Audio from the session: The Book That Turned the Light On.
In a past of illegality and stigma, books asserted a powerful presence. For LGBTQI people they became an underground system of passing on information, ways of survival and even sexual technique. A range of authors and well-known LGBTQI personalities talk about a particular book - from highbrow to trash/porn - that turned the light on. The event was hosted by Buckwheat.
This recording has been split into two parts. Part 2 can be heard here
A special thank you to the organisers and participants for allowing us to record this event.
Summary
The Same Same But Different writers festival held at the Auckland University of Technology featured a panel discussion with six prominent figures: Douglas Lloyd Jenkins, Joanne Drayton, Paul Diamond, Paula Boock, Peter Wells, and Susannah Walker. This discussion, titled "The Book That Turned the Light On," examined influential literary works from the perspective of the LGBTQI community, spanning the 1960s through to the 2010s.
Drayton discussed their connection to "The Woman in White" by Wilkie Collins, explaining how the novel's complex female characters and their relationships helped illuminate aspects of their identity. Through a "gender bender" named Marian Halcombe in the book, Drayton found a sense of kinship and an example of a non-traditional female character. However, their journey of self-realization was further complicated by societal attitudes and the dearth of relatable content in literature during their formative years.
Paul Diamond then reflected on their own experiences coming out in the late '80s and early '90s, at a time when legal and social recognition for LGBTQI individuals was non-existent. They cited books like "Dangerous Desires" and "Tales of the City" which showcased different and positive portrayals of LGBTQI life, and "Best Mates," an anthology of New Zealand gay writing, as integral to their understanding of their identity. Diamond also shared a poignant story regarding an attempt to create a radio program about a historical gay scandal involving Darcy Creswell and the mayor of Whanganui.
Susannah Walker brought a personal narrative about growing up in a small town, discussing how magazines like "Playboy" and "Broadsheet" turned the light on for them regarding sexuality and gender. Walker also mentioned a novel by Stephanie Dowrick, "Running Backwards Over Sand," that featured a sex scene between two women, which was a definitive moment in their journey to self-discovery.
Douglas Lloyd Jenkins shared a transformative account of writing an essay with a queer interpretation of Willa Cather's "My Antonia." Though initially poorly graded by a lecturer unappreciative of the perspective, Jenkins's work was vindicated by other faculty members, setting a precedent for their future writing.
Paula Boock reminisced about formative reading experiences, highlighting the lack of queer literature in their youth. Boock drew a connection to the character "George" from Enid Blyton's "Famous Five," who did not conform to traditional gender norms. This resonated with Boock's personal experience and offered a glimmer of understanding amidst a world devoid of explicit LGBTQI references.
The recording captures these speakers' insightful reflections on how literature, or the lack thereof, influenced their understanding and acceptance of their identities, with many finding themselves compelled to seek out subtext and codes in characters and stories that deviated from heteronormativity.
This summary is created using Generative AI. Although it is based on the recording's transcription, it may contain errors or omissions. Click here to learn more about how this summary was created.
Tags
1960s, 1970s, 1990s, 2010s, a fire in your belly (book), anne perry, aotearoa new zealand, are you being served? (tv), armistead maupin, at home: a century of new zealand design (book), auckland, auckland university of technology, auto-suggestion, berlin, best mates: gay writing in aotearoa new zealand (1997), books, broadsheet (magazine), bronwyn dalley, brownies, buckwheat, buzzcut, carlo collodi, charles mackay, christchurch, christian youth group, closeted, clothing, code, cole meyers, coming out, cow (conscientious older woman student), cricket, crime, dangerous desires (1991), dare truth or promise (book), david halls, death comes for the archbishop (book), design, difference, douglas lloyd jenkins, edward cowley, enid blyton, facebook.com, family, feminism, friends (tv), gareth watkins, gay, gender, germany, girl guides, growing up, hermione lee, hippy, homophobia, homosexual, homosexual law reform, hudson and halls (television), hypnosis, inglewood, inglewood high school, intensely private, internalised homophobia, joanne drayton, john inman, jools topp, juliet hulme, kissing, language, lesbian, lisa alther, listener (magazine), longacre press, lynda topp, makereti: taking maori to the world (book), marionette, metro (magazine), ministry for culture and heritage, mount taranaki, my antonia (book), mystery novel, nancy mitford, never married, new plymouth, ngaio marsh, ngaio marsh: her life in crime (book), o pioneers! (book), one of ours (book), oscar wilde, other women (book), out walked mel (book), overseas experience (oe), paula boock, peter hudson, peter wells, piercing, playboy (magazine), poetry, prue langbein, queer, radclyffe hall, reading, relationships, roger smith, role model, running backwards over sand (book), rural, samesame but different (2016), sex, sexuality, shame, sigmund freud, social, sport, stephanie dowrick, storytelling, study, suicide, susannah walker, tales of the city (books), television, the adventures of pinocchio (book), the famous five (book), the house beautiful (lecture), the professor's house (book), the pursuit of love (book), the search for anne perry (book), the well of loneliness (book), the woman in white (book), topp twins, transgender, university of auckland, walter d'arcy cresswell, wellington, whanganui, wilkie collins, willa cather, willa cather: a life saved up (book), women, writing
Tags (computer generated)
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