Queer Lit

Lena Mattheis
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Queer Lit is a podcast about LGBTQIA+* literature and culture. In each episode, literary studies researcher Lena Mattheis talks to an expert in the field of queer studies. Topics include lesbian literature, inclusive pronouns and language, gay history, trans and non-binary novels, intersectionality and favourite queer films, series or poems. New episode every other week! Recent transcripts here: https://lenamattheis.wordpress.com/queer-lit-transcripts/  queerlitpodcast@gmail.com https://lenamattheis.wordpress.com/queerlit Twitter and Instagram: @queerlitpodcast Music by geovanebruny from Pixabay

  1. 3 DAYS AGO

    “Mixing Pronouns” with Sue Lanser (Queer Forms and Pronouns Series)

    Come along for a deep dive into mixed pronouns in queer, trans and nonbinary narratives with none other than Sue Lanser, your favourite narratologist’s favourite narratologist. Sue and I talk about why we might need to rethink the concept of gender disguise narratives, where we find mixed pronouns in literary histories and why mixed pronouns often become sensual in literature. My favourite bit: Sue asks me about my personal hero, the Grinch. This conversation is part of a miniseries that accompanies my book Queer Forms and Pronouns: Gender Nonconformity in Anglophone Literature (Oxford University Press, 2026). I hope you like hearing more from your host, but not to worry: we will be back to our usual format in just a few weeks.     References Sue Lanser’s The Sexuality of History Sue Lanser’s Narrative Theory Unbound Sue Lanser’s “Trans-forming Narratology” Narrative 32.2 (2024) Jeanette Winterson’s Written on the Body Le Roman de Silence Michel de Montaigne’s Journal de Voyage Margaret Cavendish’s Assaulted and Pursued Chastity Lyly’s Galatea Chevalièr(e) d’Éon Alex Myers’ Revolutionary Deborah Samson Jenny Fran Davis’ Dykette Isaac Fellman’s Dead Collections Spiel, Katta, Os Keyes, and Pınar Barlas. 2019. ‘Patching Gender: Non-Binary Utopias in HCI’. Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, May 2, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1145/3290607.3310425. The Grinch Dr Seuss Jim Carrey Benedict Cumberbatch Les Feinberg Maggie Nelson Harry Dodge Jen Manion Dean Spade       Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:      What role does narrative agency play in the difference between external and intrinsic pronoun ascription?     Why does Susan suggest that we need to revisit Shakespeare’s and other’s gender disguise narratives?     Susan mentions how characters that are perceived as masculine but use she/her are much more frequently ridiculed than characters viewed as feminine who use he/him. Why do you think that is?     How has feminism expanded what ‘she/her’ can mean?     How does mixing pronouns do similar or different work from singular they?     Why does the Grinch, according to Lena, have big they energy?

    46 min

  2. 17 MAR

    “Ambiguous Pronouns” with Susan Stryker (Queer Forms and Pronouns Series)

    It was an incredible honour to have THE Susan Stryker join me for a chat about ambiguous pronouns, trans literature and linguistic creativity. Susan’s wealth of knowledge on pronouns across languages and literary history was incredibly enriching and allowed me to speak about some of my favourite examples of ambiguous pronoun use in literature. This conversation is part of a miniseries that accompanies my book Queer Forms and Pronouns: Gender Nonconformity in Anglophone Literature (Oxford University Press, 2026). I hope you like hearing more from your host, but not to worry: we will be back to our usual format in just a few weeks.   References: Susan Stryker’s “My Words to Victor Frankenstein above the Village of Chamounix” Susan Stryker’s Transgender History Susan Stryker, Stephen Wittle, Aren Aizura (eds) The Transgender Studies Reader Susan Stryker’s Changing Gender: The History and Future of a Concept (August 2026) Sara Taylor’s The Lauras Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s The Sleeping Hermaphrodite (1620) Teagan Bradway Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer (2019) Lal Zimman Rivers Solomon Aphra Behn’s “To The Fair Clorinda” and “The Widow Ranter” Thomas(ine) Hall Nathaniel Bacon Mel Y. Chen Andrea Lawlor’s Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl Andrea Gibson’s “Your Life”   Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:      Which pronouns are ambiguous when it comes to gender in English? Which ones are ambiguous in your first or favourite language?     What creates ambiguity when we use pronouns? How might this ambiguity be productive?     Susan explains why gendered pronouns in English function in an unusual way compared to other languages. What is something new you learned about this?     We speak about why literature can teach us something about pronoun use that we might overlook when focusing on grammar. What is that?     Can you name one of the examples of ambiguous pronoun use in literature we discuss?

