Brighton & Hove’s LGBTQ+ literature festival goes online, 5-7 February 2021
The Coast is Queer, Brighton & Hove’s festival of LGBTQ+ literature returns in digital form from 5-7 February 2021. Now in its second year, the programme of events brings together writers, performers, academics, activists and of course readers, for a weekend of in-conversation events, workshops, films and discussions celebrating queer lives and writing.
It will also be possible to buy and browse at the festival’s virtual bookshelf, curated by Brighton and Hove’s largest independent bookshop: City Books.
Confirmed speakers include:
Douglas Stuart (2020 Booker Prize winner for Shuggie Bain),Val McDermid (Still Life, The Wire In The Blood, Broken Ground), Alan Hollinghurst (The Swimming Pool Library, The Line of Beauty, The Stranger’s Child), Valerie Mason-John (I Am Still Your Negro, Detox Your Heart), Phyll Opoku (Executive Director, UK Black Pride), Juno Dawson (This Book Is Gay, Margot & Me), Jamie Windust (In Their Shoes),Golnoosh Nour (The Ministry of Guidance and other stories), Tanaka Mhishi (Here & Now, This is How It Happens), Maria Jastrzębska (The True Story of Cowboy Hat and Ingénue) and Campbell X(Stud Life), with more guests to be confirmed soon.
The inaugural Coast is Queer festival was significant for LGBTQ+ literature. Attended by more than 1,000 people, with 40 writers over four days in Brighton, the festival was a resounding success with an extensive programme of moving and exhilarating events.
The Coast is Queer festival is a collaboration between New Writing South and Marlborough Productions, and is funded by Arts Council England. We are also grateful for the support of both the University of Sussex and the University of Brighton.
