Queer Lit

• “Love Lies Bleeding” with Michelle Devereaux

  How many times have you watched the sweaty lesbian fever dream that is Love Lies Bleeding? As you might be able to guess from this episode, Michelle Devereaux and I have stopped counting. Michelle is a feminist film-philosophy expert who joins me to talk about Rose Glass’s super queer neo noir, the interplay of genre conventions and gender dynamics, and all the fun intertexts and easter eggs that we found in Love Lies Bleeding. Whether you’re into bodybuilding and gender transgression or lesbian romance against all odds, this episode is for you.  ReferencesRose Glass’ Love Lies Bleeding (2024)Devereaux, Michelle. "Suspicious Minds and Dead Bodies: Queer Romance and Skepticism in Rose Glass’s Love Lies Bleeding." Film Quarterly 78.2 (2024): 24-32.Devereaux, Michelle. The Stillness of Solitude: Romanticism and Contemporary American Independent Film. Edinburgh University Press, 2019.Devereaux, Michelle.“‘A lot of people are creative’: Process, Perfectionism and the Everyday Sublime in Kelly Reichardt’s Showing Up and First Cow”. Kim Wilkins and Bruce Isaacs, eds. A24: Culture, Aesthetics, Identity. Edinburgh University Press, 2026 (expected).Devereaux, Michelle.“Inherited Trauma, Postcolonial Scepticism and the Harmony of Voice in Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale”. Film-Philosophy and Australian Cinema. Saige Walton and Matilda Mroz, eds. Edinburgh University Press, 2026 (expected).Devereaux, Michelle and Lash, Dominic (eds.). Love, Desire and Stanley Cavell. London: Routledge, 2026 (expected).MAI: Feminism and Visual Culture: www.maifeminism.comRussian DollSofia CoppolaCavell, Stanley. Pursuits of Happiness: The Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage. Harvard University Press, 1981.Cavell, Stanley. Contesting Tears: The Hollywood Melodrama of the Unknown Woman. Harvard University Press, 1996.Comedies of RemarriageScrewball ComedyOut and WildSleater-KinneyBristol Butch BarLindner, Katharina. Film Bodies: Queer Feminist Encounters with Gender and Sexuality in Cinema. Bloomsbury Academic, 2017.Bound (1996)The Incredible HulkKristen Stewart TwilightPumping Iron II: The Women (1985)Bev Francis David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive (2001) and Lost Highway (1997)Winkie’s DinerLauren Berlant’s epistemic frenzyTeresa de Lauretis [email protected]: @michelleldevereauxKelly Reichardt’s Showing Up (2022)Michelle WilliamsDerek Jarman’s Caravaggio (1996)Tilda SwintonSean Bean  Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:1.      What is Love Lies Bleeding about and why does Michelle suggest it might be more about gender than about sexuality?2.      How does Michelle describe Lindner’s ‘space of transgender potential’? Can you think of an example for this?3.      Which genres does Michelle mention to discuss and describe Love Lies Bleeding? How are these genres queered in the film?4.      What role does the setting play in the film? How might this relate to the ‘space of transgender potential’?5.      What is your favourite lesbian and/or trans film and why?

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• “Lighthouse” Queer Space Special with Mairi Oliver

  If you can’t find me, I’m probably still browsing shelves of queer joy at Lighthouse, Edinburgh’s superb radical bookshop. The delightful owner Mairi Oliver took some time to chat with me about the long history of radical and queer bookshops that have come before and exist alongside this absolute gem of a queer space. We speak about queer spaces changing hands and transforming, rather than disappearing, about the magic of queer and trans book events, and about why radical booksellers are so important for local community.  References:Word PowerElaine HenryConstant Reader BookshopLavender MenaceWest & WildeSigrid NielsonBob Orr June Thomas’s A Place of One’s OwnJane Cholmeley’s A Bookshop of One’s OwnSilver Moon BookshopJames Ley’s Love Song To Lavender MenaceNaomi KleinSara AhmedRadical Book FairCategory is Books (Glasgow)Gay’s The Word (London)Housmans (London)Five Leaves (Nottingham)Alliance of Radical Booksellers https://www.radicalbooksellers.co.uk/Bread and Roses AwardJake Hall’s Shoulder to Shoulder: A Queer History of Solidarity, Coalition and ChaosN.S. Nuseibeh’s Namesake  Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:     Mairi speaks about how Lighthouse builds on a lineage of queer spaces. How do you feel about queer spaces transforming versus disappearing?     In this context, we also speak about the higher expectations for queer spaces. Have you experienced this? Do you think queer spaces should be held to a higher standard? What is the effect of this?     When we speak about the relationship between readers, booksellers and authors, Mairi makes some interesting points about how the role of writers is changing. What struck you as particularly important here?     Mairi ends the episode with a note on the urgency with which we need to address current political discussions. How can books and bookshops help us do this?

