Stories by Queer BIPOC Authors
01
The Complete Persepolis
by Marjane Satrapi
This is a graphic memoir that chronicles the author's youth. It begins in Iran during the 1979 Islamic Revolution, follows her adolescence as an immigrant in Austria, and details her complicated homecoming and eventual self-imposed exile to Europe. I read this between high school and college and it really helped me open my eyes to way more than just my small town in upstate NY.
02
The City InsideÂ
by Samit Basu
Rudra is a recluse estranged from his wealthy and powerful family, now living in an impoverished immigrant neighborhood. When his father's death pulls him back into his family's orbit, an impulsive job offer from Joey becomes his only escape from the life he never wanted.
03
The Late Americans
by Brandon Taylor
I will be honest with you, this story wasn’t my favorite, but I will still recommend it because the Brandon Taylor is a very skilled author and the writing in this book is a delight. It follows a loose, interconnected circle of young artists, students, and workers in Iowa City. Over the course of a volatile year, the characters navigate relationships, class divisions, and their ambitions while grappling with the precarity of late capitalism and the anxieties of adulthood.
04
Black Leopard Red Wolf
by Marlon James
At the intersection of queer identity and BIPOC experience, some of the most powerful and necessary storytelling happening right now is being written. These authors are building worlds rooted in their full, complex humanity — and the stories they're telling are ones the literary world has needed for a long time.