But how has queer writing evolved from coded subtext and underground manifestos to celebrated bestsellers? How did authors write around censorship and state control? How do American and British queer narratives translate across our respective literary traditions? And how do we unearth a history when so much of it was intentionally obscured?

This in-person workshop explores how LGBTQ+ literature confronted, subverted, and survived through decades of social change.

Using iconic classics as our way in, we will trace the evolution of queer storytelling from banned 1920s novels and mid-century expatriate fiction to Victorian re-imaginings and forgotten underground gems. Combining short presentation bursts, archival context, key text deep-dives, and open group discussion, this session unpacks the page as a site of resistance and asks: how does literature capture the queer experience?

Over a two-hour session, we’ll look at the history and social context behind these works, examine key extracts to explore how they navigated their eras, and compile a take-home reading list of the hidden gems you need to read next.

Key Texts: 

The Portrait of Dorian Grey (Oscar Wilde), Tipping the Velvet (Sarah Waters), The Normal Heart (Larry Kramer, play), Heartstopper (Alice Oseman)*. 

Other Texts Covered: 

Brideshead Revisited Tales of the City, The Color Purple, Fun Home, Angels in America, The Line of Beauty, Less, Red White and Royal Blue. 

Other focus texts: 

*for the contemporary novel, I’ve gone YA but was torn between that and a contemporary queer romance like Red White and Royal Blue?