A random collection of over 1910 books and audiobooks authored by or about my transgender, intersex sisters, and gender-nonconforming persons all over the world. I read some of them, and I was inspired by some of them. I met some of the authors and heroines, some of them are my best friends, and I had the pleasure and honor of interviewing some of them. If you know of any transgender biography that I have not covered yet, please let me know.
Original title: "Płeć: dana czy zadana? Strategie negocjacji (nie)tożsamości transpłciowej w Polsce" (Gender: given or assumed? Strategies for negotiating transgender (non)identity in Poland) by Anna Kłonkowska.
Anna M. Kłonkowska's book is a well-written and expert presentation of the global and Polish state of research on the social situation of transgender people. The added value is the results of empirical research on the life strategies of transgender people in Poland in the last few years. Therefore, these are original and new data on an important social issue, obtained by a researcher who has been publishing on this topic for many years and is one of the few Polish experts in the field of transgenderism.
2017,
Anna Kłonkowska,
Polish,
Original title: "Bonecas na noite: Histórias cotidianas de travestis e transexuais" (Dolls in the Night:: Everyday Stories of Transvestites and Transsexuals) by Rafael B. Ferrareze.
This book tells the stories of some transvestites and transsexuals living in the city of Ponta Grossa in the State of Paraná. They report their nocturnal experiences and how life led them to work at night in Ponta Grossa as sex professionals.
These stories lead us to reflect on topics such as prejudice, social exclusion, violence, and pleasure, among others. It's simply a fascinating book. This study began first with theoretical discussions about gender, identity, culture, and community development among others, followed by the preparation of this work.
2017,
Brazil,
Portuguese,
Rafael B. Ferrareze,
Original title: "Poesía Recuperada" (Recovered Poetry) by Naty Menstrual.
This is Naty Menstrual's third book, entitled "Poesía recuperada", a material that compiles her initial texts created before her official birth as Naty. "These are things I wrote before I cross-dressed, before I was Naty," she said. It is the compendium of "secret" poems, which she herself never believed could be published, but which today she decided to present to society.
"If I were a woman, I would have a thousand children, I would have a thousand children
with a thousand different men.
If I were a woman, I'd have a thousand men, With a thousand red velvet kisses, Tangled on my lips, No rush and no time, Walking through me.
If I were a woman, I'd sleep among a thousand bodies, Entangled in a thousand tentacles of love, With passion, with pain, and with sweat, Sweats of a thousand men
skin, smells, licks, kisses."
2017,
Argentina,
Crossdressing,
Naty Menstrual,
Spanish,
"Mi hijo en rosa" (My Son in Pink) is the Spanish language edition of "Mio figlio in rosa" (My Son in Pink) by Camilla Vivian.
"Confronting different people and places has taught me to understand and accept diversity, but above all, it has made me become a curiosity junkie. This is the conclusion Camila reaches after verifying that her son has always felt the desire to be a girl.
In fact, far from putting any obstacle or obstacle, Camila decides to take her son's hand and help him during the process of searching for his own identity, a path during which they will have to face numerous prejudices and the lack of information that characterize the world around them."
2017,
Camilla Vivian,
Spanish,
Original title: "BR-Trans" by Silvero Pereira.
"In BR-Trans, the author and actor Silvero Pereira gives voice to several narratives, real and fictional, of transvestites and transsexuals he met during the research process for the show, in the Ceará-Rio Grande do Sul axis, mixing his personal history with the stories collected. By bringing all these voices together, mixing fact and fiction, the author sews a portrait of the trans universe in Brazil, shedding light on life stories full of doubts, anguish and transformations.
BR-Trans was nominated for the APTR 2015 awards in the Actor and Author categories, and Questão de Crítica 2015 in the Author, Direction and Show categories. He was the winner, by popular vote, of the 2015 Aplauso Brasil award in the categories of Actor, Spectacle and Dramaturgy, and of the popular jury award for best show at the Northeast Theater Festival of Guaramiranga. In 2015, it was elected by the newspapers O Globo and Estadão as one of the 10 best theater plays of the year."
2017,
Brazil,
Portuguese,
Silvero Pereira,
Original title: "Mio figlio in rosa" (My Son in Pink) by Camilla Vivian.
"Confronting different people and places has taught me to understand and accept diversity, but above all, it has made me become a curiosity junkie. This is the conclusion Camila reaches after verifying that her son has always felt the desire to be a girl.
In fact, far from putting any obstacle or obstacle, Camila decides to take her son's hand and help him during the process of searching for his own identity, a path during which they will have to face numerous prejudices and the lack of information that characterize the world around them."
2017,
Camilla Vivian,
Italian,
Original title: "Trinta anos de reclusão e as memórias de Porcina D'Alessandro" (Thirty Years of Cloister: Memories of Porcina D'Alessandro) by Porcina D'Alessandro.
He was born Jorge, was married, had four children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. But she is known as Porcina now. She was the founder of the Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals/MG, breaking taboos and causing controversy.
Porcina doesn't mince words, says that she has been a prostitute, reveals the profile of her clients and denounces the charging of points for prostitutes and transvestites to work on the streets and corners of her city.
