Fiddler Ashley MacIsaac with Jully Black and Madison Violet

Bright blessings of the season, my precious star-kissed snowpersons, and welcome to a fresh and fine edition of “Queer Culture Catch Up!” In this column, we are cozily cuddled up with a truly remarkable selection of books and music, freshly made by the most delicious queer beings, under our blankets with our hot beverages topped with a fresh hat of whipped cream, perhaps touching toes with someone we enjoy—maybe a fuzzy friend for company—or perhaps enjoying our solo leisure with no schedule to keep as we slide into a great piece of work. 

You Better Be Lightning by Andrea Gibson

The eighth book by spoken word artist, poet and tender warrior Andrea Gibson, You Better Be Lightning, is out and it is—as anyone would reasonably expect from them—an entire and delicious meal, full of warmth and heat and flavour and spice and richness, cut with bright zest at just the right moments. Gibson feels to me like one of the poet laureates of queers, and when I am dashed on the rocks of heteronormativity and feeling alienated from the world because my understanding of care or wellness or family or love doesn’t mesh well with that of the straight world, it’s Gibson’s words that soothe me and make me feel seen as I am. 

Ashley MacIsaac with special guests Jully Black and Madison Violet

[Note: Please see correction below.] I am not even sure who thought up this somewhat eclectic triple bill, but whoever it is I would like to kiss them on the mouth because it hits so many of my queer sweet spots. MacIsaac, the renowned rock fiddler and soundtrack to so many late-night drives and long, meandering thoughts, brings a particularly mixed-and-matched sensibility to combining musical genres and pulling them apart again (a mode of art that I always think of as queer in my favourite ways). He is joined in this live Dec. 10 show (that will be livestreamed and available for seven days after the concert to audiences around the globe) by the iconic Jully Black, beloved by all reasonable gays everywhere after her absolutely riveting performance in Caroline, Or Change (if not before) and B.C.-based queer duo Madison Violet whose harmonies, it must be said, satisfy every bit of my close-harmony, music-festival nostalgia (all of the longing, none of the unpleasant transphobia).

The Big Reveal by Jen Larsen

Okay, technically The Big Reveal is a young adult book but please, my friends, regardless of your age, please do not let that stop you from enjoying this unapologetically and luxuriantly fat-positive teenage friendship caper in which Our Hero, Addie, an accomplished dancer who has been accepted to a prestigious summer dance program, finds she can’t afford to go. For a variety of Teenage Reasons, Addie and her friends decide to raise the money themselves in a series of burlesque performances and… things happen. Some of the things are lovely and some of them are Very Not, but the ways in which these young friends absolutely and uncompromisingly have each other’s backs gives me the absolute warmest of winter vibes imaginable. 

SuperKnova

I was tootling around the internet looking at gift-guides when I came across this video from music gear marketplace Reverb, which caught my attention because it seemed to feature someone playing an… electronic sea urchin? When I saw what NYC-based powerhouse trans girl musician SuperKnova could do with that thing I was instantly a fan, which led me to her track “Splendor Dysphoria,” which led to me listening to her newest song “Goals_” approximately a million times on repeat while cleaning. Anyhow, in case your journey trolling the internet looking for gifts hasn’t led you down this particularly sonically delicious alleyway, I am happy to be able to leave you some breadcrumbs on the path to joy.

Personal Attention Roleplay by Helen Chau Bradley

I know, there are  a lot of books this week but, as previously discussed, I am a nerd, and Personal Attention Roleplay by Helen Chau Bradley was slated for an earlier column but the publication date got pushed back and I would truly hate for it to be overlooked because it does one of my favourite things: describes experiences or emotions I understand but have never been able to properly express to my satisfaction. Bradley’s stories are deft even when they are wild (is it weird to say that they write chaos brilliantly?), and the dialogue is so keen, so perfectly pitched. I think I fell for this book extra hard because I wasn’t sure it was quite my vibe and, discovering that in Bradley’s hands even a lyrical description of drowning is my vibe, it won me completely.

Le Gateau Chocolat and Jonny Woo: Now That’s What We Call Musicals (live)

Now that I am authorized to dip my toe tentatively into the waters of live performance, I am choosing to spotlight something I will never get to see in person (curses!) but that I think everyone who can get to London, U.K., should run and buy tickets for: Now That’s What We Call Musicals. Tough-and-tender dreamboat drag diva Le Gateau Chocolat is joining forces with cabaret darling Jonny Woo for a six-week run at the Soho Theatre in what looks like even more of their usual over-the-top shenanigans, music, fashion, ribaldry and more. I desperately want to attend (and then stay out all night with a bunch of queers in wild hats reliving the best moments, eventually having breakfast at Dishoom and tumbling into bed well after reasonable people have responsibly reported to work) so instead I am sending all of you.

There’s the lot for this time, donuts and dreidels and bright little candles, and I hope it keeps you in good and great pleasures until next time. May your latkes be crisp, your apple sauce be single-variety and your sufganiyot drip with jam and joy until we meet again. As always, if you’re making something new and queer, email info@xtramagazine.com or DM me on Twitter with your news—I love to hear from you.