Blog posts by The Menaces
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Book review: The Log Books by Tash Walker and Adam Zmith
One of the volunteer Menaces reviews The Log Books: Voices of Queer Britain and the Helpline that Listened by Tash Walker and Adam Zmith, and interviews Adam Zmith. Thanks to Faber & Faber for providing a copy of the book to review! You can read the book by visiting the Lavender Menace Archive, or purchase…
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We’re recruiting: Research Coordinator
Key details Role The Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive has grown out of Scotland’s first LGBTQ+ bookshops, Lavender Menace and West & Wilde. Bob Orr and Sigrid Nielsen, the owners of the original Lavender Menace Bookshop founded the Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive in 2019 to keep this valuable LGBTQ+ book heritage alive and share…
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We’re recruiting: General Manager
Key details Role The Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive has grown out of Scotland’s first LGBTQ+ bookshops, Lavender Menace and West & Wilde. Bob Orr and Sigrid Nielsen, the owners of the original Lavender Menace Bookshop founded the Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive in 2019 to keep this valuable LGBTQ+ book heritage alive and share…
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An Interview with Jackie Kay on Trumpet
Scottish poet, playwright, and novelist Jackie Kay recently sat down for a conversation with Lavender Menace volunteer Maeve Sheridan to discuss her 1998 novel Trumpet. Following the family of a transgender musician who was outed after his death, the novel navigates media narratives that exploit trans life and the place of grief under those conditions.…
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Lavender Menace awarded grant by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to unlock Scotland’s LGBTQ+ heritage
Today, Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive is announcing a £119K grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to unlock Scotland’s LGBTQ+ heritage and improve access to it for our community. Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive has grown out of Scotland’s first LGBTQ+ bookshops, Lavender Menace (1982–87) and West & Wilde (1987–97). Bob Orr and Sigrid…
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Office holders wanted – Finance Director and Board Secretary
Our Directors play a vital role in making sure that Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive achieves its core purpose. They oversee the overall management and administration of the organisation. They work to ensure that Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive has a clear strategy and that our work and goals are in line with our vision.…
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Book Review: Waiting on a Friend by Natalie Adler
Lavender Menace volunteer Katie Marson reviews Waiting on a Friend by Natalie Adler, which will be published by Quercus Publishing later this year. Natalie Adler’s Waiting on a Friend is a heartwarming, heartbreaking, triumph of a debut. It is both a celebration of queer culture and history, and a creative condemnation of the capitalist systems…
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Our Top Queer Books for Halloween
As the nights are drawing in, it’s the perfect time to curl up with a creepy, spooky or unsettling read. And there’s no end of queer horror books to choose from. Whether it’s the exploration of otherness, themes of transformation, or the long history of queer-coded characters, there’s something that draws many LGBTQ+ people to…
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Reimagining the Archive with Mae Diansangu and Shane Strachan
You can now watch the recording of this event online Last year, we welcomed Mae Diansangu and Shane Strachan to the Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive for an afternoon of readings and discussion on how to reimagine archives. We explored representation in archives through an intersectional lens and interrogated how we can ensure queer stories are preserved.…
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Archiving Queer Futures: Eman Abdelhadi in conversation with Nat Raha
You can now watch the recording of this event online. Lavender Menace hosted an online discussion between two activist scholars on imagining and archiving queer futures. Dr Eman Abdelhadi is an academic, activist and writer who thinks at the intersection of gender, sexuality, religion and politics. She is an assistant professor and sociologist at the…
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“Indecent and obscene” – 40 years since Operation Tiger
You can now watch the recording of this event online In 1984, UK Customs and Excise officers raided Gay’s The Word bookshop in London and seized over 140 titles on the grounds they were “indecent or obscene”. Dubbed “Operation Tiger”, this was the start of a series of raids and confiscations up and down the…
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Book review: Ordinary Saints by Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin
Lavender Menace volunteer Katie Marson interviews Ordinary Saints author Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin. Thanks to Bonnier Books UK for the review copy and arranging the interview! Overview Niamh Ni Mhaoileoin’s Ordinary Saints is a brilliantly written debut novel from an intelligent, and incredibly assured literary voice. The story follows Jay, who lives in London after leaving her devout…
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Interview with Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin
Lavender Menace volunteer Katie Marson interviews Ordinary Saints author Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin. Thanks to Bonnier Books UK for the review copy and arranging the interview! Transcriber’s note: this interview was transcribed verbatim without the use of AI. It has been edited for clarity and readability. I want to start by saying I absolutely loved the…
