The Coast Is Queer, Brighton’s well-established festival of LGBTQ+ writing, returns this year from 10-13 October

The Coast Is Queer, Brighton’s well-established festival of LGBTQ+ writing, returns this year from 10-13 October with conversations, panels, workshops, performance and films, celebrating queer writing.

It was the first festival of its kind in the UK, and it’s once again at the Attenborough Centre for The Creative Arts, creating a space for queer readers, writers and allies to come together.

The organisers said: “History teaches us that liberation is not a straight line. It is an ongoing struggle that can move backwards as well as forwards. The attack on trans rights underway in the UK, and the growing suppression of LGBTQ+ stories in the form of book bans around the world is yet more evidence that we need to come together to champion our stories and our story-tellers, more than ever.”

The opening event on 10 October celebrates 30 years of DIVA magazine, with DIVA’s Rocky Bourdillon, Gay Times’ Reeta Loi, and Attitude’s Matthew Todd, all in conversation with journalist, historian and activist Paula Akpan.

On October 11, the events, partly curated by Sussex University students include panels exploring queer fantasy writing, and queer stories for multiple generations. Other topics include politics and hope and queer nightlife. The day ends with a poetry open mic session with AFLO the poet.

The following day’s sessions include writing for performance, environmental writers, queer parenting and sex, lust and romance. The day also features a screening of Salem Haddad’s film Marco.

Novelist, screenwriter and Sunday Times best seller list’s Juno Dawson has another edition of her Lovely Trans Literary Salon with Kuchenga Shenjé, and the day culminates with David Hoyle Does The Classics Cabaret.

The final day celebrates James Baldwin’s life and work, chaired by Campbell X, and ends with Radical Hope – a smorgasbord of spoken word, performance and films.

Throughout the festival there’ll be the best new queer films to watch, and Kemptown Books will be on hand for browsing and buying the best of queer literature.

Tickets and more information HERE