The Big Pink Goldie

Stumbled on this on the BBC website and thought it was worth sharing with you. By the way was the Buddha of Suburbia a gay related story? never read it... obviously.

UK hunts for favourite gay novel

Sarah Waters' Tipping the Velvet was made into a BBC drama series

A hunt for the UK's favourite lesbian or gay novel has been launched, with books by Alan Hollinghurst and Sarah Waters among the early contenders.

Inspired by the BBC's Big Read search, the Big Gay Read is open to any lesbian or gay-themed novel in a public vote.

Devised by librarians and publishing agency Commonworld, suggestions so far include Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty and Waters' Tipping the Velvet.

The winner will be named in May at Manchester's Queer Up North festival.

"Lesbian/gay literature is an important part of the lives of many people, especially in the coming out process," Commonworld development worker Cathy Bolton told The Guardian newspaper.

BIG GAY READ SUGGESTIONS

Jake Arnott The Long Firm
Amanda Boulter
Around the Houses
Michael Cunningham
A Home at the End of the World
Stella Duffy Calendar Girl
Jeffrey Eugenides Middlesex
Alan Hollinghurst
The Line of Beauty
Dorothy Porter
The Monkey's Mask
Colm Toibin The Story of the Night
Sarah Waters
Tipping the Velvet
Jeanette Winterson
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit


Source: Commonword
"The first time a woman or man finds a reflection of what they are going through can often be in a book or film.

"But until recently, there were very few books that could speak to them of their own experience."

A joint project between Manchester, Salford and Blackpool libraries, Commonword and Time to Read, organisers hope Big Gay Read will introduce readers to a wider range of novels.

Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty won the 2004 Man Booker Prize while Waters' Tipping the Velvet and Fingersmith were adapted for two BBC drama series.

Jeanette Winterson's Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit and Jake Arnott's The Long Firm were also adapted for television, and appear in a list of 21 suggested Big Gay Read contenders.

The book hunt is being launched as part of Manchester's annual Pride celebrations.

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Which lesbian or gay novels have most impressed you? Are more - and better - gay novels available now? Should lesbian and gay-themed novels be separated from other books in this way? Let us know your thoughts using the form below.

A book called Loaded by Christos Tsiolkas is just simply superb. It details 24 hours in the life of a young Greek guy in Melbourne who is confused and angry about, well, everything. It was made into an Australian film called Head On which is also worth looking out for. I don't think lesbian and gay novels should be separated from other books because in my opinion sexuality should be integrated into society. Mainstream gay novels promote acceptance of gay values.
Stew, Edinburgh

How can you have Big Gay Read suggestions without mentioning the Harry Potter books, surely the gayest novels of the past 10 years?
Simon Stapleton, Thurso



I'm straight, but I don't think that should have any bearing on whether one can appreciate a love story between two people of the same sex



John Kearney, Malvern

Has to be Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin. The first gay book I remember reading (not sure Malory Towers counts). Evokes such wonderful images of San Francisco and is a fantastic read.
Ceri, Manchester


Perhaps the best of love and loss I have ever read is The Last of the Wine by Mary Renault. The narrator, Alexias, is an Athenian youth during the time of the Peloponnesian War and is an acquaintance of Socrates and Plato. The book covers many themes, but the love affair between Alexias and his older male friend Lysis is brilliantly portrayed and deeply moving. I highly recommend it. Just for the record, I'm straight, but I don't think that should have any bearing on whether one can appreciate a love story between two people of the same sex.
John Kearney, Malvern


Tommy's Tale by Alan Cummings is fantastic. Really witty and short enough to keep you interested... after all there is only so much sex and drugs you can read about on the bus to work. Ten out of 10.
Mark Wray, Birmingham


Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City is a hilarious story of gay (and straight) life in and around San Francisco. It is one of the only stories to make me laugh and cry out loud. Over the years I have re-read all five books a number of times and each time I enjoy them more. Tales of the City appeals equally to men and women, gay and straight. I have introduced a number of friends to the books and all have become firm fans. The reasonable success of the TV serialisation led to the books moving from a niche corner to a well-deserved prominent position on the shelves of high street book sellers.
Barry, Stevenage



There's nothing at all wrong with separating novels like this - we separate other types of books and it's not an issue



Jo, Manchester

I love The City and the Pillar by Gore Vidal. As the first gay novel - banned for many years in the US it tells the story of unrequited love. Anything that sets positive role models for people unsure of their sexuality has to be good.
Paul Walker, Bournemouth, UK


Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is possibly one of the best gay books that I've read and brilliantly written. I think Tipping the Velvet was a good (albeit daft) period novel, without the period language. It also brought gay fiction to the mainstream via the TV adaptation. There's nothing at all wrong with separating novels like this - we separate other types of books and it's not an issue. It's also a good way of letting people who are unfamiliar know of what's available.
Jo, Manchester


I would really recommend Armistead Maupin's The Night Listener, a really touching and enjoyable read and Anthony Burgess's Earthly Powers - not strictly a gay book, but a classic study of the life of gay man through 90 years of his life, an epic read. As for having a gay and lesbian section, why not? If they were in a general section many great books would be lost amongst the selection.
Garreth, Manchester