Queer Life, Queer Love 2 edited by Matt Bates and Julia Bell

 Spotlight On:

Queer Life, Queer Love 2 

Edited by Matt Bates and Julie Bell

with Kate and Sarah Beal

Published 4th May 2023 by Muswell Press

To celebrate Pride Month, it is my pleasure to shine the spotlight on the second intriguing anthology of queer writing from around the world published by Muswell Press, which includes 44 stories, poems, essays, and flash fiction by new and established voices.

From the cover of the book:

Queer Life, Queer Love celebrates the best new queer writing from around the world, by both new and established writers and features voices across all narrative forms. The new book includes 44 stories, poems, essays and flash-fiction. This is writing that explores characters, stories, and experiences beyond the mainstream; works that celebrate the fascinating, the forbidden, the subversive, and even the mundane, but, in essence, works that express the view from outside. Humorous, serious, autobiographical, and revelatory – all aspects of the queer experience are reflected in this dazzling collection.

‘I was honoured to have been a part of the selection process for this volume. The submissions pile turned up some gems from first-time authors as well as some familiar names. This edition is a testament to the strength & breadth of the writing out there in the queer community. There is something here for every reader to enjoy.’ Julia Bell, Co-Editor

The first volume, published by Muswell Press in November 2021, has reprinted four times and praise was widespread.

Praise for this anthology:

"Celebrating queer love...multiple, fleeting, varied'. Kevin Brazil TLS. 

'Beautiful writing, original ideas and a few suprises'. Matt Cain. 

'A great initiative'. Paul Burston, author, journalist, curator of the Polari Salon"

Queer Life, Queer Love 2 is available to buy now in paperback and ebook. You can support independent publishing by buying direct from Muswell Press HERE.

Thank you to Muswell Press for sending me a copy of this rich and thought provoking book to promote for Pride Month.

About the editors:

Matt Bates is Editor-at-Large for Muswell Press, and an associate poetry editor for The Mechanics Institute Review. He was previously the fiction buyer at WHS Travel

Julia Bell is a writer and academic, she is the author of Creative Writing Coursebook (Macmillan), Radical Attention (Peninsula Press) & Hymnal (Partheon)

Kate and Sarah Beal are the owners and publishers of Muswell Press.