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: "La fille d’elle-même" (The Daughter of Herself) by Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay. The book was published in 2021 and republished in 2023."Winner 2022, Prix des Libraires Rights for TV adaptation purchased by Zone 3 A runaway bestseller in Québec, where it has captured the hearts of readers and pushed trans-identity into the mainstream conversation, Dandelion Daughter is an intimate, courageous portrait of what it’s like to grow up having been assigned the wrong sex at birth.Set against the windswept countryside of the remote Charlevoix region some five hours north of Montreal,
2021,
2023,
Canada,
French,
Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay,
Gabrielle Tremblay,
"Dandelion Daughter: A Novel" is the English language version of "La fille d’elle-même" (The Daughter of Herself) by Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay."Winner 2022, Prix des Libraires Rights for TV adaptation purchased by Zone 3 A runaway bestseller in Québec, where it has captured the hearts of readers and pushed trans-identity into the mainstream conversation, Dandelion Daughter is an intimate, courageous portrait of what it’s like to grow up having been assigned the wrong sex at birth.Set against the windswept countryside of the remote Charlevoix region some five hours north of Montreal, Gabrie
2023,
Canada,
English,
Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay,
Gabrielle Tremblay,
Full title: "Holy Wild" by Gwen Benaway."In her third collection of poetry, Holy Wild, Gwen Benaway explores the complexities of being an Indigenous trans woman in expansive lyric poems. She holds up the Indigenous trans body as a site of struggle, liberation, and beauty. A confessional poet, Benaway narrates her sexual and romantic intimacies with partners as well as her work to navigate the daily burden of transphobia and violence.She examines the intersections of Indigenous and trans experience through autobiographical poems and continues to speak to the legacy of abuse, violence, and colo
2018,
Canada,
English,
Gwen Benaway,
Full title: "Passage" by Gwen Benaway."In her second collection of poetry, Passage, Gwen Benaway examines what it means to experience violence and speaks to the burden of survival. Traveling to Northern Ontario and across the Great Lakes, Passage is a poetic voyage through divorce, family violence, legacy of colonization, and the affirmation of a new sexuality and gender. Previously published as a man, Passage is the poet's first collection written as a transwoman. Striking and raw in sparse lines, the collection showcases a vital Two Spirited identity that transects borders of race, gender,
2016,
Canada,
English,
Gwen Benaway,
"Valid: Dystopian Autofiction" is the English language edition of "Valide" by Chris Bergeron."Although it is described as an autobiographical science fiction novel, the context it offers is not that far removed from our current world. We project ourselves 30 years into the future, in a world governed by the artificial intelligence Total David. Human beings are then confined and are only allowed a few hours of going out a day. "This feeling of living in a bubble that is in the novel, and that came before the pandemic, is for many trans women what they experience on a daily basis. Valide is a s
2023,
Canada,
Chris Bergeron,
English,
Full title: "Ceremonies for the Dead" by Gwen Benaway."Ceremonies for the Dead is an award-winning collection of poems that examine the haunting themes of inter-generational trauma, cyclical abuse, and inherited grief. Four generations of the dead take turns narrating these themes, navigating from the Great Lakes through the Appalachian Mountains, and examining the fur trade, an exile from Minnesota, the experiences of West Virginia coal miners, and the legacy of mission schools. Black humour and satire fill the collection, illuminating a fierce determination to survive and resist colonizatio
2013,
Canada,
English,
Gwen Benaway,
Original title: "Valide" (Valid) by Chris Bergeron."Although it is described as an autobiographical science fiction novel, the context it offers is not that far removed from our current world. We project ourselves 30 years into the future, in a world governed by the artificial intelligence Total David. Human beings are then confined and are only allowed a few hours of going out a day. "This feeling of living in a bubble that is in the novel, and that came before the pandemic, is for many trans women what they experience on a daily basis. Valide is a sci-fi and sci-fi novel, but it's also an a
2021,
Canada,
Chris Bergeron,
French,
Original title: "Les secrets de l'origami" (The Secrets of Origami) by Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay."Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay's second book hardly addresses trans identity, but unabashedly explores the dysfunctional relationships and disillusionment of a woman who claims to be in love with everyone. "I'm a passionate person who doesn't do things by halves, like the movie I starred in. I often get ideas about a relationship that's just been born, like a pre-origami blank page, before realizing it's not working."""Heartbroken by disappointment, she uses words to examine her scars, forc
2018,
Canada,
French,
Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay,
Gabrielle Tremblay,
Full title: "The Trans Biography Project: Stories from the Lives of Eleven Trans People in BC" by Kathleen Cross."The purpose of this collection is to educate the broader community about the experiences, needs and situations of trans people. It features a brief biography of each person, using their words as much as possible to tell their stories, share their experiences, and articulate the issues that are relevant to them as a trans, transgendered or transsexual person (a note about language usage is below). These stories are an attempt to put a “human face” on the issues of trans people and
2001,
Aiyyana Maracle,
Canada,
Dannis Bragas,
English,
Kathleen Cross,
Kimberly Nixon,
Full title: "Thanks for Coming Out" by Cindy Rivers."Cindy Rivers, a proud, Canadian comedian, and transgender woman that came out at age 30. From the beginning of growing up in Newfoundland to coming out in Fort McMurray, Alberta, and all of her success and fail along the way."In her 2021 interview for Global News, she said: "“After some time in the hospital and dealing with some things, I started to come out”.