2017,
Brazil,
Porcina D'Alessandro,
Portuguese,
Original title: "Antologia Trans: 30 poetas trans, travestis e não-binários" (Trans Anthology: 30 trans, transvestite and non-binary poets).
"How to dream and, at the same time, intervene? Poetry represented, for us, the interface between these two possibilities of political action. It is the discourse that emerges from the painful experiences of T in a cisgender society, but which rises in resistance, in potential. It consolidates dominion over the word and over oneself. Power is not something that is attained at the end of a path, nor is it something that is beyond our reach. It is here, emanating from our articulations, our spaces, and our words."
All the poets and the two illustrators of the publication (Lune Carvalho and Augusto Silva) are students of the Popular Transformation Course, a free initiative that has existed since 2015 in Ação Educativa. The goal is to help trans, transvestite and non-binary people get into college, on a non-profit basis. In all, there are 62 poems with themes ranging from the experience of the transgender body, sex, beauty, love, and transition.
2017,
Amara Moira,
Brazil,
Portuguese,
Full title: "#Trans: an anthology about transgender and nonbinary identity online" by Evelyn Deshane.
"#Trans is an essay collection featuring the works of twenty transgender and nonbinary writers as they share their experiences with online communities, video games, and dating apps--among other technologies. Each author's experience of their identity breaks away from the typical transgender narrative that is predominantly hung up on surgery and medical intervention.
While that aspect is still a part of the story for some of these writers, surgery has never been the sole inspiration that pushes these writers forward. Whether it was the love of a particular movie, the desire to share a feeling on social media, or a song they couldn't get out of their heads, these twenty writers' experiences of their identity have been shaped by media, technology, and the internet."
2017,
Ariel Estrella,
English,
Erika D. Price,
Evelyn Deshane,
Harlow Figa,
J.K. Pendragon,
Skylar Kergil,
Full title: "Two Lives" by Andrew Cooper.
"The journey of self-discovery is seldom simple. Frequently the most unexpected things can reveal themselves. Two Lives tells of Andrew’s journey through gender confusion and his wish to be a woman. A chance tea-time conversation leads to an exploration of reincarnation and the resolution of his dilemma."
2017,
Andrew Cooper,
English,
"Incognito" is the Polish language edition of "Inkognitó" by Tibor Noé Kiss, first published in 2010.
Tibor/Noémi has visited the women's section of a shoe store for the first time. Another customer groaned and called her names, the salesperson complimented the choice of boots and smiled. Tibor/Noémi tried to smile too. That was four weeks ago. Today she would go out into town in boots. But now she sits alone in an armchair with her body, and each hates the other.
Incognito is an impressive depiction of how a football-loving youth finds a stranger in herself and her body. It is a coming-of-age story, a coming-of-the-closet story, and a skilled, frantic novel in its minimalist conciseness about creating one's identity in the cross-pressures of one's own feelings and the surprise and disapproval of the surrounding society.
2017,
Polish,
Tibor Noé Kiss,
Original title: "Construccions identitàries: Work in progress" (Identity constructions: Work in progress) by Mar Capilla Llop.
Identity constructions. Work in progress collects the experience of many people who, like the author herself, the photographer Mar C. Llop, decide to take the path towards the trans* experience.
The project captures the body transformation processes experienced by transgender people, shows the people and families involved, and also the secrecy that often accompanies cross-dressing or transvestism. A project that, from within the trans* community, with respect and creativity, collects snapshots of the bodies, but also texts of the thoughts and feelings of more than seventy people. The book is organized around four chapters: «Concepts», «People», «Links» and «EnTràsit». Paths for all tastes, no single recipe for anyone, but, yes, many positive references.
2017,
Catalan,
Mar Capilla Llop,
Original title: "Xem mī̀ kathey h̄æ̀ng pī
m" เอมมี่ กะเทยแห่งปี (Emmy's Story... Transgender of the Year) by Emmy.
The book tells the story about the life of a transgender woman named "Emmy", a woman with an interesting personality and identity. In terms of story Emmy has a diverse and adventurous life because she had to face many difficulties in life. The story has a mix of love, humanity and struggles with various obstacles related to her transition.
In addition to the interesting story, the book includes beautiful images that made Emmy become a popular character and widely known in Thai society. Furthermore, Emmy... Transgender of the Year was one of the most popular TV series in Thailand in the year 2017 (2017) and received a lot of attention from the general public and various media.
2017,
Emmy,
Thai,
Thailand,
Original title: "Mémoires Régicides I" (Regicide Memoirs I) by Laureen Lemarre Herman.
""If I ever had to die here, I would be happy. I asserted myself, against all odds. I have nothing left to prove to the world: Finally, I am Me." The story of these "Memories" began in 2017 when I discovered my trans identity. Since then, my situation has evolved towards a different affirmation of this gender identity.
This poetic collection brings together a number of texts and formats (short stories, poems in verse and prose, speeches) which, in addition to showing the diversity of forms, explore the depths of a spirit sometimes wounded, sometimes amazed. The journey of both sorrows and blessings is transcended by the power of words. It is the brilliance of a Woman in the making, the isotopy of Being."
