What's up with 'gay' literature? To start with, 'gay' literature can't be seen as a genre, but it suffers from the very in-vogue trend of 'tagging' and over-categorising l
books without any of the benefits...
The word 'gay' seems to be putting readers off, both gay men and straight (especially men). But the reality is that the great majority of gay novels, poems and books nowadays are not 'in your face' gay... Although they have gay characters and often deal with issues gay people face in their lives, as well as many issues we all face, like coming of age, relationships etc, they do not need readers to be gay. In the words of author Adriano Bulla, 'You don't need to have hairy feet to read The Hobbit', why should you be gay to read a gay book?'
'Gay literature' has, on the other hand, produced many a great writers, and recent developments show that 'gay' novels and poems are seeking new expressive forms, original voices and styles that could influence the whole of 'mainstream' literature profoundly if only they had a wider audience'.
The blog Gay Literature is all about promoting these books to the wider readership, to anyone who realises that they have missed out on incredible reads because of this tag, because the general perception of gay books, mainly due to the confusion between popular M/M Romance (mainly written by women for women, where gay sex is a prominent feature) and gay books (where relationships, psychology and identity are the focus). That's why the blog started with post on Ian McEwan's Enduring Love... A book about being afraid to be gay, yet not classed as 'gay'...
Our posts are sometimes cheeky, sometimes controversial and also support quality in books, no matter what tag or genre they belong to. We have promoted the Polari Literary Salon's live tour as well as the authors to look out for because their innovative work has the potential of having a huge impact on the whole of literature.
One day, hopefully not far away, there won't be a 'gay literature' any more, but just literature of all colours for everybody; gay writers are really doing a lot to be mainstream, but we can't make it without the mainstream listening and, why not? reading a 'gay' book...
Please find us and browse our posts with an open mind, you never know, you may find great reads for you, whether you have or don't have 'hairy feet':
https://martindavies90.wordpress.com
Excellent. I so agree!
ReplyDelete