Queer Lit

Lena Mattheis
  • 4.6 (11)
  • Books
  • Updated Biweekly

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. 5d ago

    “Shameless Vampires” with RJ Wade and Sarah Prescott

    Welcome, children of the night, to a particularly shameless spooky special all about an eternally queer-coded fan favourite: the vampire. RJ Wade and Sarah Prescott join me to speak about bookish bloodsuckers, raunchy revenants, and sapphic succubi. The dramatic reading of a yet unperformed Carmilla play had me at the very edge of my seat and I also learned a lot about both the cultural and the literary history of vampirism.   References: Quite Shameless: Cultural Reflections on the Vampire https://library.leeds.ac.uk/events/event/1900/galleries/1085/quite-shameless-cultural-reflections-on-the-vampire  RJ Wade’s An Exhibition History of Victorian Leeds (Liverpool UP, 2023) https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10.3828/9781802078541 University of Leeds Cultural Collections Bram Stoker’s Dracula Animated Activism: Women Empowered https://library.leeds.ac.uk/events/event/1900/galleries/844/animated-activism-women-empowered Hamilton Deane’s Dracula (1924) Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla (1872) The Dark Blue Byron Dracula Society https://www.thedraculasociety.org.uk/ Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness (1928) Virginia Woolf’s Orlando (1928) Dora Mary Patrick Quincey Morris  Van Helsing Stage@Leeds https://stage.leeds.ac.uk/ Christopher Craft’s “‘Kiss Me with those Red Lips’: Gender and Inversion in Bram Stoker's Dracula” (1984) https://www.jstor.org/stable/2928560 Chris Latham Revenant Wharram Percy Maurice Beresford Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma Josephine Butler @lulgalleries C.E. McGill’s Our Hideous Progeny https://cemcgill.com/our-hideous-progeny/ BorrowBox Libby Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Ally Wilkes’ All the White Spaces The Bookish Type https://thebookishtype.co.uk/ Kit Heyam https://kitheyam.com/   Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:      What might make a vampire queer? Which literary vampires do we speak about in the episode?     When Sarah talks about a ‘pleasing terror’, what kind of experience is described and who is this phrase borrowed from? Have you ever felt a pleasing terror?     How is the revenant figure similar to and different from the vampire?     What does Wade say about the relevance of the medical humanities lens? Please look up the term medical humanities if you are not familiar.     Do you have a favourite vampire? How queer-coded are they?

  2. Oct 5

    “Against Ageism” with Simon(e) van Saarloos

    Have you ever thought about your age as being assigned at birth? In this episode, Simon(e) van Saarloos and I explore how queer thought might allow us to move beyond preconceptions of age, but also about the manifold and intersectional consequences of ageism. Simon(e) reflects on how trans narratives might work without reliance on linearity and why age is such a powerful category when it comes to agency. CW: Around minutes 11 to 13, there is a nongraphic mention of sexual violence.   References: Simon(e) van Saarloos’ Against Ageism: A Queer Manifesto (2023) Simon(e) van Saarloos’ Playing Monogamy (2019) Simon(e) van Saarloos’ Take ‘Em Down: Scattered Monuments and Queer Forgetting (2021) Simon(e) van Saarloos’ Give Piss A Chance: A Willing Suspension of Consequences Trans Despair (2027) Samantha Nye MU Hybrid Art House in Eindhoven Mona Eltahawy Ira Kip KIP Republic Denise Ferreira Da Silva Roe vs Wade Crip time Mel Y. Chen Chrononormativity (Elizabeth Freeman) Alison Kafer JJJJJerome Ellis Fred Moten Fumi Okiji @svansaarloos Jordy Rosenberg’s Night Night Fawn Saketopoulou, A. (2026). Exigent Sadism. Social Text, 44(1), 25–51. https://doi.org/10.1215/01642472-12195785   Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:      What does Simon(e) mean by ‘change-phobic’?     I really love when Simon(e) explains that “linear time is mapped onto the body and we call that age.” – How could we understand age in other ways? What might a queer approach to age be?     Simon(e) mentions age-segregated institutions. What are examples of these and how does age shape institutions?     How do race and colonialism play into age?     How often do you think about age? Do you perceive age differently in and outside of queer and trans community?

