Del i serien Manchester University Press

Queer as folklore

The hidden queer history of myths and monsters

Häftad, Engelska, 2025

209 kr

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A celebration of queer history like you've never seen it before.Queer as folklore travels across centuries and continents to reveal the unsung heroes and villains of storytelling, magic and fantasy. Featuring images from archives, galleries and museums around the world, each chapter investigates the queer history of different mythic and folkloric characters, both old and new.Leaving no headstone unturned, Sacha Coward takes you on a wild ride through the night from ancient Greece to the main stage of RuPaul’s Drag Race, visiting cross-dressing pirates, radical fairies and the graves of the ‘queerly departed’ along the way. Queer communities have often sought refuge in the shadows and created safe spaces in underworlds. But these forgotten narratives tell stories of resilience that deserve to be heard.Join any Pride march and you will see a glorious display of papier-mâché unicorn heads, drag queens in mermaid tails and more fairy wings than you can shake a trident at. These are not just accessories: they are queer symbols with historic roots. To truly understand who queer people are today, we must confront the twisted tales of the past.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2025-11-18
Mått190 x 20 x 130 mm
Vikt310 g
FormatHäftad
SpråkEngelska
SerieManchester University Press
Antal sidor352
FörlagManchester University Press
ISBN9781807070397

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Sacha Coward has worked in museums and heritage for over ten years. For the past three years, he has been freelancing as a historian, public speaker, tour guide and researcher. He has run LGBTQ+ focused tours for museums, cemeteries, archives and cities around the world. Sacha is passionate about queer history, mythology, folklore and storytelling in all their many forms. Queer As folklore is his first book.

Introduction: Monsters in the closetPart I: Queer be dragons (magical creatures)1 A twist in the tail2 Horn of plenty3 Radical faeriesPart II: Bad blood (cursed beings and shapeshifters)4 Big bad wolves5 Children of the nightPart III: Black magick (the occult and supernatural)6 Witch-hunts7 Demon twinks8 Queerly departedPart IV: The Expanded universe (contemporary folklore)9 Loving the alien10 Rum, bum and concertina11 I’m sorry, Dave12 Ex-menPart V: And they all lived happily ever after...13 Five magic beansIndex

Longlisted for the 2025 Polari PrizeWinner of Best Non-Fiction Book at the British Fantasy Society Awards 2025 ‘The essays offer a welcome rebuke to those who would prefer to brand queerness as a subversive interloper only now being injected into traditional tales... Coward’s passionate and idiosyncratic tour of folk literature holds plenty of charm.’Publishers Weekly‘Coward shows himself to be an artful hand at simultaneously being the enthused archaeologist whilst also an engaging writer who deftly skirts both the realms of intellectual and popular culture.’Attitude magazine‘Essential for every seeker of hidden histories.’Patrick Ness, author of the 'Chaos Walking' series‘This book is a joy and a revelation.’Divina De Campo‘I learned something fascinating on every page.’Christine Burns MBE‘A magically queer celebration of darkness and light.’Paul Baker, author of Fabulosa!‘A glorious folkloric hug for those who have always felt different.’Rhianna Pratchett, video game writer and journalist‘Does the important work of writing queer people back into the idea of the traditional.’Kit Heyam, author of Before We Were Trans‘Mind-bogglingly compendious, queer as hell, and beautifully tender to all us fairies, unicorns and misunderstood demons.’ Will Tosh, author of Straight Acting ‘Meticulously researched ... Absolutely irresistible.’Matt Baume, podcaster and author of Hi Honey, I'm Homo