Reading Across Generations: The Coast is Queer Reading Group

When do young queer people get to meet and make friends with their elders? Where do older LGBTQ+ people go to meet and learn from younger queer folks? How do we bring queer generations together?

We love that The Coast is Queer is that rare occasion – a true mingling of queer people of all ages, sharing poetry, literature and stories, written by queer people of all ages, about queer people of all ages, for queer people of all ages.

We want to share that love by bringing together queer readers from all generations, from boomers to Gen Z, to meet and connect, to discuss books, drink tea and eat (very good!) cake.

If you are a member of the LGBTQ+ community in your 20s … or 30s… or 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s or 90s … we warmly invite you to join us the weekend before The Coast is Queer for our first-ever intergenerational reading group. Together we’ll explore queer cross-age connections by reading short extracts from 5 of the brilliant writers appearing at the festival – Yael van der Wouden, Jackie Kay, Jeremy Atherton Lin, Juno Roche and Coral Wylie – which should just about cover love, sex, family secrets, birth, death, drugs, radical politics, clubbing and all the other queer stuff.

We will send all extracts by post (who doesn’t love a letter?) or email if preferred so there will be no need to buy or read the books, although they will all be available to purchase later at the festival bookstall. The session will be led by one younger and one older reader, each of whom will bring their own perspective and life experience to the discussion.  

The reading group will take place at Jubilee Library, Brighton on 4th October at 2.30pm . The venue is fully wheelchair accessible. Full Access-Information can be found here. Refreshments will be provided and local travel expenses reimbursed.

Everyone taking part will be invited to join us at the festival on Saturday 11^th October to hear Yael van der Wouden, in conversation with University of Brighton’s Vedrana Velickovic, as they discuss her prize-winning debut novel, The Safekeep.

Participants will also have the opportunity to take part in Lois Weaver’s Care Café on Sunday 12^th and join the participatory mapping activity throughout the weekend, reflecting on present and absent queer cultural spaces in Brighton & Hove, envisioning a hopeful, place-based future with a vibrant queer culture – at The Coast is Queer festival and beyond.

The reading group is part of the Building Intergenerational Spaces Through Literature project funded by the AHRC 3.4 Ignite, University of Brighton led by Dr Vedrana Velickovic, Charlotte Wilcox and Lesley Wood. It builds on the 2024 AHRC Ignite 3.3 pilot project that explored the intergenerational space of The Coast is Queer festival

Places are limited so please register your interest here and places will be confirmed by September 26th

This event is sponsored by :