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Queer as Folklore

The Hidden Queer History of Myths and Monsters
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Brief Description
The Sunday Times Bestseller Queer as Folklore takes readers across centuries and continents to reveal the unsung heroes and villains of storytelling, magic, and fantasy. Featuring images from archives, galleries, and museums around the world, each chapter investigates the queer history of different mythic and folkloric... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
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The Sunday Times Bestseller

Queer as Folklore takes readers across centuries and continents to reveal the unsung heroes and villains of storytelling, magic, and fantasy. Featuring images from archives, galleries, and museums around the world, each chapter investigates the queer history of different mythic and folkloric characters, both old and new.

Leaving no headstone unturned, Sacha Coward will take you on a wild ride through the night from ancient Greece to the main stage of RuPaul's Drag Race, visiting cross-dressing pirates, radical fairies, and the graves of the 'queerly departed' along the way. Queer communities have often sought refuge in the shadows, found kinship in the in-between, and created safe spaces in underworlds; but these forgotten narratives tell stories of remarkable resilience that deserve to be heard.

Join any Pride march and you are likely to see a glorious display of papier-mâché unicorn heads trailing sequins, drag queens wearing mermaid tails, and more fairy wings than you can shake a trident at. But these are not just accessories: they are queer symbols with historic roots.

To truly understand who queer people are today, we must confront the twisted tales of the past and Queer as Folklore is a celebration of queer history like you've never seen it before.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781789652147

Publisher: Boundless Publishing Group Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 01 May 2025

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Unbound

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 352

About the Author

Sacha Coward is a researcher, historian and public speaker. He has worked in museums and heritage for fifteen years, running tours focused on LGBTQ+ history for museums, cemeteries, archives and cities all around the world. Sacha has featured on a variety of television, radio and podcast shows and written articles on topics as varied as Turing's Law, the rainbow flag, Caravaggio's paintings and Viking burials. Queer as Folklore is Sacha's first book. He lives in Stroud.

Also by Sacha Coward

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  • Queer as folklore
    A celebration of queer history like you've never seen it before. Queer as folklore travels across centuries and continents to reveal the unsung heroes and villains of storytelling, magic and fantasy. Featuring images from archives, galleries and museums around the world, each chapter investigates the queer history of different mythic and folkloric characters, both old and new. Leaving no headstone...
    Paperback
    $3799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Queer as Folklore
    Queer as Folklore takes readers across centuries and continents to reveal the unsung heroes and villains of storytelling, magic, and fantasy. Featuring images from archives, galleries, and museums around the world, each chapter investigates the queer history of different mythic and folkloric characters, both old and new. Leaving no headstone unturned, Sacha Coward will take you on a wild ride...
    Hardback
    Sold Out

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