As part of Pride Month, Queer Lit and Hachette Pride invite you to an evening celebration of queer identities across time and space.

Pride in Writing, now in its sixth year, brings together some of Hachette UK’s amazing LGBTQ+ authors for two dynamic panel discussions exploring the speculative, the historical and the deeply personal threads that shape queer storytelling.

Hosted by Jake Hall (they/them), author of Shoulder to Shoulder, a love letter to the LGBTQ+ pioneers of solidarity and coalition who stood shoulder to shoulder to build a better future for all. This event will explore how queer writers are reclaiming history, imagining new futures, and writing themselves into the narrative.

Panel 1: (Re)imagining Queer Forebearers

How do we tell the stories of those who came before us—and what gets left out?
Featuring:

· June Thomas (she/her) – author of A Place of Our Own, a cultural history of queer women’s lives in the second half of the twentieth century, told through six iconic spaces.

Piotr Cieplak (he/him) – author of Zofia Nowak’s Book of Superior Detecting, the story of a Polish mother investigating the disappearance of her son, with the help of his ex-boyfriend’s new lover.
Christopher Stephens & Louise Radnofsky (he/him) (she/her) – authors of The Light of Day, which follows the inspiring true story of Roger Butler, the first man to publicly come out as gay in an act of political resistance.
This panel considers how writers and researchers resurrect, honour and reinterpret queer histories—and why that matters today.

Panel 2: Speculative Queer Identities

How do we shape our fantasies from the margins of society?
Featuring:

Jennifer Delaney (she/her) – author of Tales of a Monstrous Heart, a gothic, dark fantasy inspired story filled with magic, monsters, a sentient manor and a forbidden romance.
· Oliver Darkshire (he/him) – author of Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil, a witty, cosy adult fantasy in which a beleaguered farmer’s wife decides to try her hand at magic – because what harm could a little magic do?

Francesca May (she/her) – author of This Vicious Hunger, a sapphic, gothic fantasy about intoxication, obsession and a desperate hunger for knowledge, whatever the cost.
This panel explores the ways queer writers use fantasy, science fiction and surrealism to question gender, desire and the limits of identity.

£6 — booking essential

Books by the panellists and host will be available to purchase on the night.

Expect lively discussion, thoughtful reflection and a celebration of queer creativity in all its forms.

Queer Lit | Manchester | 25th June | 6PM