A whistlestop tour of millennia of hidden histories and mythologies

In an expansive book that explores folklore in all of its flavours—written, inscribed, pictorial, sculptural and oral—Coward covers a lot of ground, reminding us that the magical donors and monsters of global (mostly Western) folklore are transgressive creatures, and so are we of the queer community. There's a reason we like mermaids and unicorns and the Sea Witch Ursula from Disney's Little Mermaid!

Of course, folklore is a tricksy thing, a difficult thing to define and quantify and possibly a difficult thing to pin down as evidence for queer origins, but Coward makes a good case for it. I would say there are just about enough references to other texts, to research and physical evidence. but there are still pronouncements t here and there without any backing where I wish they had given more of a reasoning, or a quote, or other evidence.

That one thing aside, this is a great guide to other avenues of reading and research, possibly a whole multi-branched universe of research into queer representation in folklore, history, literature, visual art, film and television, theatre and music, gaming—the list is endless.

Four stars for providing such an entertaining roadmap.

A mix of my two loves, queer history and folklore!

An interesting mix of past and present interwoven together from fairytale creatures, Greek mythology to demons across cultures to queer discussion around modern media such as The Exorcist, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Alien.

Very refreshing to read how much queer history actually runs through our fairytales, myths and legends.
Removing the usual ‘they were really good friends’ treatment in other historical works.

All of the sections were excellently written and informative, you can tell a lot of work and research went into this.

The passion from the author came through, feeling more like a discussion rather than a rigid text.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher 5/5 ⭐️

I always love reading about queer history, and this book seemed especially made for me. I found the way the author told their story to be incredibly interesting, and that all the ways in which folklore has been queer to be enlightening. I plan to share this with others and buy multiple copies when it comes out.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy.

This book was exceptional. It navigates the complex hidden links between the mystical creatures we’re all familiar with (mermaids, unicorns, vampires, faeries, etc.) and the queerness inherent in their usage in mythology and literature. It was pleasing to see bisexual and transgender links to mythological creatures being given equal weighting to lesbian and gay representations, as these are often forgotten in these discussions.

This is clearly an academic exploration, but it is written in a more conversational style, thus allowing a much wider audience to access it; the comparisons between historical figures and the myths they helped to create was delivered as if simply sitting around the same dining table, surrounded by friends, with a glass of wine, having a “did you know?” chat about why Ursula was modelled on Divine, rather than feeling as if being lectured to or as if one required a degree-level understanding of Queer Studies to understand.

Highly recommended.

This was great!! You can tell the author knows and loves what he’s writing about. I love when fellow history nerds write about their passions. I learned so much about queer lore and history. I would buy this book and put it on my coffee table. It’s engaging and reads like a book of mythology instead of nonfiction analysis. Fascinating! Funny! 10/10. I highly recommend

I hadn't thought much about the relationship between queerness and folklore, so this has blown my mind in some respects! I loved learning the connection between mermaids and queerness; unicorns and queerness; vampires and queerness and many more. It's certainly going to make me enjoy pride parades on a deeper level. I love learning the origins of words, language and customs, so this book was perfect for me in all sorts of ways. I loved the references to Disney films, Drag Race and the iconic Paris is Burning. I could easily see myself being friends with the author! This is a great read for anyone interested in a fresh perspective on folklore, mythology and storytelling.

CAMP!!!

Queer as Folklore, a nonfiction work exploring fairytales, myths, and legends while revealing the rainbow man behind the curtain.

I found a lot of this book to be very insightful. Italian does read like an academic text and can be hard to get through quickly. Take your time with it and enjoy the connections to myths and present day queerness. All the work that was put in to this shows!

BRILLIANT!

Thank you NetGalley and Unbound for the digital ARC!

This is a wonderful mix of folklore, academia and camp. Coward writes in an easy to parse, entertaining style with care and attention to the cultures and indentities he is speaking of.

A real treat to dip in and out of. Am I clever enough to fully appreciate this? Probably not, but I did very much enjoy the experience.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book, it felt interesting and relevant, particularly with the attitudes that feel painfully relevant today. I feel glad to know that queers through times past felt drawn to the strange, beautiful and unusual just like me.

