment, and who is telling them? When the very idea of normal has been turned upside down and inside out by a virus of all things, what does it even mean to be queer? Why must queerness be defined only in relation to gender and sexuality if it is essentially about finding your voice on your own terms? My search for queer-themed books being written during these times of COVID-19 began with a host of questions. Some got answered, some gave birth to further questions.
Ambar Sahil Chatterjee, who has worked in publishing for over a decade, and published Nemat Sadat’s queer novel The Carpet Weaver (2019), said, “After the reading down of Section 377 in the Supreme Court of India, publishers have become more aware that there is a ready market of queer readers and an appetite for queer-themed books. With increasing social acceptance, more people from the LGBTQIA+ community are shrugging off the fear of stigma, resulting in a rich, diverse chorus of voices with increasingly sophisticated stories to tell.”
Anxious creativity
Poet-activist Rohan Susha Mathews experienced anxiety about being homebound during the lockdown, which was why he began to write a book about...
