Of all of his talents and achievements, it’s as a chronicler of queer history that makes Bartlett a hero in Queerguru’s eyes. From his splendid first book Who Was That Man, which showed how the gay history of London in the 1890s affected Bartlett’s life as a gay man in London in the 1980s to his latest novel Address Book.
His passionate interest in how our past has shaped our queer present and future is such a sheer joy. So we jumped at the opportunity to talk to him about this on the eve of the publishing of Address Book by Inkandescent
Although this may seem like the distant past before many of you were not even born, the significance and the major global impact of that time greatly affected and help shape art, music and fashions of today
The Swinging Sixties was the first-ever youth-driven cultural revolution and it focused on modernity and fun-loving hedonism. It took place in London where surprisingly even 15 years after WW2 had ended, there was still an element of official rationing in place. The new youth were desperate to escape the confines and old-fashioned tastes and attitudes of their parents and were very quick to embrace ideas and styles that were the total opposite.
It was all symbolized by The Beatles in music, Mary Quant and Biba in clothes with iconic figureheads such as Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton in style. Plus fashion was no longer ‘a girls thing’ and the most fashionable boys became Mods.
However It wasn’t all about how the new generation looked, it was also about how they thought. This was the time for the political activism of the anti-nuclear movement, and sexual liberation which would eventually lead to the decriminalization of homosexuality in 1969
The video has no real narrative but is so worth watching as it shows that in London at least the Swinging Sixties affected more than a few. It was a great class leveler when shop girls wore the same new fashions as debutantes which made it a very rare class leveler.
Melissa Febos is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir, WHIP SMART (St. Martin’s Press 2010), and the essay collection, ABANDON ME (Bloomsbury 2017), which was a LAMBDA Literary Award finalist, a Publishing Triangle Award finalist, an Indie Next Pick, and was widely named a Best Book of 2017. Her second essay collection, GIRLHOOD, a national bestseller, was published by Bloomsbury on March 30. A craft book, BODYWORK, will be published by Catapult on March 15, 2022.
Melissa Febos is just one of the many authors from around the world participating in Miami Book Fair 2021, the nation’s largest gathering of writers and readers of all ages. They are all so looking forward to sharing their work, thoughts, and new ideas with everyone, in person and on line. Please visit www.miamibookfair.com for more information, for follow MBF at @miamibookfair #miamibookfair2021
Estonian filmmaker Peeter Rebane and Brit actor/writer Tom Prior’sFirebird Movie has been the hottest queer romance drama on the #LGBTQ Film Festival this year: particularly satisfying for a story about forbidden love in the Soviet Union.
On the eve of the movie being the Gala Opening Movie at OUTshine Film Festival the pair talked with Queerguru. (PS the film will also be available online during the Festival).
Author queerguruPosted on Categories queerguru.tv
Golnoosh Nour interviews 
Melissa Febos is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir, 
Her interviewer 
