Scandalous, transgressive and queer stories of summer loving, selected by award-winning poet and author Kimberly Campanello, who is professor of poetry at the University of Leeds.
Green Wheat by Colette
This short novel created a scandal when published in 1923. A boy and a girl tip over from childhood friendship into erotic young adulthood on the Breton coastline. A mysterious woman in white does more than look on.
August is a Wicked Month by Edna O’Brien
As the title suggests, hot, transgressive, sexy, time-limited vibing. A single mother leaves the pressures of London and parenthood behind in the French Riviera. Banned in Ireland when released in 1965.
Call Me by Your Name by Andre Aciman
If you missed this hit queer coming-of-age novel, get caught up this summer. You’ll be as romanced by the rendering of seasonal rhythms in the Italian Rivera as the characters are by each other.
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Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
The Medusa, the sea creature, an open-mouthed feminine trope, will not turn you to stone – here, she animates the glistening prose as the protagonist swims towards and away from lovers, the sea and the heat, and her inexplicably ill and troubled mother.
