The name comes from a line in a terribly problematic movie, Shag. The antagonist hollers the phrase "Your roots are showing!" at Melana as an insult. And that line always stuck with me. Always. I said it all the time. And in 2006 I saw the movie But I'm a Cheerleader on one of my first dates with Mallory (of course she helped expand my queer touchstones). And that whole scene of them talking about their roots. This one.
They call it the Frequency Illusion (or the Baader–Meinhof Phenomenon), that once you see something, you can't stop seeing it. And now all I can see is Icarus flying, falling. It started with Private Rites by Julia Armfield. Our queer book club loved Armfield's debut novel Our Wives Under the Sea so much so that when her sophomore novel came out, we immediately placed it on our to-read piles. The novel's drenched in literary allusion...
Disco. Witches. Fire Island. Those four words say it all, and Blair Fell's novel delivers on each and every one of them. I've been telling friends (and anyone who will listen) that Fell's novel, The Disco Witches of Fire Island, is the "more lighthearted" version of Rebecca Makkai's The Great Believers (another novel that I will talk to... Continue Reading →
As anti-LGBT rhetoric intensifies, the queer community needs stories of political engagement — and triumph — more than ever. C.J. Janovy’s 2018 book “No Place Like Home: Lessons in Activism from LGBT Kansas” is full of such accounts. A newly released version is arriving at just the right time. The University Press of Kansas reached... Continue Reading →
Burn before reading. What starts as a puzzling statement unravels in the sweeping novella This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. Red and Blue are at odds, and they might also be in love. They might always have been in love, and its their stories - past, present,... Continue Reading →
Wichita's roller derby league has grown to more than 40 skaters. For the first time in more than 15 years, Wicked City will field two home teams. Wheels, boots, plates, trucks, elbow pads and mouth guards: These are the tools of the trade for the skaters of Wicked City Roller Derby. Founded in 2006 as... Continue Reading →
Rules for Ghosting is a great read for anyone who enjoys novels like The Dead Romantics or the Seven-Year Slip (both by Ashley Poston), and shows like Six Feet Under.
If you’re not hugely excited, jumping for joy, and making your carpool plans in advance of the US Figure Skating Championships happening in Wichita, KS at INTRUST Bank Arena from January 22-26, you’re doing it wrong. This is a big deal. Huge. Monumental. Here are a few reasons why you should buy your tickets now (and then spend the last three weekends before Championships bedazzling your scarves and gloves and catching up on this season’s podcast episodes of The Runthrough, hosted by Olympic medalists Ashley Wagner and Adam Rippon).
Most people here know I'm an English teacher, an avid fan of Shakespeare (we have the same birthday), and an even bigger fan of Scotland (a Caledonophile). So when my sister-in-law gifted me Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid, I put it at the top of my TBR pile. And it doesn't disappoint. Shipped from Breizh... Continue Reading →
In all the ways that food can call us to gather, it can also show us ways to rebel and to feed our resistance to power. And that’s the focus of Julia Turshen’s tiny but powerful cookbook; she gathered recipes from chefs and activists seeking a way to feed those who helped push for change... Continue Reading →
shelly. walston. writes. 