Your very own gender diverse book club is right here in Melbourne!
The Shed is Victoria’s premier peer support group for trans masculine folks, including those who are non-binary and questioning, and we run an awesome gender diverse book club on the third Sunday of every month, from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM.
Members decide the books and we link to free online readings and library holdings, so it’s super accessible and cheap! Everyone is really friendly and you don’t have to read the whole book to join in. It’s a great chance to meet new people and explore our gender journeys together. Feel free to get in touch if you’re trans femme too cos we’d love to have you.
To give you a taste, here are 3 reviews of just some of the favourite titles from our members.
Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
Detransition, Baby is a witty exploration of gender diverse families, trans mentorship, and alternative perspectives of femininity told across parallel storylines of the present and the past. Reese, Ames, and Katerina navigate the desire for motherhood and how a pregnancy could completely change the foundations of their relationships. Torrey Peters’ first full-length novel also takes readers on the journey of Reese and Ames’ initial meeting and courtship eight years prior that interlinked these three separate lives and paths together. An entertaining but also poignant read that also helps fill the need for more trans women focused stories written by trans women authors.
Beyond the Gender Binary by Alok Vaid-Menon
Menon is a gender-nonconforming artist, fashionista, advocate and writer. In their blog and public performances, they celebrate living as gender diverse, where joys happen amidst the struggle, and beauty and resilience shine through. In Beyond the Gender Binary, they bring their keen insight to the analysis of gender norms, give us tools to navigate and self-advocate, and remind us to celebrate ourselves as we craft ways of being beyond the binary.
Amateur: A Reckoning with Gender, Identity, and Masculinity by Thomas Page McBee
In 2015 Thomas Page McBee entered amateur boxing to train for a charity fight in Madison Square Garden. He was the first trans man to do so. Amateur is his story. McBee interweaves observations on the men he trained with and reflections on how this regimen and physicality articulate his gender. He takes us with him as he builds his strength and works through trauma, anger and grief, finally coming to a new understanding of himself. A distinctive perspective on trans embodiment.
Get in touch with The Shed for venue details and the latest book via The Shed website or by email at: ftmshed@gmail.com
The Shed book clubs are hosted on Zoom right now, but will go back to in-person at Hares & Hyenas, 63 Johnson Street Fitzroy, as soon as lockdown ends.
Let YPRL know if you'd like more of your favourite titles to be featured in the collection.
Alex (they/them)
on behalf of the Shed