Advertisement
Books

International Transgender Day of Visibility: Top 5 books by trans feminine authors

Unrequited love, trans kids, Black modernism… there’s a huge range in this selection of great books by trans feminine authors.

To mark International Transgender Day of Visibility, Greek-Irish writer Soula Emmanuel picks her top five books by trans feminine authors.

Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian) by Hazel Jane Plante

The story of a trans woman’s unrequited love for her deceased trans friend. A moving exploration of grief, queerness and fandom. 

The Complete Gary Lutz by Garielle Lutz

A short story collection with a prophetic title, as it was published shortly before the author came out as trans. Lutz writes sentences like no one else, and offers a disembodied, listless, even dysphoric ‘zeroth-person’ perspective on the world. 

Histories of the Transgender Child by Jules Gill-Peterson

Advertisement
Advertisement

Trans kids are nothing new. This is a must-read to understand the unseemly origins of the gender clinic. Gill-Peterson looks at links between gender medicine and racialised understandings of normativity. 

Lote by Shola von Reinhold

A lush, inventive journey through Black modernism, which counters the exclusion of Black figures from art history. Witty and decadent – take a drink every time a character drinks and you won’t make it to page 50. 

Fucking Trans Women by Mira Bellwether

A zine with a self-explanatory title, FTW has attained a legendary status, having inspired countless trans women and their partners to become fully acquainted with their bodies. Bellwether died last year without getting the credit she deserved. 

Wild Geese cover

Wild Geese by Soula Emmanuel is out now (Footnote Press, £15.99). You can buy it, and some of these other titles, from The Big Issue shop on Bookshop.org, which helps to support The Big Issue and independent bookshops.

This article is taken from The Big Issue magazine, which exists to give homeless, long-term unemployed and marginalised people the opportunity to earn an income.To support our work buy a copy! If you cannot reach your local vendor, you can still click HERE to subscribe to The Big Issue today or give a gift subscription to a friend or family member. You can also purchase one-off issues from The Big Issue Shop or The Big Issue app, available now from the App Store or Google Play.

Advertisement

Sign our petition to keep people in their homes

Urgent action is needed to prevent even more people being pushed into homelessness.  A secure home is the first step in addressing the cruel cycle of poverty to ensure people can fulfil their potential. Join us to keep people in their homes.

Recommended for you

Read All
Why we all need to fall back in love with rail travel
Rail journeys

Why we all need to fall back in love with rail travel

Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang review – the politics of food
Books

Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang review – the politics of food

Pioneering supermodel with Down's syndrome Ellie Goldstein shares her most empowering life lessons
Interview

Pioneering supermodel with Down's syndrome Ellie Goldstein shares her most empowering life lessons

Globe making is a dying skill, but I'm keeping the tradition going
Craftspeople

Globe making is a dying skill, but I'm keeping the tradition going

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Here's when people will get the second cost of living payment in 2023
3.

Here's when people will get the second cost of living payment in 2023

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue
4.

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue