Image: Zanele Muholi, "Zinzi and Tozama II Mowbray, Cape Town," from the series Being, 2010. Gelatin Silver Print. © Zanele Muholi. Courtesy of the artist and Yancey Richardson Gallery.
This month we present the seventh installment of our annual Queer Issue. From the turbulence of adolescence to the resignation of middle age, in prison cells and open relationships, characters navigate queer desire and social constructs around the world. Jeon Sam-hye’s smitten space trainee moons over her superstar roommate. In São Paulo, Alexandre Vidal Porto’s straitlaced husband and father turns a cab into a confessional. Khadi Hane’s broken ex-convict remains captive to the past. Mu Cao’s runaway turned hustler finds sanctuary with an older man. In an excerpt from the first lesbian novel in Arabic, Lebanon’s Elham Mansour articulates a philosophy of love. Ronald M. Schernikau follows an infatuated teen on a school trip with his unwitting crush. And in two views of (and from) ménages à trois, Gabriela Wiener’s compulsive cheat finds it takes three to tango, and Lawrence Schimel’s serene polyamorist spreads the word and opens his arms. Our special feature showcases Latino-Canadian literature, introduced and translated by María José Giménez.
In Praise of Nonconformity: The Queer Issue
Behind the bigotry and hyperbole lurk the fear of the unknown, the threat to the status quo.
Genesis
Because what you felt when he turned you down was how I felt whenever I looked at you.
bilingual
Car Accident without Victims
At home, no one suspects I do this. Imagine. It’d destroy my marriage.
Tomorrow, God Willing
“Everyone’s queer in this bloody prison!”
Outcast
I suddenly realized that he was wearing a wig and the skin beneath his clothing was as coarse as tree bark.
Three
I’ve been unfaithful on Good Friday, Mother’s Day, Christmas and even during a coup d’état.
bilingual
Small-town Novella
In the locker rooms, wild combat rages more openly than elsewhere.
bilingual
Three Microfictions
It wasn’t a question of my boss finding out I’m gay . . .
She, You, and I
What’s the point of love without suffering?
Book Reviews
“Scattering the Dark: An Anthology of Polish Women Poets” edited by Karen Kovacik
Reviewed by Gordon Slater
A lively selection of Poland’s women poets writing before and after the fall of communism.
“Infidels” by Abdellah Taïa
Reviewed by Gordon Slater
Dreams of unraveling love and belonging on the path to Jihad.