 | |
| Author | Peter Ackroyd |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | LGBT culture in London; LGBT history of London |
| Published | London |
| Publisher | Chatto & Windus (UK), Abrams Books (US) |
Publication date | 2017 (UK)/2018 (US) |
| Pages | 262 |
| ISBN | 978-0-7011-8881-8 |
| 306.766094212 | |
Queer City: Gay London from Romans to the Present Day is a 2017 book by British biographer, novelist and critic Peter Ackroyd.
Queer City follows the history and experiences of the LGBT population of London beginning with Roman Londinium and exploring the "endless loop of alternating permissiveness and censure" that followed. Queer City explores the "diversity, thrills and energy" of the "hidden city" and concludes that "In a city of superlatives, it is perhaps this endless sexual fluidity and resilience that epitomise the real triumph of London."
Simon Callow wrote in The Guardian (which judged Queer City as Book of the Day) that "It was inevitable that London’s great chronicler, who happens himself to be queer, would give us the lowdown on homosex in the city. His book is predictably droll, provocative and crammed to bursting with startling facts and improbable names." [1]
In the New Statesman , Philip Hoare described the book as "both a commemoration and a celebration of 'the ultimate triumph of London' and its diversity" and praised Ackroyd for creating "a triumphantly queer picture of a city he loves." [2]
Mark Sanderson, writing for the London Evening Standard described Queer City as a "colourful toilet book" which "tells a torrid tale of persecution and pleasure, of blackmail and blue murder." [3]
This is Ackroyd's second non-fiction book dealing with part of the LGBTQ world. In 1979 he published Dressing Up: Transvestism and Drag: The History of an Obsession. [4]
In 2018, US publisher Abrams Books released an audiobook version of Queer City narrated by British voiceover artist Will M. Watt. [5]
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime and, by the 20th century, critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories are widely read today.
Polari is a form of slang or cant historically used in Britain by some actors, circus and fairground showmen, professional wrestlers, merchant navy sailors, criminals and sex workers, and particularly among the gay subculture. There is some debate about its origins, but it can be traced to at least the 19th century and possibly as early as the 16th century. Polari has a long-standing connection with Punch and Judy street puppeteers, who traditionally used it to converse.
Camp is an aesthetic style and sensibility that regards something as appealing or amusing because of its heightened level of artifice, affectation and exaggeration, especially when there is also a playful or ironic element. Camp is historically associated with LGBTQ+ culture and especially gay men. Camp aesthetics disrupt modernist understandings of high art by inverting traditional aesthetic judgements of beauty, value, and taste, and inviting a different kind of aesthetic engagement.
Drag kings have historically been mostly female performance artists who dress in masculine drag and personify male gender stereotypes as part of an individual or group routine. As documented in the 2003 Journal of Homosexuality, in more recent years the world of drag kings has broadened to include performers of all gender expressions. A typical drag show may incorporate dancing, acting, stand-up comedy and singing, either live or lip-synching to pre-recorded tracks. Drag kings often perform as exaggeratedly macho male characters, portray characters such as construction workers and rappers, or impersonate male celebrities like Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and Tim McGraw. Drag kings may also perform as personas that do not clearly align with the gender binary. Drag personas that combine both stereotypically masculine and feminine traits are common in modern drag king shows.
Transvestism is the practice of dressing in a manner traditionally or stereotypically associated with a different gender.
Simon Phillip Hugh Callow is an English actor. Known as a character actor on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades including an Olivier Award and Screen Actors Guild Award as well as nominations for two BAFTA Awards. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to acting by Queen Elizabeth II in 1999.
Peter Gary Tatchell is an Australian-born British human rights campaigner, best known for his work with LGBT social movements.
Canal Street is a street in Manchester city centre in North West England and the centre of Manchester's gay village. The pedestrianised street, which runs along the west side of the Rochdale Canal, is lined with gay bars and restaurants. At night time, and in daytime in the warmer months, the street is filled with visitors, often including LGBT tourists from all over the world. The northern end of the street meets Minshull Street and the southern meets Princess Street; part of the street looks across the Rochdale Canal into Sackville Gardens.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to transgender topics.
Gay Shame is a movement from within the queer communities described as a radical alternative to gay mainstreaming. The movement directly posits an alternative view of gay pride events and activities which have become increasingly commercialized with corporate sponsors as well as the adoption of more sanitized, mainstream agendas to avoid offending supporters and sponsors. The Gay Shame movement has grown to embrace radical expression, counter-cultural ideologies, and avant-garde arts and artists.
Patrick Ewart Garland was a British director, writer and actor.
Amy Lamé is an American-British performer, writer, and TV and radio presenter, known for her one-woman shows, her performance group Duckie, and LGBT-themed media works.
John Roman Baker is a British writer and theatre director.
Peter Ackroyd is an English biographer, novelist and critic with a specialist interest in the history and culture of London. For his novels about English history and culture and his biographies of, among others, William Blake, Charles Dickens, T. S. Eliot, Charlie Chaplin and Sir Thomas More, he won the Somerset Maugham Award and two Whitbread Awards. He is noted for the volume of work he has produced, the range of styles therein, his skill at assuming different voices, and the depth of his research.
The following outline offers an overview and guide to LGBTQ topics:
London lore: the legends and traditions of the world's most vibrant city is a 2008 book about the folklore and history of London by Steve Roud. Another edition was published in 2010.
LGBT culture in Leeds, England, involves an active community of people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender/transsexual. A BBC News Online article published in 2012 stated that, while Leeds City Council has not published statistics relating to the number of LGBT residents, the figure can be estimated at 10% of the overall population, which currently suggests a total of at least 77,000. The tenth year of the Leeds Pride march and celebration, held in 2016, was attended by over 40,000 people.
Travis Alabanza is a British performance artist, writer and theatre maker.
Howard Philips Smith is an American writer, novelist, and photographer, known primarily for his historical works, which focus on expanding the scope of gay history, especially in New Orleans. His books include Unveiling the Muse: The Lost History of Gay Carnival in New Orleans and A Sojourn in Paradise: Jack Robinson in 1950s New Orleans.
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