LGBTQ Literature

From Christopher Isherwood's enduring 20th-century classic Goodbye to Berlin to contemporary titles like Janet Mock's Redefining Realness, the titles in this study guide collection explore a range of ideas, issues, genres, and forms that speak to the LGBTQ community.

Publication year 2015

Genre Graphic Novel/Book, Fiction

Themes Family, Sexual Identity, Good & Evil

Tags Fantasy, LGBTQ+, Humor, Action & Adventure, Fairy Tale & Folklore

Nimona is a young adult graphic novel created by N. D. Stevenson and published in 2015 by HarperCollins. It is based on Stevenson’s webcomic, also titled Nimona, which was published in 2012 and earned Slate magazine’s 2012 Cartoonist Studio Prize for Best Web Comic of the Year. The graphic novel adaptation also received critical acclaim, earning the 2016 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album: Reprint and becoming a 2015 National Book Award Finalist.Nimona is a... Read Nimona Summary

Publication year 1987

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Mothers

Tags Afro-Caribbean Literature, Race & Racism, Education, Education, Colonialism & Postcolonialism, Modern Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, LGBTQ+

No Telephone to Heaven is the critically-acclaimed 1987 sequel to Michelle Cliff’s first novel, Abeng. This novel continues the semi-autobiographical story of Cliff’s Jamaican-American heroine, Clare Savage. Clare—just as Cliff—was born in Jamaica, moved to New York, and pursued university studies in London.The novel opens with Clare traveling across the Jamaican countryside with a revolutionary resistance group. The group members have settled on farmland formerly owned by Clare’s grandmother. They use this land to grow food... Read No Telephone to Heaven Summary

Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Politics & Government, Family, Mothers, Sexual Identity, Race, Power & Greed, Colonialism, Economics

Tags Realistic Fiction, LGBTQ+, Social Class, Finance, US History, Natural Disaster, Parenting, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance

Publication year 1976

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Grief, The Past, Language

Tags Lyric Poem, American Literature, Arts & Culture, LGBTQ+, Classic Fiction, Biography

Throughout her life, Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979) suffered many losses. Her father died before her first birthday and her mother entered a mental institution when Bishop was only five, leaving her to the guardianship of maternal and paternal grandparents. Later, Bishop’s lover committed suicide in Brazil, prompting Bishop’s return to the US. “One Art” (1976) alludes to several of these prominent losses, though the poem objectively approaches loss. “One Art” defines loss as a special form... Read One Art Summary

Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Grief

Tags LGBTQ+, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction

Raised by his mother, Rose, and his grandmother, Lan, Little Dog grows up in a lower working-class neighborhood of Hartford, Connecticut, beginning in the early 90s. Troubled by loss and abuse, Little Dog, at age 28, decides to write a letter to his illiterate mother, using it as a method of exorcising his demons, exploring the loss and trauma that shaped his and his family’s lives, and the love and beauty that defines their lives... Read On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous Summary

Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Hope, Love, Memory, Future, The Past, Sexual Identity, Trust & Doubt, Gender Identity

Tags Romance, LGBTQ+, Science Fiction, Humor, Magical Realism, Modern Classic Fiction

Publication year 2013

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Language, Hope, Future, The Past, Community, Politics & Government, Equality

Tags LGBTQ+, Politics & Government, Immigration & Refugeeism

Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Animals, Equality, Climate, Loneliness, Gender Identity, Environment, Social Class

Tags Fantasy, LGBTQ+, Humor, Dramatic Literature

Publication year 1985

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Religion & Spirituality, Sexual Identity, Conflict, Love, Shame & Pride, Family, Mothers

Tags LGBTQ+, Life-Inspired Fiction, Coming of Age, Gender & Feminism, Modern Classic Fiction, Classic Fiction, Religion & Spirituality

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is the debut novel of Jeannette Winterson, originally published on March 21, 1985 by Pandora Press in London. The story is a semi-autobiographical novel that closely follows the childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood of Jeanette, who, like Winterson, is adopted into a Pentecostal Evangelist household and raised in the church. As she grows, she comes to terms with her sexuality as a lesbian and faces condemnation and judgment from... Read Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit Summary

Publication year 1928

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Art, Literature, Gender Identity

Tags Gender & Feminism, LGBTQ+, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction, British Literature, Modernism, World History, Fantasy

Orlando: A Biography is a novel published in 1928 by the English author Virginia Woolf. It tells the story of Orlando, a member of the English nobility who is born a male in 16th century England. Around the age of 30, Orlando mysteriously changes into a woman and lives for centuries without visibly aging. Author Jeanette Winterson called Orlando “the first trans novel in English.” (Winterson, Jeanette. “’Different sex. Same person’: How Woolf’s Orlando became... Read Orlando Summary

Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Community, Gender Identity, Justice

Tags Western, Action & Adventure, Coming of Age, Historical Fiction, LGBTQ+, Gender & Feminism, Love & Sexuality, American Literature, World History

Publication year 1929

Genre Novel, Fiction

Tags Psychological Fiction, Dramatic Literature, LGBTQ+, Race & Racism, Education, Education, World History, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction

Passing is a riveting novel by African-American writer Nella Larsen. As a prominent figure in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, Larsen’s work often dealt with what it meant to be black in America. One facet of the so-called “Negro problem,” and one that other writers tackled as well, was the concept of “passing,” which entailed black people pretending to be white, in order to avoid discrimination and gain access to the privilege of whiteness... Read Passing Summary

Publication year 1905

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Sexual Identity, Art, Beauty, Social Class

Tags Classic Fiction, American Literature, Depression & Suicide, Finance, Education, Education, LGBTQ+

Willa Cather’s short story “Paul’s Case” was published in 1905 in McClure's Magazine. In its original iteration, the story was titled “Paul’s Case: A Study in Temperament,” but it was later shortened to the current title. The story became a popular one of Cather’s, in part because it was one of the only few that she allowed to be anthologized, but also for the debates over its interpretation. “Paul’s Case” was turned into a TV... Read Paul's Case Summary

Publication year 2011

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Guilt, Regret, Gender Identity, Sexual Identity, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Daughters & Sons, Self Discovery, Community, Religion & Spirituality, Truth & Lies, Family

Tags Gender & Feminism, World History, Historical Fiction, LGBTQ+