    48 min

  3. 3 MAR

    “Singular They” with Laura Paterson (Queer Forms and Pronouns Series)

    Welcome to a miniseries about gender nonconformity pronouns in literature! In this episode, the amazing linguist Laura Paterson asks me many clever questions about singular they in literature. We talk about the function of pronouns, common misunderstanding about singular they, and neutral versus gender-nonconforming use of this fantastic third person pronoun. Whether you would like reading recommendations (Virginia Woolf, Lamya H, Rae Spoon…) or some insight into what singular they can do in creative and academic writing, this episode might have some answers – or questions – for you.   References Lena Mattheis’ Queer Forms and Pronouns: Gender Nonconformity in Anglophone Literature (Oxford University Press, 2026) Laura Paterson (ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Pronouns (Routledge, 2023) Anna Livia Lamya H’s Hijab Butch Blues (2023) Rae Spoon’s Green Glass Ghosts (2021) Jeanette Winterson’s Written on the Body (1992) Anne Garréta’s Sphinx (1986) Charlie Josephine’s I, Joan (2022) The Globe https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/identity-in-i-joan/ Kit Heyam Laura Paterson and Georgina Turner (eds) Approaches to Discourses of Marriage (Routledge, 2024) Lal Zimman   Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:     What is a pronoun?    How does Lena define gender-nonconformity pronouns?    Why is it relevant whether a narrator comments on pronoun use or not? Which examples does Lena provide?    Which literary texts do Laura and Lena mention? Which one would you like to read and why?    What do Laura and Lena discuss about pronouns in academic writing? Do you have an established practice for this?

    46 min

  4. 17 FEB

    “Queer Food” with Alex Ketchum and Megan Elias

    What is queer food, you ask? Let’s find out! Alex Ketchum and Megan Elias tell me all about the connections between gender and food, cooking and sexuality, and recipes and community. The amazing book Queers at the Table is a product of the queer food conference Alex and Megan ran in 2024 (returning in 2026!) and consists of essays, stories, comics and endlessly inspiring reflections on queer cooking and intellectual inquiry. Lesbian chefs, feminist cafes, queer community cookouts – this episode has them all.   References: Queers at the Table (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2025) Alex Ketchum’s Ingredients for Revolution: A History of American Feminist Restaurants, Cafes, and Coffeehouses (Concordia UP, 2022) https://press.library.concordia.ca/projects/ingredients-for-revolution (open access) Megan Elias’ Food on the Page (Penn Press, 2017) Queer Food Conference https://www.queerfoodconference.com/ @queerfoodconference Alex Ketchum’s How to Organize Inclusive Events and Conferences (Microcosm, 2026) https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/63461 Alex Ketchum’s Digital Queers and High Tech Gays (MIT Press, 2027) @dr.alexketchum http://alexketchum.ca Alex Ketchum’s Engage in Public Scholarship!: A Guidebook on Feminist and Accessible Communication (Concordia Uni Press, 2022) https://press.library.concordia.ca/projects/engage-in-public-scholarship (open access) https://www.justfeministtechandscholarshiplab.com/ Greggor Mattson Prism Comics Queer Food Foundation The Female Glaze @thefemaleglaze The Nonbinarian Bookstore https://thenonbinarian.gay/ Bishakh Som’s Spellbound Cait McKinney’s Information Activism: A Queer History of Lesbian Media Technologies The Ripped Bodice Casey McQuiston’s The Pairing   Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:      How do Megan and Alex define queer food?     Megan thinks about what ‘not queer food’ might be and whether we would want to define this. What is your opinion? Is there ‘straight’ food?     How is gender connected to food? Were you surprised by anything we mention?     What connections do Megan and Alex draw between sexuality and food?     Alex and Megan speak a lot about community. Can you name two examples of how community makes food queer?     How might food be linked to queer knowledge production?

    47 min

  5. 3 FEB

    “Lean Cat, Savage Cat” with Lauren J. Joseph

    The incredible author Lauren J. Joseph joins me to talk about her new book Lean Cat, Savage Cat – out on 26 February 2026. Lauren talks about the genre-bending ambiguity of the novel, about characters that have followed her from the stage to the page, and about writing across languages. We touch on the intricacies of first-person narration, but also on what it’s like to write a novel versus writing a PhD.   References: Lauren J. Joseph’s Lean Cat, Savage Cat (2026) Lauren J. Joseph’s At Certain Points We Touch (2022) Ben Robbins Alexander Geist David Bowie Bryan Ferry Morrissey Hildegard von Bingen Marty Supreme Timothée Chalamet Essen Dortmund Karstadt KaDeWe Romy Haag Bowie’s Berlin Trilogy: Low, Heroes, Lodger Narcissus and Echo Céleste Albaret Proust American Psycho Pedro Lemebel’s My Tender Matador Jean Genet