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Elizabeth Calvert: 17th-Century Radical Bookseller
What can 17th-Century Radical Bookseller Elizabeth Calvert Teach Us in a Modern Age of Book Bans? by Ali Leetham The US Education Department decided to end its investigations into book bans in January, calling them a “hoax”. Meanwhile, non-profit PEN America recorded more than 10,000 books banned in schools—and that was just in the 2023-2024…
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Book review: Marsha by Tourmaline
Lavender Menace volunteer Cooper King reviews Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson by Tourmaline. Thanks to HarperCollins for providing review copies for this blog and for our Queer Joy Book Club, who will discuss the book together on Sunday 13 July. “I don’t care if I never have nothing until the day…
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Join the Lavender Menace Board of Directors
Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive is looking for new Directors to join our Board! Our trustees play a vital role in making sure that Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive achieves its core purpose. They oversee the overall management and administration of the organisation, including when it becomes a formally registered charity. They work to ensure…
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The History of Polari: A Bona Tour of London
Lavender Menace volunteer archivist Ali Leetham takes us on a bona tour of London in this article. Ever ordered a bevvy? Got into a barney? Or scarpered after telling a butch to naff off? Well, then you’re a Polari speaker. This lexicon of slang terms is, for many, associated with camp comedians in the mid-twentieth…
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Humbuggery and Bumbuggery: The Greenfield Incident
Guest blogger Dr Sarah Sloane investigates the elusive story of William Greenfield, disgraced Professor of the University of Edinburgh and minister at St. Giles Cathedral. There was a certain grave Divine,Esteem’d as wise as Mentor;Each Sunday did in Pulpit Shine,But Bugger’d his Precentor. (From The Lion in Tears: Or, the Church’s Lament for Dr. Greenfield, an…
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Book review: Queer As Folklore by Sacha Coward
Lavender Menace volunteer Ali Leetham reviews Queer As Folklore by Sacha Coward Sacha Coward’s debut book, Queer As Folklore, is dedicated “to every person who has ever walked around a museum and wondered if they belong there.” Physical spaces, especially ones created by those in power, aren’t always representative of or welcoming to LGBTQ+ people. …
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We’re recruiting: Oral History Project Coordinator
Key information: Job summary This post of Oral History Project Coordinator represents a unique opportunity to work with Edinburgh’s Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive to develop an Oral History Project (OHP). The OHP will explore the impact and legacy of the Lavender Menace and West & Wilde Bookshops (1982-97), and more generally community experiences of…
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Peter Parker on the art of biography
Peter Parker is an acclaimed author of biographies and histories, with a particular focus on twentieth century queer writers such as Christopher Isherwood and J R Ackerley. His latest book is Some Men in London, a two-volume anthology of writing about gay life in the English capital between the end of World War Two and…
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Book review: Freakslaw by Jane Flett
Lavender Menace volunteer Zoe Robertson reviews Freakslaw by Jane Flett. Freakslaw by Jane Flett lures readers into the candyfloss-fogged fray of a grisly, gruesome fairground, examining prejudice and personal identity in 1990s Scotland. Told through a series of vignette-like chapters, bouncing from perspective to perspective, the novel follows a gaggle of carnival performers as they…
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Dressing Dykes: an interview with Eleanor Medhurst
Eleanor Medhurst, fashion historian and author of Unsuitable: A History of Lesbian Fashion, visited Lavender Menace Queer Book Archive to talk about researching lesbian fashion and queer history with our volunteer, Georgie and our project coordinator, Keava. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and about your work? I refer to myself as…
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Lavender Menace interviews Peter Parker
Lavender Menace interviews Peter Parker about his latest book Some Men in London, a two-volume anthology about gay life between 1945-1967.
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Dorian the Maenad
Lavender Menace volunteer, Michael, explores the queer links between The Picture of Dorian Gray and the Cult of Dionysus.
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Lavender and Menaces
The clothed lesbian body as a tool of resistance, the sapphic significance of purple, and the making of the modern-day femme
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Menaces in Colour
Cartoonist Kate Charlesworth and Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive launch their new range of cards and bookmarks!
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Three Writing Lives
Our second online event Conversations with Writers took place on Thursday 2 September. Playwright Jo Clifford and novelist and short story writer Ely Percy were in conversation with Eris Young.
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Homophobia: A 20th Century Classic
How can 20th century novels help us understand homophobia? No matter how brilliantly written, many celebrated novels have homophobic elements.
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Iona McGregor – Scottish Lesbian Writer
Describing Iona McGregor’s career gives the impression of many lives in one frame.
Got any book recommendations?
