“Gender studies: transgender, transsexual, intersex people” – The Bell Bookshop

The Queer Bookshelf

Emma — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

We are in the middle of a vibrant renaissance of queer writing. But LGBTQ+ writers, characters and readers have been here since the beginning – quietly, defiantly, and persistently telling their stories – if you know where to look.

The Queer Bookshelf is your guide to this essential queer history, and to its contemporary flourishing. Drawing on the author’s own journey as a queer reader and book club host, and packed with recommendations from authors, booksellers, and book lovers around the world, The Queer Bookshelf is a celebration of the books that have helped generations of LGBTQ+ people find themselves on the page.

From literary fiction to memoir, to crime, fantasy, and young adult, and even cowboy romance, The Queer Bookshelf is a warm, entertaining companion for anyone beginning or deepening their own queer reading adventure.

Do Ask, Do Tell

Emma — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A glorious rollercoaster ride through LGBTQ+ life, answering all the questions you've ever had about queer culture.

What is a black cat lesbian? Is ‘aromantic’ a sexuality or a preference? How are bisexual and pansexual different? What’s it like to be queer and religious? Does Gen Z do darkrooms? How do you navigate life as a OAQ (Old Age Queer)? What does trans euphoria feel like? Why is nightlife so central to the community? What is camp today?

As queer people themselves, authors Lotte Jeffs and Stu Oakley knew they didn’t have all the answers, because their individual experience represents a single pixel of the rainbow. Do Ask, Do Tell is an unapologetically curious journey through the dazzling spectrum of queer life that will give people – queer, straight, cis and everything in-between – the confidence to say 'I don’t know'.

With humor, warmth, and radically open minds, Stu and Lotte tackle the questions you may have avoided asking for fear of getting it wrong. Covering everything from ageing to open relationships, darkrooms to Drag Kings, camp to carabinas, as well as the intricacies of gender and sexuality.

This insightful and provocative exploration challenges assumptions, shatters taboos, and opens up the conversation. Whether you’re seeking clarity for your cis straight self or deeper insight as a member of the community, this book is your guide to better understanding and celebrating the richness of queer life.

'Bursting with empathy, understanding and humour' – Suzi Ruffell, bestselling author of Am I Having Fun Now?

The other Olympians

Emma — Thu, 06 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In December 1935, Zdenek Koubek, one of the most famous sprinters in European women’s sports, declared he was now living as a man. Around the same time, the celebrated British field athlete Mark Weston, also assigned female at birth, announced that he, too, was a man. Periodicals and radio programs across the world carried the news; both became global celebrities. A few decades later, they were all but forgotten. And in the wake of their transitions, what could have been a push toward equality became instead, through a confluence of bureaucracy, war, and sheer happenstance, the exact opposite: the now all-too-familiar panic around trans, intersex, and gender nonconforming athletes.

In The Other Olympians, Michael Waters uncovers, for the first time, the gripping true stories of Koubek, Weston, and other pioneering trans and intersex athletes from their era. With dogged research and cinematic flair, Waters also tracks how International Olympic Committee members ignored Nazi Germany’s atrocities in order to pull off the Berlin Games, a partnership that ultimately influenced the IOC’s nearly century-long obsession with surveilling and cataloging gender.

Immersive and revelatory, The Other Olympians is a groundbreaking, hidden-in-the-archives marvel, an inspiring call for equality, and an essential contribution toward understanding the contemporary culture wars over gender in sports.

Pageboy

Emma — Thu, 16 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

‘Singular’ Daily Telegraph
‘Powerful’ New York Times
‘Vital’ i
‘Vivid? Moving? Juicy’ NPR
‘A profoundly talented writer’ Elizabeth Day
‘Raw, harrowing, and often heartbreaking’ LA Times
‘Written by a sensitive soul’ Guardian

Before the world premiere of Juno Elliot Page was on the edge of self-discovery. But with Juno‘s massive success and his dreams coming true, Elliot found himself trapped by the spotlight and the pressure to perform was suffocating him. Until enough was enough. From chasing down secret love affairs to battling body image and working through his difficult childhood, Pageboy is a beautiful, intimate book about searching for ourselves and our place in the world.

‘An emotional read, delivered in image-drenched prose.’ Washington Post
‘The emergence of our true selves is all of our life’s work. Pageboy helps chart the course.’ Jamie Lee Curtis
‘Pageboy is like listening to a friend… Now is an excellent time to read this humanizing and well-written memoir.’ Associated Press

Jan Morris

Emma — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

‘A marvel of clarity, fluency, and (Morris’s favourite word in her final days) kindness.’ The Sunday Times

The first full account of the remarkable life of Jan Morris: writer, soldier, traveller, and trans pioneer.

Jan Morris is widely considered one of Britain’s best-loved writers, known for her observational genius, lyricism, and humour. Born in 1926, she spent her childhood amidst Oxford’s Gothic beauty and later participated in military service in Italy and the Middle East, before becoming an internationally fÃªted foreign correspondent. However, public success masked a private dilemma that was only resolved when she transitioned gender in the late sixties. She went on to live happily with her wife Elizabeth in Wales for another five decades, and never stopped writing and publishing. Here, for the first time, the many strands of Morris’s rich and at times paradoxical life are brought together.