Queer Lit

Queer Lit

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

Episodes

Queer Lit on Amplified

January 5, 2026 • 24 mins
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 la...
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Festive Special Part 2

December 22, 2025 • 30 mins
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&...
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Festive Special Part 1

December 15, 2025 • 23 mins
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:
Happiest Season
Kristen Stewart
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Joe Jukes
https://www.hiss.sydney/
Virginia Gay’s Cyrano
Qtopia Sydney
Queer Britain
@guildfordgaybookclub New House Art Space (Guildford) Juno Dawson’s Stay Another Day Layla McCay’s The Queer Bookshelf: A Reader’s Guide...
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Queerest thing you did this year?

November 17, 2025 • 2 mins
Share the queerest thing you did this year by 6 December to be featured on the end-of-year special and for the chance to win a special gift (if you are based in the UK). Send an email or voice recording to queerlitpodcast@gmail.com by 6 December.

I can't wait to hear from you!
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“Ancient Myths and Lesbian Legends” with Mara Gold

November 11, 2025 • 56 mins
Medusa, Medea, Artemis… we’ve all heard their stories before but what do they sound like when not told by (or centred on) men? Mara Gold, the sapphic scholar, is here to tell us all about these figures and about how there is always more than one side to a story and more than one reading to a myth. Come for the lesbian legends, stay for the witty witches and follow us @queerlitpodcast and @sapphic_scholar.  

References

Mara Gold’s Anc...
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“The Queer Victorian Gothic” with Brontë Schiltz

October 28, 2025 • 46 mins
Are you ready to descend into the weird world of queer Gothic writing, spooky sexology, and gay ghouls? Brontë Schiltz is an expert on all of these and so much more. We speak about the televisual Gothic and about several of Brontë’s favourite Victorian writers, including masc heartthrob Vernon Lee. If you’re into fun facts about blood transfusions and half-human, half-snake main characters, this episode is for you.  

References:
Manc...
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“Taylor’s Version Pt 2: Showgirls” with Stephanie Burt

October 13, 2025 • 56 mins
Are you ready to become a showgirl? Poet, scholar, and Swifty extraordinaire Stephanie Burt joins me to talk about Taylor Swift’s musical genius, queer fandom and relationship to femininity. There was simply too much to squeeze into one episode, so make sure to listen to part one first and hear all about the Gaylors, before switching to part two, to learn about Taylor's relationship to femininity, class and race. Stephanie will als...
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“Taylor’s Version Pt 1: Gaylors” with Stephanie Burt

October 6, 2025 • 40 mins
Are you ready to become a showgirl? Poet, scholar, and Swifty extraordinaire Stephanie Burt joins me to talk about Taylor Swift’s musical genius, queer fandom and relationship to femininity. There was simply too much to squeeze into one episode, so make sure to listen to part one first and hear all about the Gaylors, before switching to part two, to learn about Taylor;s relationship to femininity, class and race. Stephanie will als...
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"No" with Sara Ahmed

September 22, 2025 • 61 mins
Our favourite feminist killjoy is back! Sara Ahmed joins me to talk about her brand-new book No Is Not A Lonely Utterance: The Art and Activism of Complaining. In her first ever (how special are we) public conversation about the book, Sara speaks about becoming a feminist ear and a complaint collector, sharing stories of her own complaints as well as those shared with her in community. Explaining how the power of complaining lies i...
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“Love Lies Bleeding” with Michelle Devereaux

September 8, 2025 • 42 mins
How many times have you watched the sweaty lesbian fever dream that is Love Lies Bleeding? As you might be able to guess from this episode, Michelle Devereaux and I have stopped counting. Michelle is a feminist film-philosophy expert who joins me to talk about Rose Glass’s super queer neo noir, the interplay of genre conventions and gender dynamics, and all the fun intertexts and easter eggs that we found in Love Lies Bleeding. Whe...
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“Lighthouse” Queer Space Special with Mairi Oliver

August 25, 2025 • 21 mins
If you can’t find me, I’m probably still browsing shelves of queer joy at Lighthouse, Edinburgh’s superb radical bookshop. The delightful owner Mairi Oliver took some time to chat with me about the long history of radical and queer bookshops that have come before and exist alongside this absolute gem of a queer space. We speak about queer spaces changing hands and transforming, rather than disappearing, about the magic of queer and...
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“Queer Hong Kong” with Alvin K. Wong

