Writing Queer Women of Color

Queer women of color have historically been underrepresented or excluded completely in fiction and comics. When present, they are depicted as “less than” the white, Eurocentric norm. Drawing on semiotics, queer theory, and gender studies, this book addresses the imbalanced representation of queer women of color in graphic narratives and fiction and explores ways of rewriting queer women of color back into the frame. The author interrogates what it means to be “Other” and how “Othering” can be more creatively resisted.

Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Monalesia Earle is an independent researcher living and working in England. Her poetry, short stories and essays, have been published in various peer-reviewed journals and books.

Monalesia Earle

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 308
Bibliographic Info: 46 photos (13 in color), notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2019
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7454-4
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3681-8
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
1. Misdirection: Situating the Subversive Voice in Critical Context 27
2. Women of Color in Queer(ed) Space: ­Ann-Marie MacDonald’s Fall on Your Knees (1997) 43
3. Queer(y)ing the Punk Aesthetic: Reading Race, Desire and Anarchism in Cristy C. Road’s Bad Habits (2008) 74
4. Narrating the Margins: Queer Words and Sexual Trauma in the “Gutter”—Gloria Naylor’s The Women of Brewster Place (1982) 105
Between pages 130 and 131 are 8 color plates containing 13 photographs
5. Critical Meditations on Love and Madness: Emma Pérez’s Gulf Dreams (1996) 131
6. Body Crossings: Gender, Signifying and Misdirection in Jaime Cortez’s Sexile/Sexilio (2004) 158
7. A Long Journey to Her Own Queer Self: Beldan Sezen’s Snapshots of a Girl (2015) 193
8. A Delicate Dance with Demons: Kabi Nagata’s My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness (2016) 217
Conclusion 247
Chapter Notes 249
Bibliography 275
Index 289

• Finalist, John Leo and Dana Heller Award for Best Single Work, Anthology, Multi-Authored, or Edited Book in LGBTQ Studies—Popular Culture Association

• Honorable mention, Charles Hatfield Book Prize—The Comics Studies Society

• “Monalesia Earle’s Writing Queer Women of Color is an ambitious and thorough study that positions queer women of color in prose novels and comics. Using and queering comics theory, Earle offers several vital readings and rereadings, demonstrating how misdirection can be a meaningful artistic practice.”—Comics Studies Society’s 2020 CSS Prizes’ Charles Hatfield Book Prize Awards Subcommittee