Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about but haven’t yet read. Most of the time they’re books that have yet to be released, but not always. It’s based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme, which was originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.
This week my Can’t-Wait-For Book is Queer as Folklore by Sacha Coward!
Published on: 22nd August 2024
Goodreads
'One delight after another. Told with an open heart, a questing curiosity, and a healthy sense of mischief, Queer as Folklore is essential for every seeker of hidden histories' Patrick Ness, author of the 'Chaos Walking' series
Queer as Folklore takes readers across centuries and continents to reveal the unsung heroes and villains of storytelling, magic and fantasy. Featuring images from archives, galleries and museums around the world, each chapter investigates the queer history of different mythic and folkloric characters, both old and new.
Leaving no headstone unturned, Sacha Coward will take you on a wild ride through the night from ancient Greece to the main stage of RuPaul’s Drag Race, visiting cross-dressing pirates, radical fairies and the graves of the ‘queerly departed’ along the way. Queer communities have often sought refuge in the shadows, found kinship in the in-between and created safe spaces in underworlds; but these forgotten narratives tell stories of remarkable resilience that deserve to be heard.
Join any Pride march and you are likely to see a glorious display of papier-mâché unicorn heads trailing sequins, drag queens wearing mermaid tails and more fairy wings than you can shake a trident at. But these are not just they are queer symbols with historic roots.
To truly understand who queer people are today, we must confront the twisted tales of the past and Queer as Folklore is a celebration of queer history like you've never seen it before.
I am a queer myth-geek, and I am particularly geeky about queer myths, and it’s quite hard to find good books on the subject (especially ones that are still in print). I mean, I adore my copy of Cassell’s Encyclopedia of Queer Myth, Symbol and Spirit, but it’s the only really excellent one I know, and it’s hard to rec to people, having been out of print FOREVER.
So LE DUH I pounced on Queer as Folklore the moment I heard about it! I backed it on Unbound, even, and I’ve been waiting several years for it, and AHHHH IT’S FINALLY ALMOST HERE!
(Only the ebook – I think the hardcover is out in November. BUT STILL!)
I actually got my copy a little while ago – perk of backing on Unbound! – and I can assure anyone sceptical that it is, actually, EPIC. Super readable, pulling from cultural history/historical pop culture as well as actual history and myth, and willing to go FAR beyond the Ancient Greek stuff. I’ve only read the first two parts so far, but it opens with ‘Queer Be Dragons’, and honestly, that should be all you need to hear!
It’s out TOMORROW! Make sure to grab a copy!
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