At one point during the session Queers in the Library, there was a brief discussion of the concept of space itself, that the library can be as much a virtual zone as a material one, a space both physical and theoretical. It seemed to me to sum up the whole of the festival this year, which was held entirely online due to covid19, and which very much embodied this notion of space as both real and virtual simultaneously. 

Having been a guest speaker at the inaugural festival in 2019, I was thrilled to get the opportunity to review its second iteration in such a radically different format. The resourcefulness of the organizers and speakers was in full evidence in this virus-aware, prophylactic version, as it had been at the previous festival, which took place in Real Life, gathered in a beautiful old building that was once a church. The program of events brought together writers, performers, academics, activists and of course readers, for a weekend of in-conversation events, workshops, films and discussions celebrating queer lives and writing.

There was a rich diversity of speakers and topics – from queer cinema to a trans literary salon – and the sessions I attended were fascinating, informative and thought-provoking. I particularly enjoyed learning about Queer writers in the Post-Yugoslav region, and as the host of Notes & Queeries at the British Library, I was especially absorbed by Queers in the Library. It was great to see Golnoosh Nour on the bill, having championed her collection of short stories, The Ministry of Guidance, on Queerguru last year. 

The closing event was an interview with Alan Hollinghurst, who also gave us some wonderful readings from his novels. I’m a huge admirer of his work so it’s great to hear he’s working on a new novel. His insights into the process of writing a novel were fascinating and I loved his comments about queer life as a subject which is endless for fiction writers – as shown by the rich pickings at this festival. I had to laugh, though, when the subtitles for Alan gave “Proust and Gide” as “Bruce and Jade”, who sound like a double act I’d like to see. Recordings of the events will be posted on the website http://coastisqueer.com/watch-online/

Review by Jonathan Kemp

Queerguru London Contributing Editor Jonathan Kemp writes fiction and non-fiction and teaches creative writing at Middlesex University. He is the author of two novels – London Triptych (2010), which won the 2011 Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award, and Ghosting (2015) – and the short-story collection Twentysix. (2011, all published by Myriad Editions). Non-fiction works include The Penetrated Male (2012) and Homotopia?: Gay Identity, Sameness and the Politics of Desire (2015, both Punctum Books).

P.S. You may also like to check out:

https:// queerguru.com/golnoosh-nour-the-ministry-of-guidance-other-stories-queer-in-the-truest-most-profound-sense/