The UK’s “biggest and brightest” festival of LGBTQ+ literature – The Coast is Queer – has confirmed its headline writers and events with a packed line-up of the leading lights of LGBTQ+ literature from across the UK and beyond.
The Coast is Queer returns to Brighton’s Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts from October 9-12. Headline writers include Yael Van Der Wouden; Juno Dawson and Munroe Bergdorf; Ali Smith and Jackie Kay; Travis Alabanza; Damian Barr; and Joelle Taylor.
Topher Campbell will open the festival with a specially commissioned performance lecture. There will be panel sessions with publishers, writers and literary agents to demystify the publishing industry, and a pop-up Queer Heritage Hub at the University of Sussex Library opens up Brighton’s queer past to festival goers. www.coastisqueer.com.
Spokeswoman Anna Burtt said: “Now in its seventh year, The Coast is Queer creates a space for queer readers, writers and allies to come together in a grassroots celebration of the written word and its ability to illuminate and enrich the life of our community. This year will be bigger and better than ever, with new spaces opening and a vibrant Queer Heritage Hub at the University of Sussex Library.
“The line-up for 2025 includes an unforgettable opening event on Thursday 9 October with ruckus! Federation’s co-founder and Sussex alumni, Topher Campbell, in association with Black at Sussex.
“On Friday 10 October, It Ain’t Over Until the Bisexual Speaks with Vaneet Mehta, Lois Shearing and Sam Mills, chaired by Hafsa Qureshi will explore the intersectional complexities and common erasure of bisexuality; while From Page to Stage with Coral Wylie, Debbie Hannan and Tabby Lamb, chaired by Dorothy Max Prior bring queer stories to the stage. Students from Brighton and Sussex Universities have curated two panel events: Graphic Sexuality – The Novel Art of Being Queer which will delve into the world of queer zines, comics and graphic novels and Re:Search – Ways of Finding Queer History reflecting on the novel ways modern researchers are bringing queer history out of the closet and into the light.
