Catherine Vendryes

Catherine Vendryes

An expert storyteller who brings big and small brands to life.

Pride Month reading list

Pride month is over but that doesn’t mean that celebrations have to stop! Celebrate a second Pride month (or all year around if you like) with these LGBT2Q+ books. In this case, these are books that either are written by LGBT2Q+ authors and/or feature LGBT2Q+ characters, as recommended by members of the LGBT2Q+ community in Canada.

Fiction & Memoir

“Conversations With Friends can be tricky to recommend for a Pride reading list, as some people question Rooney’s queer credentials. Rooney does not disclose her sexuality, something I understand. I can imagine how invasive it would feel, as a public figure, to have people feel entitled to that. At a reading with Rooney I attended, two separate people tried to get her to essential admit which sex scenes are based on her own experience. I recommend this book because reading it felt like looking into a mirror. The character of Francis perfectly reflected a bisexual identity I recognize and a mind I relate to deeply. The writing is excellent, sparse without being insufficient, and with a wonderful ear for dialogue that actually sounds like how people talk (important for a book with “Conversation” in the title). And besides, it’s just plain sexy and fun!”

I haven’t read [We Have Always Been Here] yet but I think the discussion of Muslim identity + queerness isn’t reflected in media much, so this book can be very insightful.”

Poetry & Plays

“The Wound is a World is a beautiful collection of poetry. The writing is powerful and succinct. It was interesting to see the academic language I know from university being put into poetry. Belcourt has a great sense of humour that keeps the tenderness from feeling sappy, or rage and hurt from feeling overwhelming. I think I can get behind any book that presents a decolonial heaven where “everyone is at least a little gay.”

“I talked to Billy about astrology when I met him! He’s a libra and very cool (obviously)”

Graphic Novels & Comics

“Our Dreams at Dusk (Shimanami Tasogare) is one of the few manga I’ve seen written by an LGBT author (ace and non-binary) that really grasps and articulates the nuances of growing up queer. It’s also a gorgeous manga so I recommend it to people who aren’t usually into manga. I originally read their other series (Nabari no Ou) as a teen and having one of the main characters be canonically intersex in addition to multiple members of the main cast being heavily queer-coded was new to me at the time.”

More authors to check out

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