It’s officially Pride Month – the time of year when the world elevates the LGBTQ+ community and celebrates its incredible artists, writers, designers and creators.
It is important to support and recognise these talented creatives all year around, but the increased visibility of the LGBTQ+ community every June is still something that we all need to celebrate.
Books are an important tool for education, enlightenment and empowerment, with author Isabel Waidner opening up to Fashion’s Digest UK about the importance of reading queer literature.
“Reading queer literature allows readers to learn about histories and experiences that have been marginalised and that they would otherwise not come across very easily,” Waidner told us. “Even more importantly, queer literature helps readers imagine effective modes of resistance and different ways of being towards better futures for all.”
This round-up of the best books to invest in this Pride Month promises something for everyone.
Heartstopper Series Volume 1-4 by Alice Oseman, £30 | The Works
Heartstopper is a four-part book series, following teenagers Charlie and Nick as they navigate their transition from friendship to relationship at school. It is now a hit Netflix series, and has already been renewed for two more seasons.
Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper series is a heartwarming tale of first love, while James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room portrays homosexuality through a racial lens, in 1950’s Paris.
Burning My Roti: Breaking Barriers as a Queer Indian Woman by Sharan Dhaliwal, £13.59 | Queer Lit
This part guide, part memoir has been called essential reading for a new generation of South Asian women. The topics cover sexual identity, mental health and beauty standards.
Burning My Roti, is a part memoir by Sharan Dhaliwal, exploring suffocating beauty standards and sexual identity. While Rainbow Milk explores the role of religion as a young man comes to terms with his sexuality while in a religious sect, on the backdrop of the Windrush Generation.
Literature can be a life-changing tool, to help us live more connected lives. So, enjoy this round-up of the best fiction and non-fiction books to read this Pride and beyond.
Happy Pride Month and happy reading!