It’s crossover time! In this week’s episode, Queer Lit enters a unicorn union with This Queer Book Saved My Life!, a brilliant new podcast by J.P. Der Boghossian. Before we get to the books that were our personal saviours, J.P. and I talk about The Queer Armenian Library – a digital resource of queer Armenian texts, shows, films, poetry and so much more. In addition to creating incredibly impactful projects such as these two, J.P. is also extraordinarily lovely to chat to. We laugh, we sigh… an unmissable double feature that will turn you gay on the spot.

Want to keep up to date with what J.P. does next? I sure do, which is why I follow @jpderboghossian and @queerlitpodcast on Twitter and Instagram.

Texts, people and resources mentioned:

@jpderboghossian
https://jpderboghossian.com/
The Queer Armenian Library ( @readtheQAL )
https://queerarmenianlibrary.com/
This Queer Book Saved My Life ( @thisqueerbook )
https://thisqueerbook.com/
GALAS Gay and Lesbian Armenian Society
Armenian Weekly
Mika Artyan’s Unzipped: Gay Armenia
http://gayarmenia.blogspot.com/
Bookshop.org ( @bokshop_org_uk )
Arlene Voski Avakian’s Lion Woman’s Legacy
Moshin Hamid’s Exit West
Michael Cunningham’s A Home at the End of the World
Kate Davies’ In at the Deep End
Chloe Caldwell’s Women
Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home and The Secret to Superhuman Strength
Carmen Maria Machado’s In the Dream House
Lara Lillibridge, author of Girl-ish and Mama Mama
Nancy Agabian, author of Me as Her Again
Dr. Joe Perazzo – Assistant Professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing
Greg Louganis’ Breaking the Surface
S.A. Chant’s Peter Darling
The Queery (@thequeerybtn )
Andrea Gibson’s “Orlando” ( @andrewgibby )
Mary Lambert
Virginia Woolf’s Orlando
Michael Barakiva’s One Man Guy
Heartstopper

Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:

1.What role can specialised collections like the Queer Armenian Library play for individuals but also for queer life and culture more broadly?
2.If you were to create a queer library, what special kind of queer literature would it house?
3.What does JP say about the role of representation in queer lives and literatures? What are your thoughts?
4.Please find one scholarly text that you could use to write about the role of representation for marginalised communities. Which one did you pick and why?
5.And of course I must ask: Which queer book saved your life?