There are just two days left to catch the 5th Festival of Queer Culture in Spanish playing in London which is organized by Romancero Books with support from various Spanish cultural institutions  The programme combines cultural activities with debates on historical memory and political legacies that still affect LGBTQ+ communities. Daniel Saldaña París, Laura Hojman, Ángelo Néstore, Ana Garriga and Carmen Urbita(Las Hijas de Felipe), and Ana Quiroga are some of the invited figures. The events will address, among other topics, the lives and works of Agustín Gómez Arcos, Mario Bellatin, or Francis Bacon in 1990s Madrid, as well as the lives of 16th- and 17th-century nuns, the legacies of Francoism for LGBTQ+ people, and a staged performance exploring sweetness according to Anne Dufourmantelle.

One of the highlights so far has been when the festival welcomed writer Ángelo Néstore, who presented their debut novel Leche Cruda,at Hundred Years Gallery. Published by Reservoir Books, the novel explores the limits of communication, queer imagination and the possibility of loving beyond a shared language. “Leche Cruda is a book in which I try to pay homage to foreignness itself. Encounters like this one emphasise the beauty of the foreign as foreign, and not ‘the foreigner’ who is only considered beautiful once they assimilate into the culture around them,” Néstore explained to Jorge Gárriz, director of the festival 

“The three main characters in my novel are a mother, a daughter and a cat, and all three exist outside a shared language. There is a constant, infinite search—through each of their languages—for ways to speak through other things. In a way, the novel is written in three languages: Italian, Spanish and feline,” Néstore said. They added that the original commission for the novel involved a different idea, more closely linked to masculinity. “I’m not interested in masculinity because there is violence in the pursuit of it, and because it’s supposedly what we’re expected to do,” they said, explaining how the concept of the book ultimately transformed.

The novel embraces queer writing: according to Néstore, it incorporates dreams, music, poetry, a short story and a diary. “Nina, Patty Bravo, Rita Pavone, Franco Battiato or Pavarotti appear in the story because they are divas who helped me express myself and imagine. I listened to them and did lipsyncs in my room. Including them in my first novel in Spanish felt beautiful, because they are figures who have shaped a generation,” the writer shared.

“It’s difficult for me to form thoughts in Italian, even though I didn’t learn Spanish until I was 21. I fell in love with Spanish, and I’ve had polyamorous relationships with Chinese and Modern Greek, for example. And English has always felt like the normative guy with abs—I struggle more with it,” the author joked, referring to the central role of language in their work. “Returning to Italian feels like going back to an ex you once left—someone you’re nostalgic about, but really you just want to know how they’re doing. In Leche Cruda, I have a coffee with Italian,” they added