A Christmas note
Dear all,
Just wanted to say a quick hi to the wider list, and to let you all know a bit about what Iāve been up to for the last few weeks.
The main thing is that Iāve been working on three books.
The first, PLEASE MISS, youāve all heard me talk about endlessly: itās available for pre-order from Seal in the US, and Daunt in the UK. Iāll be touring the book in the UK and the US, and have plenty of dates to announce in LA, New York, Boston, Western Massachusetts, and Iowa City on the US side, and London, Bath, Brighton, Exeter, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle, Edinburgh, and Belfast early in the new year. Iām also going to be doubling up those events with academic events at various different placesāāthe University of Southern California and University College London, for example, to name two where the arrangements are at a relatively advanced stage. The tour will also entail some exciting media events, which again I canāt say too much about at present, but Iām optimistic about the possibility of radically changing the media narrative around civil rights for trans people in 2022.
The second book, PLEASURE AND EFFICACY: PSYCHOANALYSIS, FEMINISM, AND TRANS EMBODIMENT, has just been contracted to Princeton University Press, and will be in print early in 2023. Itās my second scholarly monograph, the culmination of my last few yearsā research in trans studies. Iāll have a pre-order link on here as soon as possible, and Iāll probably give you all a breakdown of the book before too long.
The third book, the title of which Iām not really in a position to disclose at present, is a kind of transsexual campus novel disguised as a leftist whodunit. Iām very excited about it, and Iām going to try shopping it in the next couple of months. Iām considering the possibility of publishing it here on Substack, in subscription posts. This idea has of course advantages and disadvantages: it would allow me a greater degree of freedom to write how I want than would a commercial press, but it would restrict the bookās circulation to those who subscribe to this platform. And I do like editors, for what itās worthāāIāve been lucky enough to work with some really good ones at Seal and Princeton. Would very much appreciate anyoneās thoughts about this.
For the last couple of weeks, Iāve been uploading poems that Iāve written to the paywalled section of this site (call it a minor safeguard against inevitable hate mail). A grad student I know was telling me recently that she thinks of literary form as necessitated by particular changes in a historical or personal setting. That really resonated with me. Iām still trying to figure out exactly what those changes are, that have necessitated this changeāāsomething to do with feeling happy and anxious, perhaps. The poems are called āof Pearl, Motherā; āfritto4545ā; āHomosexualityā; and āhow I came to buy a new coat.ā
Today Bitch Media published my review of the new Matrix movie, which I hated. The movie, not the publication. Was grateful for that.
Iāve got a few more writing project Iāll be announcing and/or wrapping up shortly: an audio profile of a trans woman of local interest; an essay entitled āDo the Hustle!ā coming out in The Chicago Review; various other tidbits.
Anyway, thatās what Iāve been working on for the last few months. Iām happy, you know? Nuzzled into Danny with Lily grinding up on me, Bonnie and Go at our feet, and the opening chord of a new romance humming in the background. Iāve had Covid at least twice. Lily and I went to a log cabin, and it was magical. And look, the puppies are asleep!
Hope everyone has as good a holiday season as can be mustered during these awful times. Letās all text each other more than we usually do, maybe? Weāre all going to be lonely for a while yet, and goddess knows that fucking Matrix movie isnāt going to help.
Love and solidarity,
Grace