Imagine a publishing world in which your editor is a Black trans person, your publicist is a queer person with autism, and your graphic designer is a two spirit queero. And guess what: it’s real and it’s called queer publishing. Alex DiFrancesco is a trans author and editor who has worked with several radical and progressive publishing houses over the years and joins me for a chat about their work, their journey, and why they’re living the gay dream.

Don’t be a stranger! Follow @Alex_JKPGender on Twitter and @queerlitpodcast on Twitter and Instagram.

Works by Alex mentioned:

https://alexdifrancesco.com/
All City (2018)
“Tales from the Institut fuer Sexualwissenschaft”
Transmutation: Stories
Psychopomps

Other texts and people mentioned:

Jessica Kingsley Publishers (@JKPBooks and @JKPGender)
Meg-John Barker (@megjohnbarker)
https://www.spreaker.com/user/14328383/queer-lit-mj
Joy Ellison’s Sylvia and Marsha Start a Revolution!
Sylvia Rivera
Marsha P. Johnson
Heartstopper
Seven Stories Press (@7StoriesPress)
Sundress Publications (@SundressPub)
#OwnVoices
Superstorm Sandy
Nathaniel Rich’s Odds Against Tomorrow
Felix D’eon (@felixdeonart)
Aphantasia
Tiresias
T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land
JVN’s Getting Curious (@curiouswithjvn)
Wild Zero (1999)
Guitar Wolf

Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:

1.What distinguishes queer or radical publishing houses from mainstream publishers?
2.Do you know a radical or progressive press? Please try to find one in an area that is of interest to you.
3.What is own voice publishing?
4.Why does Alex find queer books for young people and children particularly important? What are your thoughts on this?
5.We speak about trans* characters as messengers in the episode. Can you think of a text that presents such a character?
6.If you could open a radical publishing house, what would make it radical?