Queer book clubs have seen a surge in popularity in recent months, with various different groups popping up all over Ireland. Eleanor Scott spoke to some of the organisers to learn more about how these spaces foster community connection.

The search for queer connection typically leads to long sticky nights in the pub or a heaving dance floor. Laoise-Edel, a Dublin native, longed for the opportunity to connect with her city’s queer scene at a lower decibel.

“All my friends talk about how much they love HONEYPOT and other gay nights but these are all based on going out and partying. Not everyone loves partying but many are like me – big gay readers.”

It’s Ireland’s growing community of “big gay readers” that is driving the emergence of queer book clubs across the country, providing valuable space for connection and a shared enthusiasm for queer literature.

Inspired by both a love of books and the friendships made at FLINTA-focused events while living in Berlin (a German-originated term which flags an emphasis on those who are female, lesbian, intersex, non-binary, trans or agender), Laoise-Edel set out to create a book club welcome to all, but prioritising women and gender non-conforming people. Despite initial concern over whether the appetite for such a group existed in the Irish capital, FLINTA Book Club Dublin (@flintabookclubdublin) was met with a wave of interest. “I thought maybe eight people would show up to the first event but all of a sudden I had over 100 gays in a group chat,” Laoise-Edel said.

Now, the club hosts monthly meet-ups, group coffee dates and is branching out into upcoming panel discussions with writers such as Chloe Michelle Howarth, author of Sunburn.

 

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All books are chosen communally by the group with a focus on queer and FLINTA writers. A month of solitary page-turning and audiobook listening culminates in a tender evening spent on the armchairs of the Outhouse Library, an apt and cosy location that is also home to Ireland’s biggest collection of LGBTQ+ books.

While the books provide the initial basis for the meet-ups, conversation soon flows beyond the texts. The nurturing space helps friendships to form as ideas are explored and experiences shared.

Laoise-Edel highlights the value of the book club format recounting the recent discussion of Sunburn. In reflecting on the book’s sensitive portrayal of teenage love in a small Irish town, members “opened up and started talking about their own experiences growing up queer in rural Ireland that they recognised in the book.”

Outside of Ireland’s bigger cities, the rural Irish queer experience is often seeped in a longing for connection. Upon leaving the capital to return to her native Cavan, librarian Leanne McMahon quickly began to miss the friends and events of her time spent studying in Dublin.

Working daily amidst the books she loves, Leanne found inspiration to take matters into her own hands, establishing a local LGBTQ+ book club. In a playful reclamation of the terms, Leanne started Queer Culchie Book Club (@thequeerculchiebookclub), holding monthly meetings every Sunday in a local cafe.

“The crowd is so lovely. We joke that it’s a book adjacent club, not a book club. We spend about 15 minutes talking about the book and 3 hours talking about everything else.”

The books provide a site for connection for many who travel to attend the sessions seeking friendship and the chance to share impassioned discussion on the literary merits of recent reads such as Tony Santorella’s Bored Gay Werewolf. Leanne shares how she “often receives a lot of positive feedback on social media about the club from people who aren’t local but who are happy to see something like this outside of a big city, people who wish there were something like that in their area.”

Like any good librarian Leanne, encourages anyone around the country who is inspired to start their own book club to make the most of the resources at their local library, where multiple copies of books can be sourced for any reading group. Surely the financing of queer book clubs around the country is a wonderful use of fiscal spending so please – don’t delay.

 

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The potential for queer book clubs in the country is perhaps best highlighted by the growth of Queer Book Club Dublin (@queer.books.dublin), created by Dónal Talbot and Eric Patrick Byrne in March of 2023. Monthly meetings are held in Love Tempo with anyone interested in queer literature welcome to attend. Although, spots book up in less than an hour each month, so you’ll have to be quick.

Following a guest slot at the International Literature Festival Dublin and a Pride collaboration with the author of Slant, Katherine O’Donnell, the club is now looking for ways to bring the joy of queer books to more and more people.

Dónal and Eric share their positive experience as hosts: “As we have grown and had repeat members coming back again and again, we often receive the compliment that we have helped to create a safe and welcoming little community space, which is always so lovely and very humbling to hear.

“Plenty of very sweet friendships have grown out of the club which has been such a buzz. Considering we were almost all total strangers at our first few meetings, it’s very sweet to see people get closer and become really tight friends. We won’t name names, but shout out to our first book club couple who met at the club just over a year ago, we love to see it.”

 

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So, whether motivated by a wish to connect over LGBTQ+ literature or the desire to delete your dating apps, it’s time to give one of Ireland’s queer book clubs a go!