LGBTQ Literature

From Christopher Isherwood's enduring 20th-century classic Goodbye to Berlin to contemporary titles like Janet Mock's Redefining Realness, the titles in this study guide collection explore a range of ideas, issues, genres, and forms that speak to the LGBTQ community.

Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Life/Time: Aging, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Marriage

Tags LGBTQ, Modern Classic Fiction, Humor, Romance


Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Gender, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Friendship

Tags Fantasy, Mythology, Action / Adventure, LGBTQ, Children's Literature


Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Race, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Friendship

Tags Historical Fiction, LGBTQ, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Irish Literature

The Heart’s Invisible Furies is a novel written by John Boyne, author of 14 novels and a short story collection. Originally published in 2017, this historical fiction chronicles of the life of a gay man living in Ireland in the 20th and 21st centuries. It won the Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award in 2018.Other works by this author include The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, All the Broken Places, and A Ladder to the Sky.This... Read The Heart's Invisible Furies Summary


Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Relationships: Fathers, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness

Tags Mythology, Fantasy, Children's Literature, LGBTQ, Action / Adventure

The Hidden Oracle (2016) is the first installment in Rick Riordan’s The Trials of Apollo, a five-book fantasy series for young readers. Inspired by Greek and Roman mythology and history, the books follow the fallen god Apollo on a quest to rescue the five Oracles from a group of foes. The Trials of Apollo series takes place in the same universe as Riordan’s popular Percy Jackson oeuvre. Praised for its humor, The Hidden Oracle earned... Read The Hidden Oracle Summary


Publication year 1976

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Sexuality, Identity: Mental Health, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Society: Community

Tags Sociology, Philosophy, Love / Sexuality, Psychology, LGBTQ, Post Modernism, Education, Education, French Literature, History: World, Psychology, Philosophy

Michel Foucault was a French philosopher and theorist whose most significant works were first published in the 1960s and 1970s. Throughout his career, he examined the mechanisms of power and challenged accepted historical narratives, working to show how institutional power shapes the field of possible knowledge to its own advantage. The History of Sexuality, published in three volumes between 1976 and 1984—with a fourth volume published posthumously, in draft form, in 2018—examines the development of... Read The History of Sexuality Summary


Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Femininity, Identity: Sexuality, Natural World: Animals, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil

Tags Fantasy, Romance, LGBTQ


Publication year 1998

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Sexuality, Identity: Mental Health, Identity: Femininity, Values/Ideas: Fate, Values/Ideas: Literature, Emotions/Behavior: Memory

Tags Historical Fiction, LGBTQ, Gender / Feminism, Love / Sexuality, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Classic Fiction

The Hours is a 1998 novel by the American author Michael Cunningham. It is an homage to Virginia Woolf’s 1923 novel Mrs. Dalloway (of which the working title was “The Hours”). Mimicking Woolf’s stream-of-consciousness narrative style, Cunningham re-situates her characters and themes within a modern context, making them his own. The story follows three different women, in three different decades, affected by Mrs. Dalloway over the course of one June day in each of their... Read The Hours Summary


Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Nurture v. Nature, Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Equality, Society: Community, Identity: Sexuality

Tags Fantasy, Magical Realism, Romance, LGBTQ

The House in the Cerulean Sea (2020) is a queer fantasy novel by TJ Klune, Lambda Award-winning author of The Extraordinaires and the Green Creek series. Klune is a queer author whose works often explore supernatural elements. Many mythological species feature in this novel, while other books focus on werewolves, ghosts, and the like. The book explores themes of Nature Versus Nurture, The Perpetuation of Prejudice, and Found Family.Klune’s work, particularly The House in the... Read The House in the Cerulean Sea Summary


Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Identity: Race, Identity: Gender, Values/Ideas: Equality

Tags Historical Fiction, Asian Literature, LGBTQ, Asian Literature, History: World


Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Fate, Relationships: Friendship

Tags Mythology, Fantasy, Action / Adventure, LGBTQ, Love / Sexuality, Relationships, Children's Literature, Romance

The House of Hades is the fourth of five books in the Heroes of Olympus series, which follows seven Greek and Roman demigods on a quest to prevent the rise of the earth goddess Gaea, who is bent on destroying the world.The House of Hades was written by Rick Riordan, a New York Times bestselling author who explores Roman and Greek Mythology in these two series. Riordan is the publisher of an imprint with Disney... Read The House of Hades Summary


Publication year 2001

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Identity: Gender, Identity: Indigenous, Identity: Language, Identity: Mental Health, Identity: Race, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Mothers, Self Discovery, Society: Class, Society: Community, Society: Nation, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality

Tags Play: Drama, LGBTQ, Gender / Feminism, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction


Publication year 1958

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Love

Tags Lyric Poem, Love / Sexuality, LGBTQ


Publication year 1902

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Society: Colonialism, Identity: Sexuality, Identity: Masculinity

Tags LGBTQ, Classic Fiction, Travel Literature, Gender / Feminism, Colonialism / Postcolonialism, French Literature, History: World, Philosophy, Philosophy


Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Identity: Gender, Life/Time: Mortality & Death

Tags Fantasy, Gender / Feminism, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Religion / Spirituality, LGBTQ, Age of Enlightenment, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Romance

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a historical fantasy novel by the American author V.E. Schwab published in 2020. It chronicles the story of Addie LaRue, an 18th-century Frenchwoman who gains eternal life through a bargain with a demonic entity. However, the deal comes at a great cost: Everybody who meets Addie immediately forgets her. A New York Times bestseller, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue received a 2020 Goodreads Choice Award nomination for... Read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue Summary


Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Identity: Race, Society: Nation, Life/Time: The Past, Natural World: Animals, Relationships: Family, Natural World: Flora/plants, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger

Tags Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Fantasy, Romance, Addiction / Substance Abuse, Food, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, History: European, History: World, Immigration / Refugee, LGBTQ, Love / Sexuality, Military / War, Politics / Government, Science / Nature, Race / Racism, Relationships, Religion / Spirituality, Grief / Death, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Relationships: Siblings, Society: Colonialism, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

Tags Fantasy, LGBTQ, Romance


Publication year 2001

Genre Play, Fiction

Tags LGBTQ, Play: Drama, Social Justice, Education, Education, History: World, Drama / Tragedy

The Laramie Project is a play by Moisés Kaufman and the Tectonic Theatre Project in response to the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a young gay man, in Laramie, Wyoming. Kaufman and the other company members visited Laramie on six occasions and interviewed residents, members of the police force, and Matthew’s friends, in an attempt to understand what happened, and why. They were also interested in the possibility that theatre, more than any other medium... Read The Laramie Project Summary


Publication year 1969

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Gender, Society: Colonialism

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Fantasy, Gender / Feminism, LGBTQ, Classic Fiction

The Left Hand of Darkness is a speculative fiction novel published in 1969 and written by Ursula K. LeGuin. Set in LeGuin’s fictional Hainish Universe, in which life developed on the planet Hain instead of Earth, the novel explores the meeting of two different civilizations and their struggles to understand one another. Gender plays a strong role in the story, as protagonist Genly Ai comes from a planet that considers binary gender the norm, whereas... Read The Left Hand of Darkness Summary


Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Sexuality, Society: War, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger

Tags WWII / World War II, Military / War, History: World, Historical Fiction, LGBTQ


Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Identity: Mental Health, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Coming of Age

Tags Realistic Fiction, LGBTQ, Children's Literature, Modern Classic Fiction