    38 min

  6. 20 JAN

    “Queer Exiles” with Ben Robbins

    From Christopher Isherwood to Djuna Barnes, some of the most prolific queer writers of the 20th century wrote in exile. Ben Robbins joins me to explain how and why queer writers connected with each other in exile and how (in)voluntary movement shaped their stories. Ben shares some surprising encounters from the archives and paints a picture of some of the locations of queer exile: Berlin, Tangier and Capri.   References: Networked Narratives: Queer Exile Literature 1900-1969 Funded by the Austrian Science Fund/FWF (Project DOI: 10.55776/P35199)   https://www.uibk.ac.at/projects/networkednarratives/ Ben Robbins’ “‘Marriages ought to be secret’: Queer Marriages of Convenience and the Exile Narrative” JAAAS: Journal of the Austrian Association for American Studies, vol. 5, no. 1, Dec. 2023, pp. 100–122, https://doi.org/10.47060/jaaas.v5i1.173. Networks of Anglophone LGBTQ+ Exile Writers http://queerexilelit.uibk.ac.at/ Robbins, Ben, and Ralph J. Poole. "Introduction: Queer Ruralisms." AmLit – American Literatures 4.2 (2024): 4-21. Ben Robbins’ Faulkner's Hollywood Novels: Women between Page and Screen (University of Virginia Press 2024) https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/5855/ Queer Second Cities Maria Sulimma Ben Robbins’ “Christopher Isherwood in Exile”  https://www.huntington.org/verso/christopher-isherwood-exile Harry Ransom Center Bryher (Annie Winifred Ellerman) Oscar Wilde W. Somerset Maugham E.F. Benson John Ellingham Brooks Romaine Brooks John Ellerman Robert McAlmon Djuna Barnes’ Nightwood Natalie Barney Christopher Isherwood’s Goodbye to Berlin Stephen Spender’s The Temple Jane Bowles’ Two Serious Ladies W.H. Auden Patricia Highsmith Allen Ginsberg Claude McKay Thornton Wilder Ben Robbins. "Space, Sexuality, and Thornton Wilder's Villa Rhabani." Thornton Wilder Journal 5:1, November 2024, pp. 99-119. DOI: 10.5325/thorntonwilderj.5.1.0099  https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/psup/thornton-wilder/article-abstract/5/1/99/392187/Space-Sexuality-and-Thornton-Wilder-s-Villa?redirectedFrom=fulltext Open access: https://ulb-dok.uibk.ac.at/urn/urn:nbn:at:at-ubi:3-40689 William Burroughs’ Naked Lunch Alfred Chester’s Looking for Genet: Literary Essays and Reviews Susan Sontag Gore Vidal Henry James Truman Capote   Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:      How does Ben define ‘exile’? How is this similar to and different from ‘expat’?     How does exile relate to class status and financial means?     Why are queer networks so important in this context?     What does Ben say about exile and (involuntary) movement affecting narrative form?     How do you find out where you can safely travel?

    47 min

  7. 6 JAN

    Queer Lit on Amplified

    Time for a cross-over! I had the absolute pleasure on being invited to join the Amplified network and appear on their superb podcast. Here is our episode and Amplified's show notes: "Amplified is an audio blog series about the sounds of scholarship from our team here at the Amplify Podcast Network. This month on Amplified, Stacey Copeland and Hannah McGregor are joined by Lena Mattheis to kick off a brand new series featuring the latest additions to our sustained cohort of podcasters. Lena is the creator and host of Queer Lit, a podcast about LGBTQIA2S+* literature and culture. In this conversation, we reflect on podcasting as a tool for community building and queer scholarly practice, tracing how Queer Lit emerged from Lena's teaching practice and a commitment to accessible feminist and queer knowledge creation."

    24 min

  8. 23/12/2025

    Festive Special Part 2

    What is the queerest thing you did this year? Listen to the festive special to find out how queer our guests and listeners made 2025! References: Liz Breslin How To Read podcast https://www.howtoreadpodcast.com/elaine-auyoung-one-sided-relationships/ Queer Forms and Pronouns: Gender Nonconformity in Anglophone Literature (OUP, March 2026) https://global.oup.com/academic/product/queer-forms-and-pronouns-9780198974116?q=lena%20mattheis&lang=en&cc=gb Susan Stryker Louise Siddons’ Good Pictures Are A Strong Weapon https://www.upress.umn.edu/9781517910730/good-pictures-are-a-strong-weapon/ Category is Books (Glasgow) Lighthouse Books (Edinburgh) The Bookish Type (Leeds) Kit Heyam Royal Vauxhall Tavern All Of Us Strangers Nick Cherryman European Gay Ski Week Oliver Slate-Green’s The Way Blood Travels Leah Davidson Listenqueer.co.uk Out and Wild Leilah King Coast is Queer Jack Gieseking Our Dyke Histories podcast Julie Enszer Lesbian Lives  Sinister Wisdom The Essential Poems of Pat Parker (The 87 Press) Caro de Robertis’ The Palace of Eros Joelle Taylor’s Maryville Alison Bechdel’s Spent Allan Johnson  https://thisisallan.medium.com/elf-and-safety-2b061323dbc1 Flora Johnson’s Christopher Popinkins

    31 min
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About

Queer Lit is a podcast about LGBTQIA+* literature and culture. In each episode, literary studies researcher Lena Mattheis talks to an expert in the field of queer studies. Topics include lesbian literature, inclusive pronouns and language, gay history, trans and non-binary novels, intersectionality and favourite queer films, series or poems. New episode every other week! Recent transcripts here: https://lenamattheis.wordpress.com/queer-lit-transcripts/  queerlitpodcast@gmail.com https://lenamattheis.wordpress.com/queerlit Twitter and Instagram: @queerlitpodcast Music by geovanebruny from Pixabay

Information

  • Creator
    Lena Mattheis
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    156
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Lena Mattheis
  • Show Website
    Queer Lit

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