August 11, 2025 • 47 mins
What makes Hong Kong queer? Alvin K. Wong joins me to speak about how queer and decolonial thought can help us better understand Hong Kong and its relation to the Sinophone world, to Eurocentric queer theory, and to global protest culture. Alvin speaks about queer and trans photography, films and novels from Hong Kong and sprinkles in some excellent theory reading recommendations. Listen now to learn more about Hong Kong and why it...
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“Category is Books” Queer Space Special with Bug and Fin

July 28, 2025 • 21 mins
You know I love a queer bookshop and this Glaswegian dream of a queer space is absolutely delightful. Bug and Fin started Category is Books in 2018 to create the kind of space they were craving in their own neighbourhood. As the name promises, Category is Books has some exquisite shelving categories: from ‘Dyke Aching’ to ‘Trans Lit’ to the extensive poetry and theory sections, Bug and Fin show off their excellent taste on their sh...
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“Transitions” with Ava L. J. Kim

July 14, 2025 • 43 mins
What do transitions have to do with the nation state? More than you think! Ava Kim joins me to speak about how conceptions of gender are deeply (and problematically) entwined with the nation. Ava speaks about powerful examples of transition narratives from Chile, Vietnam and Argentina to illustrate this and gives us a sneak peek into her forthcoming book on trans genre.  

References:
Ava Kim’s Still / Life: Trans Genre and the Politi...
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“Hungry for Androgyny” LIVE with Leilah Jane King

June 30, 2025 • 43 mins
Coming to you live from the Spoken Word stage at Out and Wild, the UK’s biggest festival for lesbian, bi, trans and queer women and those who are non-binary! This conversation with the delightful Leilah King has everything you could hope for: laughing, rhyming, swooning, and a whole lot of poetry reading. Tune in to hear Leilah speak about gender nonconformity in football, her journey as a neurodivergent performance poet, and how b...
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“Spent” with Alison Bechdel

June 16, 2025 • 41 mins
Come along on this deep dive into Alison Bechdel’s new autofictional comic novel Spent, that will give you everything from Edward Gorey Easter eggs to Harriet the Spy content. Alison teaches me things about myself (I’m a bottom-up thinker. Who knew!) and reflects on what Alison, the character, learns from finally meeting the much beloved Dykes to Watch Out For on the page. Whether you are a fan of goats, wood chopping, reality TV o...
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“Trans Life and Story-Led Theory” with Perry Zurn

June 2, 2025 • 44 mins
The beauty of trans life is that it flourishes in unexpected spaces. This fortnight’s guest Perry Zurn has written a beautiful book about how trans life creates spaces for itself in the cracks, at the edges and in other liminal spaces. We speak about trans life at the university, trans poetics, and the problematisation of trans inclusion. Perry tells me about how he was able to rethink methodologies and the role of the researcher b...
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ListenQueer Launch Special: "Queer Britain" with Mark King

May 19, 2025 • 16 mins
Please listen to this super special episode to meet Mark King from Queer Britain and also to hear all about the upcoming sold-out launch of ListenQueer, the accessible LGBTQIA+ history app!

listenqueer.co.uk
queerbritain.org.uk
https://www.outsavvy.com/event/26049/listenqueer-walking-tour-and-app-launch
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“Beyond Personhood” with Talia Mae Bettcher

May 5, 2025 • 46 mins
Meet Talia Bettcher, the amazing philosopher who gave us canonical essays like “Trapped in the Wrong Theory” and “Evil Deceivers and Make-Believers,” and has now published a paradigm-shifting book about trans philosophy. Talia tells me about why personhood may be overrated, why the existential WTF lead her to this realisation, and how it’s really all about relationships. We also discuss three of Talia’s highly influential concepts:...
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“All She Wrote Books” with Christina Pascucci-Ciampa

April 21, 2025 • 41 mins
Welcome to a brand-new queer space special! Come along to visit All She Wrote Books, a fabulous queer feminist bookshop, located in Somerville, MA, an area that is historically significant for feminist literary activism. Owner Christina Pascucci-Ciampa tells me about what it was like turning All She Wrote Books from the queer literary pop-up that unicorn dreams are made of into a (yellow) brick (road) and mortar shop and community ...
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