LGBTQIA+ Fiction - Trans Experience - Christchurch City Libraries
Gender expansive fiction is all about stories that cover a range of gender, identity, and expression that challenges traditional cultural 'expectations' and ideas around gender. If you want to read about Gender Expansive characters within genres like personal journeys, fantasy, mystery, romance, or everyday life this is a great place to start. We use the hashtag #OwnVoices when the race/ethnicity, gender identity, and sexual orientation of the creator is the same as the main character.
A beautifully written, haunting novel presented in epistolary format across two timelines; a young Syrian American trans boy troubled by his ornithologist (bird expert) mother's earlier death; and Laila Z, a famous bird painter who…
Imagine you’re cold. Okay, now colder. Each day just gets colder and colder. This is the life of the sunlight pilgrims. A dystopian novel set in a freezing Scottish trailerpark, The Sunlight Pilgrims follows three people doing their best…
A beautiful and lusciously written work of Latin American fiction which touches on issues of gender identity and sexuality against the backdrop of 20th Century Argentina during its immigration boom. A young woman arrives in Argentina to be…
Sophie’s tale is told posthumously by the six people who knew her best: her lover; her brother; her husband; her college crush; her colleague; and the journalist who tracked her film-making career from its artless beginning to its sad…
A uniquely reimagined and retold story of Brechet's Threepenny Opera. This tale takes us on a journey of love, gender, and freedom. We follow main character Jack, formerly an orphaned female named P, but who is now struggling with the…
A Pride and Prejudice inspired story about a young Jewish trans man living in New York and learning to step outside his comfort zone. Think Romantic comedy but with cynicism and jewish culture; and wonderfully sweet, flawed, and funny…
Never Anyone But You is based on a true story about a pair of French artists and lovers; two women named Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore. During their long life together we follow them from the Avant Garde and rise of Dada in early 1910s…
A heartwarming Peter Pan retelling which reads like a sequel; everyone has grown up and they've all returned to Neverland. But things are this time around. Peter is a trans man, the stakes are deadlier than ever, and Peter and Hook have an…
This story follows a teenage boy through his life and the changes he experiences. It touches on sexuality, identity, violence, family, drug use, bullying and dealing with ones emotions. The art is particularly unique invoking feelings of…
Wendy Reimer is a thirty year old trans woman living in Winnipeg with a group of other trans women and a Mennonite family. One day she comes across evidence that her grandfather - a devout Mennonite farmer, may have been transgender too.…
On the snowbound planet of Gethen, gender is not fixed. The beings that live there choose and change their gender, and go into heat once a month. This novel tells the story of a lone human emissary to Gethen; his goal is to facilitate…
The longest and most charming love letter in literature, Orlando playfully constructs Woolf's close friend and lover, Vita Sackville-West. Spanning over three centuries, the main character Orlando presents as an un-aging hero who changes…
A contemporary exploration of gender, sexuality, and relationships. Weekend follows two couples as they spend a weekend island getaway in side-by-side cabins; Elliot and their wife Joe, and Logan who brings their lover Ajax to the island…
Luke is living the perfect nuclear family life. Beautiful wife, successful kids, a career and a cottage in countryside. But sadly, Luke has been struggling with a secret for some time. This book follows the family as they navigate through…
A compelling character study and portrait of a trans woman whose past comes back to haunt her. Twenty years ago Judith Carrigan's friend disappeared, and a body has only just now been discovered. Police are on the case, and Judith can shed…
Science Fiction and Fantasy From Transgender Writers
A collection of fantasy and science fiction short stories by twenty-five transgender writers. From aliens to body-swaps, apocalypse to a strange but amusing God/Satan love story, this compelling collection includes many different fresh…
Co-winner of the Man Booker Prize 2019. This contemporary novel follows twelve interconnected (but very different) characters across time as they deal with everything from family, friendships, and relationships, to social and racial…
Paul Polydoris has a secret. He is a shapeshifter; sometimes Polly, sometimes Paul. This book immerses you in the queer university scene, with dyke best friends, zine clubs, dating life and drama. Paul moves through bodies and has multiple…
With its creeping sense of dread and exquisite prose, Pew is the perfect example of an eerie, contemporary fable which looks at gender, religion, forgiveness, and the flawed tendency of society to put people into boxes. When a person turns…
Laced with dark humour, Nevada follows a young trans woman living in New York who thinks she has it together. Except that life has other ideas. With a style of narration which shifts to reflect the character of focus, great attention is…
