Asian Australian former international development adviser who worked on human rights, gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights in Southeast Asia, Shelley Parker-Chan couldn’t find what they were looking for in existing fantasy – queerness, or the big, character-driven emotional arcs that you find in romance – so they decided to write their own. He Who Drowned the […]
He Who Drowned the World: Shelley Parker-Chan

Fynest Reads: This Arab Is Queer

An Anthology by LGBTQ+ Arab Writers, Edited by Elias Jahshan. This edition’s Fynest Read is a ground-breaking anthology of LGBTQ+ Arab writing, featuring the compelling and courageous memoirs of eighteen queer Arab writers – some internationally bestselling, others using pseudonyms. Here, we find heart-warming connections and moments of celebration alongside essays exploring the challenges of […]
The Old Haunts By Allan Radcliffe

A HEARTFELT AND NOSTALGIC NOVELLA ABOUT GRIEF, SENSE OF SELF AND HOME. Recently bereaved Jamie is staying at a rural steading in the heart of Scotland with his actor boyfriend Alex. The sudden loss of both of Jamie’s parents hangs like a shadow over the trip. In his grief, Jamie finds himself sifting through bittersweet […]
The First Bright Thing

Ringmaster – Rin, to those who know her best – can jump to different moments in time as easily as her wife, Odette, soars from bar to bar on the trapeze. With the scars of World War I feeling more distant as the years pass, Rin is focusing on the brighter things in life. Like […]
Fynest Reads: Pluto Press

This edition’s Fynests reads were provided by Pluto Press, a radical political publishing house founded in 1969. As one of the world’s oldest radical publishers, Pluto’s focus remains making timely interventions in contemporary struggles. “Though our collective outlook has developed over time, we proudly identify as anti-capitalist, internationalist and politically independent.” They recommended two great […]
An Empowering New Picture Book My Brother George

By Zoey and Kelly Allen Illustrated by Tara O’Brien Molly’s brother George tells funny jokes and has the best laugh! When they are together, they have all sorts of adventures, whether that’s on the beach, climbing trees or snuggling on the sofa at home. Sometimes other children laugh at George and don’t understand that his […]
Freya Marske: A Dream for All of Us

“Perhaps among those who took to the greenwood in old time there had been two men like himself — two. At times he entertained the dream. Two men can defy the world.” EM Forster, Maurice A confession: initially, this article was meant to be about my research into the real queer history of the Edwardian […]
Hurry Up and Wait

In June 2021, the Hungarian ruling party Fidesz under Viktor Orbán passed a law banning the portrayal of homosexuality to minors. This represents an attempt to make queerness invisible in Hungarian public life. At the same time, the German miniseries KaDeWe – Our Time Is Now, was being shot in Budapest. It depicts – among […]
Fynest Reads: Gay’s The Word

Gay’s The Word is the UK’s oldest LGBT bookshop and a touchstone for the broader LGBT community. The bookshop was set up in January 1979 by a group of gay socialists as a community space where all profits were funnelled back into the business. This ethos continues today with shelves bursting with books and the […]
Fynest Reads

This edition, we’re spoiling you with two fabulous fantasy reads, from Alexander Rowland and TJ Klune. In this issue of Fyne we hear from both authors who discuss LGBTQ+ representation in literature, and queer-normative fantasy. A Taste of Gold and Iron By Alexandra Rowland […]