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.
"Lånat Kön" (Borrowed Gender) is the Swedish language version of "Mauvais genre" (Wrong Gender) by Chloé Cruchaudet.
In the early 20th century, amidst the chaos of World War I, Paul and Louise shared a deep love for one another. Their bond was unshakable until the horrors of war forced them apart. As the war escalated, Paul found himself trapped in the nightmarish reality of the trenches. Unable to bear the relentless violence, he made a desperate decision to flee — becoming a deserter, a man hunted by his country.
With the help of his wife Louise, Paul managed to escape the frontlines, seeking refuge in Paris. However, his safety came at a steep price: he was condemned to a life of hiding, forever confined to the four walls of a hotel room, living in constant fear of being caught and executed as a deserter. But Paul, driven by the desire to escape his claustrophobic existence, concocted an audacious plan: he would reinvent himself entirely.
To put an end to his constant fear and isolation, Paul decided to change his identity. He would no longer be Paul, the fugitive soldier, but rather Suzanne, Louise’s best friend. In a twist of fate, Paul embraced the feminine persona, dressing in women’s clothing and stepping into a new life. What began as a means of survival quickly evolved into something far more profound. As Suzanne, Paul discovered a new sense of freedom and began to flourish in a way he never thought possible.
2019,
Chloé Cruchaudet,
Swedish,
Original title: "Cartas pra Pepita" (Letters to Pepita) by Mulher Pepita.
"The program "Cartas pra Pepita", a public success on IGTV and YouTube, completes one year on the air and to celebrate brings the best letters in the debut book of Selo Monocó! Hosted by LGBT activist, singer and songwriter Mulher Pepita, one of the first transsexual funk singers in Brazil, the program brings the author's sometimes affectionate, sometimes acidic advice and tips about relationships and questions about love and sex from readers-viewers, who send their letters to the program and are read on the air, without shame!"
Mulher Pepita, also known as Pepita, is a Brazilian singer, composer, and dancer. Born Priscila Nogueira on January 25, 1983, in Rio de Janeiro, she gained prominence as one of the first trans women in the Brazilian funk music scene. Her work is closely associated with LGBT activism1.
Pepita began her journey as a funk dancer in Rio de Janeiro’s nightclubs. During this time, she received a song titled “Tô à Procura de um Homem” from a friend. Inspired by the music, she transitioned into a music career and performed her first show in São Paulo.
2019,
Brazil,
Mulher Pepita,
Portuguese,
Full title: "Gender Queer: As the Carousel Turns "Gender War"" by Robyn Casias (Skyler Lott).
This is the first part of a 4-episode series that tells the stories about "how my expression of Meili slowly diminished trying to dress in girls’ clothes. No one could understand the gender expressions coming from Meili’s flower power version of her Rainbow. The best that I could do is take the psychedelic express train to Alice in Genderland where I could sing, but not be heard."
"As the Carousel Turns “GENDER WAR” is a novella series that progresses my journey through a spiritual, social, legal, and physical transformation from being born biologically male to my identified gender as female. “I AM MEILI” is the first of two Episodes in “GENDER QUEER. Meili characterizes a female persona from my earliest childhood memories. As my journey unfolds “Manly” is introduced. Manly is my made-up male persona, the persona I predominantly portrayed throughout my adolescence and adulthood."
2019,
English,
Robyn Casias,
Skyler Lott,
Original title: "Travesti. Una teoría lo suficientemente buena" (Transvestite. A good enough theory) by Marlene Wayar.
"This book proposes a living, communitarian theory. Because when Marlene Wayar says that she has a cemetery in her head, she speaks from the strength that the experience of her entire collective gives her. And that force is oral. With dialogues, she weaves bridges between the oral and the written, and she does so with a power that the written could never capture.
Between conversations, the book invites us to feel without anesthesia from the trans-South American perspective and to think critically about the failure of the world as we know it. It is a cry that envelops the life of the body while inviting us to consider the death of the marks on our bodies promoted by hetero-winca-patriarchy. Actually, Marlene proposes that we kill those pains with daily oblivion and go and build other movable languages that fill us with energy, an energy that ethics imposes that we use in children and adolescents."
2019,
Marlene Wayar,
Spanish,
Original title: "Furia travesti: Diccionario Travesti de la T a la T" (Travesti Fury: Travesti Dictionary from la T to la T) by Marlene Wayar.