2017,
French,
Laureen Lemarre Herman,
Full title: "Born Both: An Intersex Life" by Hida Viloria.
"My name is Hida Viloria. I was raised as a girl but discovered at a young age that my body looked different. Having endured an often turbulent home life as a kid, there were many times when I felt scared and alone, especially given my attraction to girls. But unlike most people in the first world who are born intersex - meaning they have genitals, reproductive organs, hormones, and/or chromosomal patterns that do not fit standard definitions of male or female - I grew up in the body I was born with because my parents did not have my sex characteristics surgically altered at birth.
It wasn't until I was twenty-six and encountered the term intersex in a San Francisco newspaper that I finally had a name for my difference. That's when I began to explore what it means to live in the space between genders - to be both and neither. I tried living as a feminine woman, an androgynous person, and even for a brief period of time as a man. Good friends would not recognize me, and gay men would hit on me. My gender fluidity was exciting, and in many ways freeing - but it could also be isolating."
2017,
English,
Hida Viloria,
Intersex,
Original title: "La fille de Casablanca" (The Girl from Casablanca) by Juliette Jourdan.
"In 1956, in Casablanca, while Morocco struggles for its independence, Jenny, a young trans woman, solicits Dr. Georges Burou, a renowned, if somewhat enigmatic gynecologist, for a 'sex change'...
The Girl from Casablanca tells the true story of the first entirely successful sex reassignment surgery, at a time when the word 'trans' didn't even exist. It also tells a tale of daring and courage against all odds. True to himself, Dr. Burou went ahead with the first gender surgery to help a desperate and endearing young trans woman while risking ruining his career. Without knowing it, he would set the standard, to this day, for MtF surgery."
2017,
French,
Georges Burou,
Juliette Jourdan,
Full title: "Alyce Unchained" by Alyce May Anders.
"Alyce Unchained is part fiction and part memoir dealing with Gender Identity and the difficulties of growing up Intersex. It consists of a novella, a short memoir focusing on her childhood, a collection of short stories, as well as several essays on the subject. The fictional stories are character driven, most of which are based on Alyce's life experiences."
"About the Author: Alyce Anders studied creative writing and photojournalism at the City University of New York, and currently writes about issues that affect the Transgender and Intersex communities."
2017,
Alyce May Anders,
English,
Intersex,
Full title: "Devil Let My Baby Go!" by Yevette Fisher.
"In this unbelievably heartfelt book, Evangelist Yevette Fisher shares her story from the perspective of a parent dealing with a transgender daughter. She raised her daughter Nichol in church, so she was devastated when her "only child" adamantly embraced the LGBT lifestyle. Regardless of what it looked like, Yevette was determined not to give up on her daughter."
"However, it seemed as though the more she prayed, the worse off her daughter became. Evangelist Yevette Fisher is a prayer warrior that stood on the word of God. She realized that to break the bonds of homosexuality, she had to exhibit love, but without compromise. Ministry transpired right in their home as other friends of Nichol in "the lifestyle" received the Holy Spirit. While her daughter was in the Devil’s grip, Evangelist Fisher has marched into nightclubs, rescued her from abusive relationships, and waged warfare in the enemy's territory.
2017,
Nichol Collins,
Yevette Fisher,
Full title: "Behind Enemy Lines" by Nichol Collins.
"In her riveting autobiography, Nichol Collins shares transparently about her life. Once a transgender lesbian and drug dealer affiliated with gangs in Los Angeles, California; her lifestyle was a complete shock to her mother who raised her in church. Known by the nickname "Esko" in the streets, she gained notoriety among her peers. This story will keep you on the edge of your seat. Esko lived a life that spelled out PARTY & PERVERSION.
Her abuse of drugs and alcohol caused her to live in a constant fog. She hung out with celebrities, "down low men," and held a high-ranking position in an underground gay society called "Houses" that will astonish her readers. Your heart will pound as you live through her close calls with death, worldly excursions, and demonic forces assigned to assassinate her. She had rebelled against everything instilled in her from childhood. However, she lived in fear of missing the return of the Lord. In spite of her disobedience, God showed mercy toward her. She walked out alive with the devil's secrets."
2017,
English,
Nichol Collins,
USA,
Original title: "Historia de lo trans" (History of Trans) is the Spanish language edition of "Transgender History" by Susan Stryker.
When and how is the term transsexual created? Who has fought in the North American context when it comes to obtaining rights for people who leave gender norms, are transvestites, transsexuals, or non-binary? How is the memory of trans people made?, What leaders promoted other ways of understanding gender transgressions? What social challenges arise thanks to the experiences of trans people and their activism?
Historia de lo trans presents, through a critical and decolonial vision, the key moments of a political and cultural movement that has questioned the bases of feminism and the conceptual frameworks of LGBT struggles. In this tour, we find exciting biographies of the protagonists of trans struggles, inserted in the history of gender theory, and the book shows how they have been shaping our global story.
2017,
Spanish,
Susan Stryker,
