CHROMA

A large number of fantastic new queer books were published in 2009 - too many for us to cover in the blog. Best-selling queer authors like Colm Toibin (Brooklyn) and Sarah Waters (The Little Stranger) published impressive novels without any overt queer themes. Bright new talent like Vestal McIntyre (Lake Overturn) and Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore (So Many Ways to Sleep Badly) published novels which tread new territory previously unexplored in queer fiction. Rakesh Satyal (Blue Boy) and Abdellah Taia (Salvation Army) breathed new life into the coming of age novel with spectacular debuts. G. Winston James (Shaming the Devil) and Jameson Currier (Still Dancing) published varied and startling collections of short stories. Edmund White and David Plante published memoirs that shed new light on queer experience. With fresh and savy growing publishers like Alyson, Red Bone Press, Lethe Press and Young Offenders Media giving burgeoning queer talent a voice, there will be plenty of new queer literature to look forward to in the new year.

For a more comprehensive look at what queer writers have been reading over the past year, the informative and well-maintained blog Band of Thebes has gathered an impressive array of 56 queer writers to give their 2009 recommendations. Click here to read the list.