The Queer & Trans Nonfiction Podcast

Episode 8: Aubrey Hirsch

On episode 8 of the QT Nonfiction Podcast, Aubrey Hirsch and I discuss a wide range of topics such as: the accessibility of information in graphic nonfiction, colors and images in the attention economy, whittling down research to the absolute most important points, the helpful confines of short form, service journalism, infusing humor into graphic nonfiction on heavy topics as a means of acknowledging the absurdity, anger as a necessary tool for revolution, cover art that accurately represents a book, working with a great small press, getting informational works into the hands of folks who need to learn, deciding when and when not to include comics, bi-erasure, the freedom in publishing whatever you want and keeping a personal archive on Substack, and more. Writers/Books/Things to Check Out mentioned in this episode: Roxane Gay’s "The Audacity," The Rumpus, Split Lip Press, Kristine Langley Mahler, The People’s Project curated by Saeed Jones and Maggie Smith, Alexander Chee, Joy Harjo, Kiese Laymon, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture edited by Roxane Gay, Shay Mirk’s “Crucial Comix,” Thi Bui, Eleri Harris, Yifan Luo, Sanika Phawde, Hyesu Lee, Alex Norris. Links: * Purchase Graphic Rage [https://www.splitlippress.com/product-page/graphic-rage] * Aubrey's Newsletter [https://aubreyhirsch.substack.com/] * Aubrey's Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/aubreyhirsch] Intro/Outro Music by Lin * Lin's Bandcamp [https://linliketwotrees.bandcamp.com/] * Lin's Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/artist/6sqigIeBdZRfHsQvAxQ9X8?si=yEeEXizHRym8SSd-sh1ZJA]

Episode 7: Carvell Wallace

A thoughtful discussion with author Carvell Wallace on topics such as: love and beauty as a means of healing from trauma, finding and collecting bits of life to share with others, form reflecting content, distinguishing the difference between child and adult narration, essay as exploration or asking "what's missing?", the ongoing tragedies of masculinity, run-on sentences, 2nd person point of view, writing about survival, expanding readers' understanding of queerness, challenging traditional ideals of intimacy on the page, using writing as an investigative tool to detangle ourselves from oppressive systems, and much more. Writers/Books/Things to Check Out mentioned in this episode: Lani Ka'ahumanu, Jayda Shuavarnnasri, Vaim by Jon Fosse, Good Morning, Destroyer of Men's Souls by Nina Renata Aron, Family Guy, Weird Spotify Playlists subreddit, Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, Women Without Men by Shahrnush Parsipur, Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson, and Pure Ghost Radio, a podcast by Carvell. Links: * Carvell's Website [https://www.carvellwallace.com/] * Purchase Another Word for Love [https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374237820/anotherwordforlove/] Intro/Outro Music by Lin * Lin's Bandcamp [https://linliketwotrees.bandcamp.com/] * Lin's Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/artist/6sqigIeBdZRfHsQvAxQ9X8?si=yEeEXizHRym8SSd-sh1ZJA]

Episode 6: Zoë Bossiere

On this episode of the QT Nonfiction Podcast, Zoë Bossiere and I discuss topics such as: the formula for a successful flash nonfiction piece, editing an anthology of contemporary creative nonfiction, beginning a memoir with a photo, writing a setting that is alive and immersive, home video as helpful archive, generational differences in queer longing, determining the right time to share drafts with family members, depicting the self at different ages in different genders, the urgency of the childhood perspective, coming out constantly via publishing a book, writing the middle first and going back to write the beginning and ending, and navigating gender norms as a parent. Writers/Books/Things to Check Out mentioned in this episode: Brevity, Riverteeth’s Beautiful Things, The Art of the Personal Essay by Phillip Lopate, The Best American Essays of the Century by Joyce Carol Oates, Touchstone Anthology of Contemporary Creative Nonfiction, Erica Trabold, Wayne State University Press, KB Brookins, The Florida Project, Mac Crane. Links: * Zoë's Website [http://zoebossiere.com] * Purchase Cactus Country: A Boyhood Memoir [https://bookshop.org/p/books/cactus-country-a-boyhood-memoir-zo-bossiere/6fe1e7d7f5421085?ean=9781419773181&next=t&aid=113108&listref=memoirs-look-around-books] Intro/Outro Music by Lin * Lin's Bandcamp [https://linliketwotrees.bandcamp.com/] * Lin's Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/artist/6sqigIeBdZRfHsQvAxQ9X8?si=yEeEXizHRym8SSd-sh1ZJA]

Episode 5: D/Annie Liontas

Listen in as D/Annie Liontas and I discuss navigating transition on the page, writing while “on fire,” work belonging to the reader once it’s published, striking the perfect balance of research and the personal, establishing language for brain injury, 2nd person POV, writing as resistance to erasure, turning people from your real life (living or dead) into “characters,” describing symptoms of a disability for others to understand, insomnia, crafting a collaborative essay, redaction as care, understanding that there are different ways to experience time, and lots more. Writers/Books/Things to Check Out mentioned in this episode: T Kira Madden’s essay “Against Catharsis,” Toni Morrison, Susan Sontag, Citizen by Claudia Rankine, Paul Lisicky, Kendra Winchester, Marchell Taylor, Dr. Kim Gorgens, Couple’s Therapy, Profile on Orna Guralnik in The New Yorker, Suzanne Keen ,Virginia Woolf, “Most Anticipated Queer Books” list on Electric Lit, Sara Novic, Melissa Faliveno. Links: * D/Annie's Website [https://www.annieliontas.com/] * Purchase Sex with a Brain Injury [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sex-with-a-brain-injury-annie-liontas/1143636624] Intro/Outro Music by Lin * Lin's Bandcamp [https://linliketwotrees.bandcamp.com/] * Lin's Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/artist/6sqigIeBdZRfHsQvAxQ9X8?si=yEeEXizHRym8SSd-sh1ZJA]

Episode 4 - Genre Switch: Mac Crane

On the first ever Genre Switch episode of the QT Nonfiction pod, Mac Crane and I discuss their novel A Sharp Endless Need, as well as experimenting with form as a way to access deeper truths, interpersonal stakes in CNF, autofiction, non-traditional book structure, writing the friends-to-more-than-friends queer pipeline, the inherent eroticism of sports, shame vs. guilt, sex scenes, the motivations of secondary characters, the popularity of Heated Rivalry, Delco accents, and early 2000s emo and pop punk.   Writers/Books/Things to Watch mentioned in this episode: Hanif Abdurraqib (and his column "Notes on Hoops" in The Paris Review), Marina Mabrey at Unrivaled Philadelphia, Heated Rivalry (obviously), Task, Mare of Easttown, Long Bright River, Catcher in the Rye, Perverts (forthcoming July 2026).   Links: * Mac's Website [https://www.marisacrane.org/] * Purchase A Sharp Endless Need [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/762682/a-sharp-endless-need-by-marisa-crane/] Intro/Outro Music by Lin * Lin's Bandcamp [https://linliketwotrees.bandcamp.com/] * Lin's Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/artist/6sqigIeBdZRfHsQvAxQ9X8?si=yEeEXizHRym8SSd-sh1ZJA]