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• “Queer Hong Kong” with Alvin K. Wong

  What makes Hong Kong queer? Alvin K. Wong joins me to speak about how queer and decolonial thought can help us better understand Hong Kong and its relation to the Sinophone world, to Eurocentric queer theory, and to global protest culture. Alvin speaks about queer and trans photography, films and novels from Hong Kong and sprinkles in some excellent theory reading recommendations. Listen now to learn more about Hong Kong and why it is such a frequent site of (unruly) comparison.  References:Wong, Alvin. Unruly Comparison: Queerness, Hong Kong, and the Sinophone (Duke UP, 2025)Wong, Alvin. “Transgenderism as a Heuristic Device: On the Cross-historical and Transnational Adaptations of the Legend of the White Snake,” in Transgender China, ed. Howard Chiang (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), 127-158.https://complit.hku.hk/index.php/faculty/alvin-wong/[email protected] for the Study of Globalization and CulturesSociety of Sinophone StudiesMichel FoucaultJudith ButlerRey ChowAckbar AbbasUmbrella Movement in 2014Milton FriedmanRoderick FergusonJosé Esteban MuñozQueer of colour critiqueGayatri Gopinath’s Impossible Desires (Duke UP, 2005) and Unruly Visions (Duke UP, 2018)Emily Apter’s The Translation Zone (Princeton UP, 2006)Nelson Tang Chak-man’s Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been? (2019-20)Ann StolerJacques DerridaAnjali ArondekarWong Bik-wan’s Lienü tu 烈女圖 (Portraits of martyred women, 1999)Ma Ka Fai’s Long tou feng wei 龍頭鳳尾 (Once Upon A Time in Hong Kong, 2016)Lisa LoweScudMak Yan Yan’s Butterfly Jun Li’s Tracey (2018)W v. Registrar of MarriagesA Woman is A WomanMimi WongChen Ran’s A Private Life  Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:     What happened on 1 July 1997? Why was 2019 a central year in Hong Kong’s history?     Why is Hong Kong such a frequent site of comparison? What makes Hong Kong (seem) exceptional?     What does Alvin observe about Eurocentrism in queer studies? Which other power dynamics does he put this in relation with?     Alvin speaks about juxtaposing different types of texts. What does he juxtapose and why?     Several of Alvin’s reading recommendations have been published in translation. How often do you read translated texts?  

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• “Category is Books” Queer Space Special with Bug and Fin

  You know I love a queer bookshop and this Glaswegian dream of a queer space is absolutely delightful. Bug and Fin started Category is Books in 2018 to create the kind of space they were craving in their own neighbourhood. As the name promises, Category is Books has some exquisite shelving categories: from ‘Dyke Aching’ to ‘Trans Lit’ to the extensive poetry and theory sections, Bug and Fin show off their excellent taste on their shelves. In the recording, you can hear just how popular the shop is and how many people from near and far love to stop by for a browse and a chat. I’m telling you: this is a real treasure.  References:Dr Eamon McCarthy (new favourtite person) Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanitieshttps://www.sgsah.ac.uk/Section 28Kelly GardinerAdrian’s BarPluto Q Community Reading Roomhttps://www.plutoq.com/Hazel Jane Plante’s Little Blue EncyclopediaSam Szabo’s Enlightened Transexual ComixShola von Reinhold’s Lote  Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:     Why do we need specialist bookshops? Why did Bug and Fin want to open one?     Why do Bug and Fin mention Section 28? Please look this term up if you are not familiar.     What is your favourite category, section or genre in a bookshop?     Why should you check Category is Books’ opening times before you go on your own queer pilgrimage there?  

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• “Transitions” with Ava L. J. Kim

  What do transitions have to do with the nation state? More than you think! Ava Kim joins me to speak about how conceptions of gender are deeply (and problematically) entwined with the nation. Ava speaks about powerful examples of transition narratives from Chile, Vietnam and Argentina to illustrate this and gives us a sneak peek into her forthcoming book on trans genre.  References:Ava Kim’s Still / Life: Trans Genre and the Politics of Anti-Development (forthcoming)Ava Kim’s “The Future is Child’s Play” GLQ (2025)Davy KnittleMellon FoundationChristoph HanssmannStem the Tide: Trans Liberation in an Age of FascismTravestiNyke SlawikLucía Puenzo’s XXY (2007)Marlene WayarMauro Cabral GrinspanWinnicott’s space of playPaz ErrázurizGina Apostol’s InsurectoJessica Hagedorn’s Dream Jungle and DogeatersTrans subterfugeBalangigaSebastián Lelio’s A Fantastic Woman/ Una Mujer Fantástica  Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:     Are you familiar with the term travesti? Please look it up and find a helpful definition.     Which forms of transition does Ava talk about? How do they relate to one another?     In how far is transition a narrative form? What does this have to do with the nation as a form?     How does Ava define trans subterfuge?     What are some of the connections between nation and gender Ava and I speak about? Can you think of others? Have you ever been affected by any of them?

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