Would flag a couple of tiny errors, such as referencing RTD's episode 'The Star Beast' as the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who when it was actually the 60th. Also mentioning Black Widow acquiring superpowers, when she is a superhero who doesn't have any. These will probably have been fixed by publication but made me aware that there might be similar errors in areas about which I have a less encyclopedic knowledge, so just felt conscious of that as I was reading.

"Queer as Folklore" by Sacha Coward is a delightful romp through fairytales, myth, and legend, uncovering the rainbow history hiding all around us.

Reading it isn't like reading a boring history book I'm University. It feels more like you are sitting with Sacha at a party, and he is geeking out over mermaid lore, the history of pirate marriages, and the mythology of bisexual Greek gods, and you are being swept up in his enthusiasm and passion.

Reading this book was deeply healing as a queer person, realizing how far back and how pervasive our history is. 5 stars!

Queer as Folklore is an nonfiction book about the many ways our different fairytale and folkloric creatures, how they came to life and how they are connected to the identity of queerness, not only in the modern day, but also how these things have always been queer. The book is for people who are interested in the mythology making that happens by everyday folk. This book can be hard to get through with some long pages of nearly academic text, but it does a good job of breaking this up with quotes in block text, pictures, and shorter sections. And it’s not necessarily a book you have to read cover to cover chronologically. None of the monsters require you to have read the one before. I think this is the mark of a good nonfiction book on this subject. While it wasn’t personally my cup of tea, I could see getting this book for someone else.

This book is great if you want an in depth review of queer representation in folklore across the world. I really enjoyed the fact that the lore was not only focused on a Euro-centric history, but rather expanded across many different cultures and countries. There are also a couple of photos, which I love in non-fiction books :).

Fascinating work analyzing folklore with a queer lens! Combined two of my favorite things in a way that was informative AND fun. Coward did an excellent job researching while also maintaining a great sense of humor and not bogging down the reader in too much density.

Thank you Netgalley and Unbound for an arc of this book!

Yet again it's abundantly clear that colonialism is awful.

I really enjoyed reading about how different creatures from folklore are tied to queerness and queer historical figures. Definitely the type of book that I would buy for a queer friend for their coffee table or for casual reading.

I found it a bit difficult to read cover to cover as you would a fiction book, because it is so informative (in a good way), opting instead to jump around to chapters that I found interesting. It's definitely the kind of book you want to read over a period of time to really be able to take it all in.

I enjoyed reading this and getting to learn about various characters in folklore explored through a queer lens. This book was clearly very well-researched and written in an easily digestible way. I also appreciated the inclusion of non-European folklore, and how that relates to perspectives on queerness among different cultures. I did find that near the end, the chapters started to feel a little formulaic, though that is perhaps inevitable with such a book. Regardless, I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in learning about the interconnectedness of queerness and mythology.

I just finished "Queer as Folklore" by Sacha Coward and I'm ready for Pride! This book is vibrant, accessible and fabulous, connecting folklore and LGBTQIP+ narratives in the most engaging way. Expect mermaids, unicorns, faeries AND demons. Coward reclaims and celebrates queer culture through fun and extremely informative (academic level) stories that have been obfuscated for far too long! Although the text might look daunting and dense, Coward does an excellent job of making it fun, well-edited, with commentaries, transcripts, connections between famous figures and folklore (inherent queer) and exquisite images. Each page bursts with fascinating tales and insightful commentary that make you rethink everything you thought you knew about myth and legend. This book is a must-read if you love folklore, myth and queer history. Whenever you go to Pride, look at the references with other eyes.

My thanks to Unbound for providing me with an ARC via NetGalley.

Fabulous menagerie of fact and folklore as the author takes a cheeky romp through myth, legend and fairy tale looking at queer subtext and er actual queer text tbh. Fun, informative and very accessible.

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley thank you for the opportunity.

Wonderfully written and I was really surprised by how the book flowed and it was really amazing I highly recommend.

Queer as Folklore by Sacha Coward was a fascinating and well researched read. It was interesting to learn queer history as it relates to myths and fairy tales and this book was hard to put down. Thank you to NetGalley and Unbound for this digital ARC. I will definitely be picking up a physical copy for my shelves in the future.

I got this as an arc on Netgalley and it will come out in August. This is an extremely good, well researched and interesting read. It's a slow read, you need the time to digest the info and think about it.