"This book is a rallying cry against all those discourses that seek to deny transvestite identity, subsuming it in one of the two poles of the hetero binarism. Being transgender, says the author, has nothing to do with being born in a wrong body that needs to be intervened to normalize, make it thinkable, digestible for the binary stomach of a society that is as two-minded as it is hypocritical.
This book is also about the life that is presented for the first time; An experience that is related to the support of militancy in favor of the rights of transgenders as a group. It is, therefore, a cry that is both individual and collective. With a sharp tongue, clarity, and fierceness, Marlene Wayar weaves in these pages a reasoned and lucid exposition of what it means to be a Latin American transgender today: expelled even as children by the institution of the family, they will be migrants all their lives, marginalized, prostitutes. But also beings of enormous charm and beauty, intelligence, attractiveness, and seduction. Like all of them, all of them: they are what they are. And this book, for the first time, gives them the place they deserve."
2019,
Argentina,
Marlene Wayar,
Spanish,
Full title: "Trans Power: Own Your Gender" by Juno Roche.
"'All those layers of expectation that are thrust upon us; boy, masculine, femme, transgender, sexual, woman, real, are such a weight to carry round. I feel transgressive. I feel hybrid. I feel trans.' In this radical and emotionally raw book, Juno Roche pushes the boundaries of trans representation by redefining 'trans' as an identity with its own power and strength, that goes beyond the gender binary.
Through intimate conversations with leading and influential figures in the trans community, such as Kate Bornstein, Travis Alabanza, Josephine Jones, Glamrou and E-J Scott, this book highlights the diversity of trans identities and experiences with regard to love, bodies, sex, race and class, and urges trans people - and the world at large - to embrace a 'trans' identity as something that offers empowerment and autonomy. Powerfully written, and with humour and advice throughout, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in the future of gender and how we identify ourselves."
2019,
E-J Scott,
English,
Glamrou,
Josephine Jones,
Juno Roche,
Kate Bornstein,
Travis Alabanza,
Full title: "Trans Love: An Anthology of Transgender and Non-Binary Voices" by Freiya Benson.
"A ground-breaking anthology of writing on the topic of love, written by trans and non-binary people who share their thoughts, feelings and experiences of love in all its guises. The collection spans familial, romantic, spiritual and self-love as well as friendships and ally love, to provide a broad and honest understanding of how trans people navigate love and relationships, and what love means to them.
Reclaiming what love means to trans people, this book provokes conversations that are not reflected in what is presently written, moving the narrative around trans identities away from sensationalism. At once intimate and radical, and both humorous and poignant, this book is for anyone who has loved, who is in love, and who is looking for love."
2019,
English,
Freiya Benson,
Original title: "Atrevidas: relatos polifónicos de mujeres trans" (Daring: Polyphonic Stories of Trans Women) by Camila Schumacher.
"In 2013, Camila Schumacher was offered a job as a communicator at the II Central American Meeting of Women in the Performing Arts, where she met Dayana Hernández, current president of the TransVida Foundation, a Costa Rican organization created in 2009, by and for trans people. with the purpose of working for the human rights and identity of trans women; the search for attention and opportunities in health and education for this sector, as well as access and decent conditions for their work.
2019,
Camila Schumacher,
Costa Rica,
Spanish,
Original title: "Lola Cruda: Atípica, atópica, utópica" (Lola Cruda: Atypical, atopic, utopian) by Lola Bhajan.
"When I was a child, I prayed to God to wake up like a baby," says Lola Bhajan, an Argentinian trans musician and writer, in one of the chapters of Lola Cruda. She is a versatile artist and trans activist involved in musical projects such as “Hermanas Travestis.” She impresses with her powerful voice and her passion for traditional music such as baguala and vidala, whose roots lie in northern Argentina.
Her first novel, marked by a literary discourse that portrays the passage of a trans girl, who goes from puberty to youth; that measure of time where the world inexorably begins to take other forms.
2019,
Argentina,
Lola Bhajan,
Spanish,
Original title: "Die Geschichte von Lili Elbe: Ein Mensch wechselt sein Geschlecht" (The story of Lili Elbe: A person changes their gender) by Harald Neckelmann.
