Episode 603: LGBTQIA Fantasy/Sci-Fi

episode 603 LGBTQIA sci-fi and Fantasy episode

Thank you for joining us on SEASON SIX of Reading With Libraries! It’s a new season with new genres to discuss (and some we’ll revisit!) and we’re so glad you’re here to join us. This is a book group podcast, and we are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange. At CMLE, we work with all types of libraries.

This week we’re revisiting Fantasy and Sci-Fi, but this time focusing on LGBTQIA rep in the genre. And we’re so pleased to be joined again by Kelly, librarian from the St. Ben’s/St. John’s libraries! 

We started this podcast to provide information for our library community doing Reader’s Advisory work. It’s hard to be an expert on ALL of the great books out there! 

So we pick a new genre each week to chat about and hopefully provide you with some insight into what may be an unfamiliar genre!

Beverages:

Each week we like to connect the theme of our books with our beverages. So this week we are drinking sci fi and space themed beverages!

Acidic Alien Blood Punch

  • 2 cups pineapple juice
  • 2 cups (1/2 quart) lime sherbet
  • ¼ cup orange liquor (Triple Sec, Cointreau, etc.)
  • 6 dashes Angostura bitters
  • 1 cup ginger ale
  • 1 cup prosecco
  • Combine the pineapple juice, lime sherbet, orange liquor, and bitters in a bowl or pitcher and stir to mix. Sherbet should stay a little lumpy lumpy. Top with ginger ale and prosecco, and give a quick final stir. Ladle into individual cups to serve.

The Universe Cocktail

  • 15 ml / ½ oz. Midori melon liqueur
  • 15 ml / ½ oz. vodka
  • 15 ml / ½ oz. Lime Juice
  • 10 ml/ ⅓ oz. pistachio liqueur
  • 30 ml / 1 oz. pineapple juice
  • Shake all ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker.
  • Strain into a chilled champagne glass.


Peach Moon cocktail

  • 12 oz Blue Moon
  • 2 oz Peach Schnapps
  • 3 oz orange juice
  • Orange slice
  • Pour blue moon into glass and add peach schnapps.
  • Top with orange juice and stir to combine.
  • Garnish with orange wheel

Genre Discussion:

So we’ve got our delicious beverages, let’s learn more about LGBTQIA representation in the genres of Fantasy and Sci-Fi! 

From Wikipedia: “Science fiction and fantasy have traditionally been puritanical genres aimed at a male readership. However, speculative fiction also gives authors and readers the freedom to imagine societies that are different from real-life cultures. This freedom makes speculative fiction a useful means of examining sexual bias, by forcing the reader to reconsider their heteronormative cultural assumptions.”

This article from the B&N blog : “In the realm of gender and sexual roles and norms, sci-fi hasn’t always been the most forward-looking. For decades, book and magazine editors tended to treat it as a boys-only club, with the overriding presumption (if it ever crossed anyone’s mind) that those boys would be straight and cisgender.

“It’s only more recently that new generations of queer (and straight) writers have found a wider acceptance with stories that speak to their lived experiences—stories that consider issues of  sexuality and gender head-on, featuring characters who are explicitly gay, lesbian, bi-, ace, aro, pan, poly, trans, and/or non-binary. 

And somehow, the genre hasn’t fallen apart, nor has the world exploded. (Well, OK, sometimes the world explodes, but only as a plot point.)

“It helps that somebody noticed that there’s a market out there for these books, made up of both queer readers who have long wanted to see themselves in the stars, and among less queer fans just as happy to imagine a diverse future.”

Suggested Reading Resources:

Our Book Discussion

We have our beverages, we are familiar with this week’s genre, let’s get to the book discussion! We will give you a list of all the books we share today. You can click on any of these links to go to Amazon.com for more information. If you buy anything while you are there, Amazon will give us a small percent of their profits from your purchase. Thanks in advance for helping to support the mission of CMLE – we appreciate it! 

Conclusion:

Thank you so much for joining us on Reading With Libraries and special thanks to our Guest Host Kelly! 

Join us next Thursday with another genre, more guest hosts for our book group, and more books to share and discuss. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast so you don’t miss a single episode! And if you want to hear more about the work we do in libraries or expand your library skills, check out our podcast Linking Our Libraries!

Bring your book ideas, bring your beverages, and join us back here on Thursday!