  3. Sep 21

    “Queering Prehistory” with S. K. Marley

    We all know that trans people have existed throughout history, but what about before that? S.K. Marley does fascinating research on queerness and transness that predates written history and joins me to speak about what antler headdresses and wooden dolls might teach us about transness. We also discuss how transness, walking and wellbeing are entangled, which landscapes are the most nonbinary, and why ‘prehistory’ is a contested term in itself. Since we’re chatting in a beautiful park in York, this episode has some bonus bird song and squirrel mischief.   References: Out and Wild  https://www.outandwild.co.uk/ Our Transcapes  https://skmarley.co.uk/our-transcapes/ Ballachulish Goddess Braak Bog Figures The Wittemoor Figures Shigir Idol https://skmarley.co.uk/ @sk____marley Our Flag Means Death   Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:      What does ‘prehistory’ mean?     Why does S.K. speak about being trans and being in nature? What does this have to do with wellbeing?     S.K. speaks about notions of truth in contemporary trans debates and about colonial perspectives in academia. Why is their focus on British prehistory important in both of these contexts?     Why are the antler headdresses S.K. talks about a turning point in their research and their thinking about duality?     Why are bogs trans? What is the most trans or nonbinary landscape you have ever encountered?

  4. Sep 7

    “Hyperpop and Queer Noise” with C. Jade MacDonald

    What does sound have to do with sexuality? C. Jade MacDonald has some fascinating insights on the queerness of noise, on trans voices in hyperpop, and on sound in literature. Learn about the queer kinship created by remixes and covers in contemporary music, but also about which sound technologies are historically entangled with sexology. My favourite bit: hearing about how Gertrude Stein resonates with SOPHIE.   References: C. Jade MacDonald (2024) “The Alien Resonances and Queer Obscurities of Hyperpop’s 100 gecs” Journal of Popular Music Studies, 36.2, pp. 76-98. C. Jade MacDonald (2025) "'A Story that Wasn’t in the Words’: Music, Mothering, and Minor Figures" in The Crossroads of Music and Literature: New Essays on the Muse of Song, edited by Kelly Baron and Andrew DuBois, pp. 113-28. C. Jade MacDonald (2027) "Their Lover's Noise: Modernism's Queer Phonographies" in Routledge Companion to Literature and Sound, edited by Birgitte Stougaard Pedersen and Maria Engberg. Foucault’s The History of Sexuality Saidiya Hartman Julie Beth Napolin’s "Unrecordable Sound: Media History, Technology and the Racial Unconscious" in Anna Snaith, ed. Sound and Literature (Cambridge UP, 2020) Jonathan Sterne’s The Audible Past: Cultural Origins of Sound Reproduction (Duke UP, 2003) Sara Ahmed’s Queer Phenomenology Althusser Gertrude Stein SOPHIE 100 gecs’ “money machine” Wendy Carlos Dorian Electra Charli xcx A.G. Cook Kodwo Eshun’s More Brilliant Than The Sun: Adventures in Sonic Fiction (Quartet Books, 1998) alien sonorities Alice B. Toklas Edmund Husserl Alexander G. Weheliye’s Phonographies: Grooves in Sonic Afro-Modernity (Duke UP, 2005) Grace E. Lavery’s Pleasure and Efficacy: Of Pen Names, Cover Versions, and Other Trans Techniques (Princeton UP, 2023) Perverse sincerity  Simon & Garfunkel Shakira Gorillaz “Feel Good Inc” @C.jademacdonald cameronjade.macdonald@utoronto.ca Aoife Josie Clements’ Persona (Little Puss Press, 2026)   Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:      Why might noise be queer?     How is voice usually perceived in music? What might the distortion and non-human quality that hyperpop can lend voices signify in relation to transness?     What does Jade say about remixes and covers? Do you see them as queer kinship?     Why does Jade speak about 100 gecs? What is this example illustrating?     Please listen to at least one musician that you heard about on this episode and think about whether you can hear any ‘alien resonances’.

  5. Aug 24

    “Lavender Sounds” with Stacey Copeland

    Listen, this episode is as delightful as it sounds. Audiophile Stacey Copeland tells me all about feminist soundwork, radical radio, and lesbian podcasts – all of which Stacey writes about in the excellent new book Lavender Sounds. Tune in for the sonic histories, stay for the moment when Stacey illustrating the crafted intimacy of podcasts will make you a little weak in the knees. If you are interested in the politics and potential of audio media, you will absolutely love this episode.     References:  Stacey Copeland’s Lavender Sounds: From Lesbian Radio to Queer Feminist Soundwork (University of Michigan Press, 2026) Amplify Network Copeland, Stacey "Sustaining queer joy and potentiality: Through independent production with homoground music podcast." Journal of popular music studies 35.4 (2023): 111-124. Betty Friedan Lavender Menace Michele Hilmes Bluestockings Cooperative bell hooks Hannah McGregor The Lesbian Show Fonds are held at the City of Vancouver Archives https://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/the-lesbian-show Kaitlin Prest Jennifer Lynn Stoever’s The Sonic Color Line (NYU Press, 2016) Silva Tenenbein’s original interview with Stacey aired on FemRadio in 2018 https://soundcloud.com/scopeatryerson/the-lesbian-show Dykes on Mykes is back on the airwaves at CKUT Montreal https://ckut.ca/playlists/DM The ArQuives - https://arquives.ca/ ‘Temporal drag’ is a reference from Elizabeth Freeman’s Time Binds: Queer Temporalities, Queer Histories (Duke University Press, 2010) The Heart’s “Lesbian Separatism is Inevitable” - https://www.theheartradio.org/solos/2020/1/15/lesbian-separatism-is-inevitable NK (Nicole Kelly) Phoebe Unter staceycopeland.com Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives - https://www.nfb.ca/film/forbidden_love/ Studio D – The women’s film studio founded in 1974 under the NFB (National Film Board of Canada)    Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:      How does Stacey define lavender sounds and why is the colour lavender connected to queerness, historically and politically?     What is soundwork? What is feminist soundwork?     Why is audibility important to consider, not just visibility?     What does Stacey mean when speaking about the everydayness of soundwork?     Why does radio hold radical potential?     How does sound relate to time in Stacey’s work?