In the 1920s, the Danish painter Einar Wegener and his wife Gerda, another successful artist, led an eventful life between Denmark, France, and Italy. When one day Gerda asks him to pose for her in women's clothes, she sets in motion a development whose end neither of them can imagine. For fun, Einar appears more and more often at social events as a mysterious woman named "Lili".
But the game soon turns into a serious inner conflict. Einar struggles painfully for his identity until he finally undergoes several operations in Berlin and Dresden in order to continue living as Lili Elbe. A new edition of the bestseller from 1932, "Ein Mensch Weschselt Sein Geschlecht" by Lili Elbe - With an afterword by Rainer Herrn.
Harald Neckelmann, born in 1965, was an author and correspondent for ARD radio for more than ten years. Since 2007 he has been working as a non-fiction author, lecturer and city guide. He has already published numerous books on the history and present of Berlin.
Lili Elbe, originally known as Einar Wegener, was one of the first known recipients of gender confirmation surgery. Born in Denmark in 1882, Elbe was a transgender woman and a pioneer in advocating for transgender rights and visibility.
She underwent a series of gender affirmation surgeries in the early 1930s under the care of German sexologist Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld. These procedures included orchidectomy (removal of testicles), vaginoplasty (creation of a vaginal opening), and later attempted uterus transplantation, although the latter was unsuccessful.
Elbe's life and experiences have been documented in her autobiography, "Man into Woman," which was published posthumously. Her story gained wider attention following the release of the novel "The Danish Girl" by David Ebershoff, later adapted into a film of the same name starring Eddie Redmayne as Elbe.
Lili Elbe's bravery in pursuing gender affirmation surgery during a time when the medical understanding of transgender issues was limited has made her an enduring symbol of transgender rights and visibility.
2019,
German,
Harald Neckelmann,
Lili Elbe,
Full title: "Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity" by Micah Rajunov and Scott Duane.
"What happens when your gender doesn’t fit neatly into the categories of male or female? Even mundane interactions like filling out a form or using a public bathroom can be a struggle when these designations prove inadequate. In this groundbreaking book, thirty authors highlight how our experiences are shaped by a deeply entrenched gender binary.
The powerful first-person narratives of this collection show us a world where gender exists along a spectrum, a web, a multidimensional space. Nuanced storytellers break away from mainstream portrayals of gender diversity, cutting across lines of age, race, ethnicity, ability, class, religion, family, and relationships."
2019,
English,
Micah Rajunov,
Scott Duane,
Original title: "Lilyth: A difícil jornada de uma transexual" (Lilyth: The Difficult Journey of a Transsexual) by Lilyth S.J. Rabelo and Adilson J.S. Rabelo.
This can be a book like any other, with a story that can be seen as autobiography or as fiction; as memories or as delusions; as real or imaginary; judge the eyes of those who read it.
The truth belongs to those who live it; The others are left to look, to think, to distrust, to question, to understand (or not) and finally to accept, perhaps (or not). This is a part of a biography that still walks his journey; Lilyth is still a struggle, a dream, a pulsating life.
2019,
Adilson J.S. Rabelo,
Brazil,
Lilyth S.J. Rabelo,
Portuguese,
Original title: "Devenir trans: Relatos biográficos del tercer sexo en Popayán" (Trans Becoming: Biographical Accounts of the Third Sex in Popayán) by Yinna Ortiz Ordoñez.
Talking about females with penises seems more like a paradox than the experience of a series of people who experience corporalities and subjectivities on the frontiers of 'normality'. This book proposes a reflection on trans experiences, which is not situated in the reductionist rhetoric of trans as a linear and univocal change from man to woman or vice versa, but rather thinks about the tensions and paradoxes of much more complex, dynamic and unfinished processes in the ways of experiencing 'sex', gender and corporeality.
Through a biographical approach, the book presents a life story accompanied by other experiences that allow access to intimate and profound elements about these transitions, but also to structural factors of social and gender norms.
This book is an invitation to imagine in other ways, to denaturalize and disrupt the discourses that tie bodies to rigid ways of being and being in the world, but also to look sharply at the tensions posed by trans subjectivities.
2019,
Colombia,
Spanish,
Yinna Ortiz Ordoñez,
Full title: "A Feminist Post-transsexual Autoethnography: Challenging Normative Gender Coercion" by Julie Peters.
