We're Not New: A 20th Century Queer Lit Reading List

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Laura Sackton is a lifelong reader, author, and lover of made up worlds. She lives in rural Massachusetts along with her candy pup, and collectively they’re decided to search out each good swimming gap inside an hour’s drive. She runs a tiny cookie enterprise out of her dwelling kitchen, and spends the remainder of her time studying and writing about queer books. You can hear all about her favorites in her publication, Books & Bakes.

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One of my best studying joys this yr has been my deep dive into 20th century (and older!) queer lit. It occurred considerably unintentionally. I made a decision to do the ten Books 10 Decades problem on Instagram (hosted by @reggiereads), and, as a result of it’s me, I selected to learn solely queer books. I had no thought how deeply I might fall in love with queer literature from a long time previous, or what a profound impact it could have on me. I’ve learn loads of nice 2023 releases this yr, however a few of my absolute favourite books have been from the Twenties and Thirties. I can’t get sufficient.

There are one million causes to like older queer books. They are proof that we now have all the time been right here. They are a window into the lives and loves of queer ancestors. They’re a reminder that queer individuals have all the time fought again in opposition to oppression, and have all the time discovered pockets of pleasure, regardless of homophobia and transphobia and violence and erasure. Right now, with LGBTQ+ rights underneath such vicious assault within the U.S., it is a welcome reminder.

But the very best factor about studying 20th century queer lit, for me, has been the belief that not solely have we all the time been right here, however that we’ve all the time been sophisticated. These books are wealthy and layered. They are critical, foolish, joyful, heartbreaking. They should not nearly struggling. They function messy, flawed people, filled with contradictions. Our tales are infinite, and we now have been writing them down ceaselessly.

Harlem Shadows by Claude McKay (1922)

One of the greats of the Harlem Renaissance, Claude McKay was a bisexual Jamaican American poet and novelist. Many of his works function queer characters, together with my favourite (although not his most well-known) Romance in Marseille. This lovely assortment of poetry is concerning the day by day experiences of Black individuals in Harlem, about being homesick and the pure world, falling in love, going to work, racism, nationalism, and a complete lot extra. In his sensible introduction, Jericho Brown remarks on how vital it’s to keep in mind that queer writers can and do put all of themselves into their work — Harlem Shadows might not be explicitly queer, nevertheless it’s nonetheless a part of the queer canon.

Passing by Nella Larsen (1929)

This is one other traditional that I feel deserves a spot within the queer canon. Larsen’s story of the sophisticated friendship between two Black ladies — Irene, who’s married and deeply concerned in Black group affairs, and Clare, who’s passing for white — remains to be beloved right this moment, and for good cause: it’s sharp, sensible, fantastically written, and deeply human. The subtext of queer want between the 2 ladies is delicate, nevertheless it’s there. Queer subtext has an extended historical past, and although I like studying the loudly queer books of right this moment, I imagine books like Passing nonetheless have lots to show us about queer historical past and literature.

Alexis by Marguerite Yourcenar, translated by Walter Kaiser (1929)

This slim novel from 1929 is certainly one of my high 5 reads of the yr — I completed it months in the past and I’m nonetheless in awe of it. It’s written within the type of a letter from the titular Alexis to his spouse. After years of mendacity to himself and to her about his sexuality, Alexis has lastly left her, and now he’s making an attempt to clarify why. It sounds easy, nevertheless it’s one of the crucial nuanced novels I’ve learn in a very long time, a stupendous meditation on silence, disgrace, liberation, music, grief, and autonomy.

Crisis by Karin Boye, translated by Amanda Doxtater (1934)

Set at a lecturers’ school in Stockholm within the Thirties, this angsty, experimental novel follows Malin Forst, a 20-something girl who’s been unquestionably religious for her whole life, till her infatuation with a fellow scholar leads her right into a disaster of religion and id. The ebook makes use of varied creative kinds, together with letters and elaborate imaginary dialogues, to chart Malin’s emotional reckoning.

Olivia by Dorothy Strachey (1949)

This brief novel is about at a ladies’ ending college in France. Seventeen-year-old Olivia arrives there from the UK and instantly turns into infatuated along with her trainer, one of many college’s headmistresses, Mlle. Julie. There’s loads of lesbian drama (who doesn’t love lesbian drama?!) however beneath that, it is a messy, trustworthy, and poignant portrait of queer teenage want. I noticed a lot of myself in Olivia, which is among the most lovely items of 20th century queer lit — to have the ability to see ourselves and our experiences in queer ancestors, actual and imagined.

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin (1956)

If it’s been a very long time because you learn this, I like to recommend revisiting it. I not too long ago reread it and was struck by how recent and related it felt. The story charts the tragic relationship between David, an American, and Giovanni, his Italian lover. It’s about queer struggling, and but regardless of its dramatic plot, it isn’t sensational. It’s a quiet, heartbreaking character examine about internalized homophobia and misogyny. Baldwin’s means to distill messy, fraught human emotion into sentences that learn like little poems is actually unimaginable.

Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid (1985)

I learn this ebook for the primary time this yr and was delighted to find how queer it was! It’s a coming-of-age story set on Antigua. The eponymous Annie is aware of herself and is aware of her thoughts; she longs for autonomy in a world that usually doesn’t make area for her. The ebook facilities her tumultuous relationship along with her mom, nevertheless it additionally explores Annie’s girlhood crushes, and the position queer want, and relationships with different ladies, performs in her life.

Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg (1993)

This novel was written close to the top of the 20th century, sure — however that’s 30 years in the past now! I can’t put into phrases the impression this ebook had on me after I first learn it as a young person, and I do know I’m removed from the one one. Jess Goldberg’s journey of queer self-discovery within the Nineteen Fifties and Sixties remains to be one of the crucial compelling, trustworthy, heartbreaking, and joyful queer and trans tales I’ve ever learn. This ebook deserves a spot on each queer bookshelf. It’s one I flip to many times.

Looking for extra queer classics? Check out this superb checklist of the 100 most influential queer books of all time. I additionally made an inventory of a few of the finest queer books printed in each decade between 1970 (the primary Pride) and 2020.