  6. Aug 10

    LIVE at Out and Wild with Ayse and Queer Girls Book Club

    Meet Ayse, founder of Queer Girls Book Club, defender of the heated debate, and dyke of the people. In this live recording from the amazing Out and Wild festival, Ayse tells me about why running a queer book club is not just about putting LGBTQIA+ titles on your reading list, all the work she is doing to nurture her bookish community, and a why disagreeing is a good skill to have. To quote Joelle Taylor: That’s community, babe!   References  Out and Wild https://www.outandwild.co.uk/ Housmans Joelle Taylor’s The Night Alphabet Emily Witham Grace Flahive Polly Shute Gillian Anderson Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home and Spent Gay on Wye Carol Ann Duffy’s Rapture and “Forest” Jackie Kay Lamya H’s Hijab Butch Blues Zoë Berryman   Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:      Why did Ayse start Queer Girls Book Club? Have you ever thought about starting a group? What was/would have been your motivation?     What does Ayse say about contributing to community? How do you feel about this?     We speak about literature as being a protected space to practice debate and disagreement. Have you ever experienced this? Which example does Ayse give?     How does Ayse speak about marginalised voices in the publishing industry? What can we as readers do to promote change?     Are you coming to our next live recording?

  7. Aug 3

    “Spin Cycle” with Zofia Zerphy and Rhiannon Bell

    In the sapphic launderette play Spin Cycle, the washers are loaded and so are the questions. Penned by Zofia Zerphy, Spin Cycle is an absurdist exploration of intense connections, queer memory and lesbian storytelling. In this summer special, I am joined by Zofia and Rhiannon Bell, who play the main characters and speak to me about crafting a play in queer community, why queer narratives can operate in different realms of sense and meaning making, and why exploring flawed characters is vital to queer and trans representation.   References: Berserk Theatre The L Word Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Mitski’s “Washing Machine Heart” Act On Tap Bethan Rose Edinburgh Dyke Bar Ros Watt’s Trans People Are Awful Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness Joe Carstairs   Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:      Zofia and Rhi speak about the different responses queer and non-queer audience members had to the play’s absurdist elements. What do they say about queer narratives making sense and what is your take?     Which trope(s) of sapphic storytelling do we mention in the episode?     We speak about Spin Cycle using memory and forgetting in queer ways. What could queer memory mean? What does it mean to you?     Rhi highlights the importance of showing flawed trans and nonbinary characters on stage. How do you feel about this? Can you think of another example of a flawed LGBTQIA+ character in literature or theatre?     Have you ever seen yourself represented on stage? What was that like?

  8. Jul 20

    “Cisgender” with Perry Zurn

    Who coined the term cis and why are some people calling it a slur? Amazing return guest Perry Zurn joins me to discuss what the concept of cis does, why it’s helpful to look at its origins and etymology and where it might oversimplify the project of gender. Not one to be missed!   References: Perry Zurn’s Cisgender: Disorienting a Category (Duke UP, 2026) Perry Zurn’s How We Make Each Other: Trans Life at the Edge of the University (Duke UP, 2024) John Hollister Riva Lehrer’s Golem Girl Marquis Bey’s Cistem Failure: Essays on Blackness and Cisgender (Duke UP, 2022) Stephanie Clare’s Nonbinary: A Feminist Autotheory (Cambridge UP, 2023) Jonathan Ned Katz’s The Invention of Heterosexuality (1995)   Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:      What does cis mean?     Which term is older: cis or trans? When does the term cis emerge?     Which community coined the term cisgender and why?     What is Perry saying about simplified notions of cis and which example does he give?     How does Perry put disability and race in dialogue with cisness and transness?

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Ratings & Reviews

4.6
out of 5
11 Ratings

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
    171
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Lena Mattheis
  • Show Website
    Queer Lit

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