Gender as a social class along with its concomitant heteronormative gender coercion seem to be intransigent across time and cultures. But across these cultures we also see a degree of nonconforming behaviour which very often carries significant multi-dimensions of stigma and risk; because the exception proves the rule, an understanding of gender nonconformity sheds light on the normative operation of gender in society.
A Feminist Post-transsexual Autoethnography attempts to demythologise trans and gender diversity by conducting an in-depth critical analysis of the life choices of the autoethnographic subject (the author), who was so uncomfortable with their culturally allocated masculinity that they chose to live an apparently normal female life. The research is post-transsexual in that the subject forgoes passing in their affirmed gender to ensure the integrity of the data.
2019,
Australia,
English,
Julie Peters,
Original title: "Bishaṇṇa br̥hannalā" by Nīhāra Majūmadāra.
The book includes some articles on transgender people with special reference to West Bengal, India.
2019,
Bengali,
India,
Nīhāra Majūmadāra,
"Inkognito" is the Slovenian 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.
2019,
Slovenian,
Tibor Noé Kiss,
Original title: "Auf nach Casablanca?: Lebensrealitäten transgeschlechtlicher Menschen zwischen 1945 und 1980" (Off to Casablanca? Realities of life of transgender people between 1945 and 1980) by Sabine Meyer.
The anthology describes the realities of life of trans* people from different perspectives and systems, during National Socialism, in the FRG and GDR. Milestones and obstacles are analysed and enrich the picture with the experiences of trans* people from 1945 to 1980.
Transgender people have always been part of the LGBTI community and are closely linked to the history of Berlin. However, we still know far too little about their experience. This part of history is therefore hardly known to date.
100 years ago transgender people tried to get support at the Institute for Sexual Sciences, founded in 1919 by Dr.
Magnus Hirschfeld to provide psychosocial support and medical help. Even then, they fought for legal recognition of their gender identity. The so-called “transvestite certificate” provided
for example, a certain level of protection and acceptance
in everyday life.
2019,
German,
Sabine Meyer,
Original title: "Brigitte Baptiste: un homenaje ilustrado" (Brigitte Baptiste: an illustrated tribute) by Brigitte Baptiste.
"Brigitte Baptiste. Illustrated story. A tribute to the great ecologist and defender of the environment. The life and work of Brigitte Baptiste, as well as her vision of science and the world, converge in this graphic journey, which is nothing more than an emotional illustrated tribute."
Brigitte Baptiste is a prominent figure in both the scientific and transgender communities. Born Luis Guillermo Baptiste1, she is a Colombian cultural landscape ecologist and an expert on environmental issues and biodiversity in Colombia1. She has served as the director of the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute and is currently the director of Universidad Ean.
2019,
Brigitte Baptiste,
Colombia,
Spanish,
Full title: "Sistaaz of the Castle" by Jan Hoek, Duran Lantink, and SistaazHood.
"Jan Hoek, fashion designer Duran Lantink and trans sex worker organisation SistaazHood present ‘Sistaaz of the Castle’, an ongoing project about the colorful looks and lives of transgender sex workers that roam the streets of Cape Town, South Africa.
Most of the girls are homeless, living under a bridge near Cape Town’s castle. The Sistaaz are eager activists, proud to be trans, proud to be a sex worker, and even prouder of their stunning sense of style. And they want it to be acknowledged.
A series of photographs and a fashion collection based on the girls’ appearance and their ability to turn whatever they find into the most exuberant outfits was created. This has already resulted in a fashion show at Amsterdam Fashion Week (a show in Cape Town in still on the wish list) and a photo exhibition in Foam Amsterdam."
2019,
Duran Lantink,
English,
Jan Hoek,
SistaazHood,
South Africa,
Full title: "Growing Through Concrete" by Jessica Moore.
"Jessica’s life has had no shortage of concrete. A child of the foster care system. Abused. Mentally delayed. Autistic. Transgender. In and out of the criminal justice system. Homeless for over 15 years. Lots and lots of concrete. But Jessica is a dandelion.
Like the homeless, many people view dandelions as weeds with no value. But Jessica knows that a dandelion is a flower that can bloom in the harshest of environments.
Growing Through Concrete is Jessica’s story. It’s part autobiography, part poetry. Because of Jessica’s severe dyslexia, she can barely read or write so this book was written entirely by Voice to Text on her iPad. It is about the human experience – pain, loneliness, longing, love, faith, and redemption."
2019,
English,
Jessica Moore,
