Staff book recommendations for Wear It Purple Day
Today is Wear It Purple Day! Wear it Purple aims to create welcoming, secure, empowering and inclusive spaces for LGBTIQA+ youth. It’s focused on inspiring LGBTIQA+ youth to dream boldly and embrace this year’s theme ‘your passion, your pride.’
Deakin Library is rooted in community and committed to building a strong, diverse and forward-looking library that contributes to a more informed, progressive and socially just society globally. For Wear It Purple Day, our staff are sharing their personal recommendations of queer fiction. We are also sharing updates on our Homosaurus vocabulary project of LGBTIQA+ terms and the Rainbow Connections Exhibition in the Burwood Library Exhibition Space.
LGBTQIA+ Fiction – Staff picks
| Staff Picks | |
|---|---|
 | Tash, Content and Communications Coordinator Recommends: Gender queer / a memoir by Maia Kobabe ‘A short, but beautiful read navigating what it means to cope with gender dysphoria and a personal journey of navigating it. |
 | Clare, Client Experience Librarian Recommends: Here we go again by Alison Cochrun ‘This book is dedicated to queer educators who “save lives simply by showing up” and to “every queer teenager who became a little too attached to their English teacher” so it seemed kind of perfect to recommend for Wear It Purple Day! Plus, it has great ADHD representation!’ |
 | Clare, Client Experience Librarian Also recommends: A language of limbs by Dylin Hardcastle ‘This is a beautiful, poetic and deeply moving new work of Australian literary fiction inspired queer and trans histories, archives and art. Keep your tissues handy.’ |
 | Eddie, Scholarly Services Librarian Recommends: Less by Andrew Sean Greer ‘Arthur Less is a middling writer pushing 50 when he learns that his former partner is getting married. Instead of accepting the wedding invitation, he sets out on a globe-trotting odyssey of amusing situations, which ends up being a humorous and sometimes poignant reflection on life. It has an equally enjoyable follow-up called “Less is Lost”.’ |
 | Liz, Client Experience Librarian Recommends: Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart ‘A vivid portrayal of working-class life and a deeply moving story of the dangerous first love of two young men in Scotland. Young Mungo reveals the bounds of masculinity, the divisions of sectarianism and the violence faced by many queer people.’ |
 | Amy, Content and Communication Coordinator Recommends: Real Life by Brandon Taylor ‘Brandon Taylor is one of the most incisive, thoughtful, genius young authors working today, and this book is almost unfairly brilliant for a debut. It deals with the balancing act of managing friendships and academic ambition in a graduate school program, the complexities of grief and the ways we uncover our future as we work through our past.’ |
 | Jackson, Manager, Library Exhibitions and Public Programs Recommends: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller ‘This beautifully written retelling of the Iliad brings ancient mythology to life through its heartfelt portrayal of the love between Achilles and Patroclus. A must-read for all fans of LGBTQIA+ fiction.’ |
 | Michelle, Client Experience Librarian Recommends: From darkness: a novel by Kate Hall ‘This is a page-turning bildungsroman story that presents queer relationships as the norm, in a story that is mythical and otherworldly.’ |
Deakin Library Homosaurus project
At Deakin Library we are proud to have started adding subject headings from Homosaurus to items in our library catalogue. Homosaurus is a vocabulary of LGBTIQA+ terms created by LGBTIQA+ communities. Aligning with our Library Plan 2022–2025 strategic priority of Advancing human-centred and inclusive knowledge systems and spaces, as well as the University’s LGBTIQA+ inclusion and engagement plan, this is a step towards ensuring our catalogue contains more inclusive terminology and increasing the discoverability of library materials about LGBTIQA+ communities.
Rainbow Connections: LGBT+ people living with dementia and their peers
Drop into our Burwood Library Exhibition Space before 27 October to see the Rainbow Connections Exhibition showcasing portrait photography by Fiona Wolf as an output of research undertaken by Dr Louisa Smith from Deakin’s School of Health and Social Development and Institute of Health Transformation.
Rainbow Connections was co-developed with LGBT+ people living with dementia and their peers who wanted to make their lives and relationships visible. The exhibition focuses on four people living with dementia and LGBT+ peers who are important to them. These relationships with peers – some of which are facilitated by the Aged Care Community Visitors Scheme – not only affirm and celebrate gender and sexuality diversity, but in some cases provide the only friendship in the person living with dementia’s life.
Need extra support?
Our Counselling and Psychological Support service is safe, respectful and inclusive. Find out more about Deakin’s student health and wellbeing services.
Please see the resources below for support external to Deakin.
Deakin University pledges to never stay silent about homophobia, biphobia and transphobia. We will always stand with our LGBTIQA+ students and staff. You can read more about Deakin University’s commitment here.