Let us be honest, my bright buttons, shiny zippers and fastenings of any description: this is not the winter we had hoped for, even just a few months ago. By now many of us probably hoped to be sitting in the theatre surreptitiously stroking someone’s thigh in the dark, making heart-eyes at smart people in university lecture halls and sweating all over strangers on the dance floor. The smart and fancy humans of our cultural constellation have still been making gorgeous things for us to enjoy all through the late and chilly fall. Here in early January, there’s a little time to enjoy some options with quieter voices and big feelings (my favourite).
Saint 1001 by Daphne Gottlieb
Though Saint 1001 actually came out a few weeks ago, I am choosing to consider this a gift to you, dear reader. You don’t have to wait like I did, you can go and put your whole face into this hot and exhausting novel, the first from the experimental, extraordinary Gottlieb. If you mixed one part Scheherazade, one part The Leather Daddy and The Femme and a good sprinkling of Law and Order: SVU, you’d have Saint 1001. As usual, Gottlieb’s language and style is exactly what you’d expect from a master of form—even the ugliest parts are a precisely calibrated kind of ugly that do the work of emotion and memory.
Gather: LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Community Group
I have heard roughly 100 million discussions and digressions about how siloed queer communities are, how few are our opportunities to meet people older or younger or who hold other identities from ours, or even just to see some new hairstyles and variations of animal prints. Gather: LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Community Group has a monthly topic, a facilitator, a regular group of attendees and an easy, early evening meeting time (6:30 p.m. EST on the third Thursday of the month). You can have a glass of whatever you enjoy (if you’re having a dry January, maybe try something tasty and alcohol-free from our friends at Temperance Tonics?) and chat about everything while dinner cooks.
Joe Stevens (of Coyote Grace) and Joviale
Credit: Courtesy Joviale
I am a wild Coyote Grace fan from way back, and tuned in for this free concert when it was being broadcast live. Stevens, a trans man and folk singer with an uncanny ability to capture a deep feeling in a simple lyric, brings a stripped-down, boy-and-guitar performance style that really underscores his talent (and there’s a tip jar if you’d like to say thanks for the vibes). More good-music-for-a-grey-day is Hurricane Belle, the new four-song EP from Joviale, whose lyrics are less a story and more a moment—but the moment is deep and sweet (and sometimes pretty hot). Pick a vibe or mix them up for the best January warmth for whatever parts of you are chilly.
I build it better by A. Light Zachary
Credit: Saul Freedman-Lawson
CBC Poetry Competition longlister and well-loved Toronto poet, performer and curator A. Light Zachary has a new chapbook out this week, I build it better. Though I haven’t read most of the poems it contains, I have loved all the ones I’ve read so far; they’re challenging and formal, and that rigour somehow makes it possible to enter fully into the enormous feelings bound and presented in the lines. I wouldn’t call this beginner poetry, per se, but it does have a grounded and expository quality that gives it an accessible feel. So if you’re thinking, “You know, I should read more poetry,” let me recommend this one for a solid queer start.
Creative Cabin
Have you been inspired by the music, the artwork, the poetry and the outfits that you’ve seen and loved here? Maybe it’s time to jump in and try a new artform yourself (or refine your skills elsewhere). My Secret Agent Lover Man has been busy linocutting and reduction printing; perhaps you’d like a new late-pandemic art form as well? The fine folks at Creative Cabin would love to see what you’ve made, written, crafted or grown. On Monday, Jan. 17, at 1 p.m. EST bring anything from the poem you wrote to the jam you made, show it off and then settle in to make something together with some new-to-you queers.
Mixed Blood Theatre Script Club
The excellent humans at Mixed Blood Theatre, a 45-year-old project of theatre and justice based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, have established Script Club, a monthly event where interested participants can read, respond to and discuss a play in development at the theatre. As part of their mission to “disrupt injustices, advance equity and build community,” we’re all invited to a Script Club with P. Carl, whose new play, Becoming a Man: The Story of a Transition, is taking its turn on Jan. 12 at 8 p.m. EST. If you can’t make it this month, stay tuned for new, regular Script Club offerings.
And that, my loves, is what’s ahead for us over the next two weeks. Shortly my inbox will overflow again with new books and music and new shows and ideas, and I will pick the very best and deliver them directly to your door (maybe even the back door, if you’re lucky) for your amusement and excitement both. In the meantime, I hope your feet are warm, your cocktail is cold and your feelings are hanging in there as we make our way through January. As always, if you’re making anything new and queer, drop me an email to info@xtramagazine.com or DM me on Twitter—I love to hear your news.
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