Do you have experiences of visiting queer bookshops and reading queer books in the 80s and 90s?
Do you have memories of visiting Lavender Menace (1982-87) or West and Wilde (1987-97) bookshops?
Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive is seeking your stories for an oral history project about experiences of LGBT+ reading and books, and Scotland’s first LGBT+ bookshops, Lavender Menace (1982-87) and West & Wilde (1987-97).
These spaces were a haven for LGBT+ people and sold what we now call queer books – by, about or for LGBT+ people – at a time mainstream bookshops would not stock them. The bookshops also provided openly queer meeting places, where LGBT+ people were able to connect and felt affirmed and welcomed.
This project will explore the impact and legacy of the Lavender Menace and West & Wilde Bookshops (1982-97), community experiences of reading LGBT+ books and magazines, and the ways that reading – now and in the past – has influenced people’s lives.
In addition to interviews with participants, the project will be supported with a programme of events and workshops and, at the project’s culmination in February 2026, participants’ stories will be shared through an exhibition, celebrating LGBT+ experiences and resistance, at the Museum of Edinburgh.

Get Involved
As a Participant
If you have experiences or memories of visiting queer bookshops or of queer reading in the 80s and 90s, we would love to hear from you. We are seeking participants who would be willing to be interviewed as part of the project and for their stories to be shared in the project’s final exhibition.
We are especially interested in hearing from people whose experiences have been under-represented in LGBT+ history including global majority people.
As a Volunteer
We are also recruiting volunteers to assist with the gathering of stories. Volunteers will support the project by conducting 1:1 interviews with project participants, transcribing and writing up interviews with participants and helping design and create the exhibition at the end of the project.
If you would like to register your interest either as a volunteer or a participant, please fill in this form: https://forms.office.com/r/kF2pRz3CN6