The first person she came out to was her then-wife.
“That was interesting. We didn’t really tell anybody else for a little while… a couple months.
“We couldn’t really figure it out
2022,
Canada,
Cindy Rivers,
English,
Full title: "Rowan Jette Knox: The Transition" by Claire Temp."This book is a captivating and inspiring account of Amanda Jetté Knox, a Canadian writer, author, and human rights advocate who shares her family’s story of thriving in a transgender family. In this book, you will learn how Amanda Jetté Knox discovered that their spouse of over 20 years was transgender and wanted to live as a woman, and how they reacted with love and acceptance. You will also learn how their eldest child came out as non-binary and how they supported her with respect and understanding. You will witness the cha
2023,
Canada,
Claire Temp,
English,
Full title: "Hi There! I'm the New Girl In Town" by Miss Jayee Chapman."Forty-Four Years. That's how long it took Jayee to start questioning if she was really who she wanted to be, who she was meant to be.
Coming to this realization wasn't easy for Jayee, and neither was her transition from male to female. She was overwhelmed with information, unsure about opening up to anyone, and frightened, though excited, about what the future would hold. But the real trouble began when she started hormone replacement therapy.She could no longer hide her true self from her loved ones, which led to lost r
2023,
Canada,
English,
Miss Jayee Chapman,
Full title: "Falling Back in Love with Being Human: Letters to Lost Souls" by Kai Cheng Thom."Kai Cheng Thom grew up a Chinese Canadian transgender girl in a hostile world. As an activist, psychotherapist, conflict mediator, and spiritual healer, she’s always pursued the same deeply personal mission: to embrace the revolutionary belief that every human being, no matter how hateful or horrible, is intrinsically sacred.But then Kai Cheng found herself in a crisis of faith, overwhelmed by the viciousness with which people treated one another, and barely clinging to the values and ideals she’d bu
2023,
Canada,
English,
Kai Cheng Thom,
Full title: "The Red Light Runner" by Bobbi Lancaster."Dr. Bob Lancaster was a family physician with a buried secret: he felt more natural and comfortable as a woman. As a child he concealed his feelings for fear of being bullied; during adulthood, he was afraid of losing his reputation and practice. When he did confess to a priest at fourteen, he was told his desires were sinful. Even as he became a husband and father, he engaged in cross-dressing and dreamed of being female.After years of yearning and despair, Dr. Bob gave up and planned suicide. He recovered after his attempt failed, but h
2018,
Bobbi Lancaster,
Canada,
English,
Full title: "Gigi Gorgeous: Biography Of A Sensational YouTuber and Her Life As an LGBTQ Advocate" by Muse Publishing."In this gripping biography, you'll follow Gigi Gorgeous on her journey from a small-town Canadian boy to a glamorous and influential social media icon.
You'll witness the challenges she faced as she navigated the complexities of gender identity, and the inspiring resilience she showed in overcoming them.""From her early days experimenting with makeup and fashion, to her groundbreaking decision to undergo gender confirmation surgery, Gigi's story is one of courage, determinat
2023,
Canada,
English,
Gigi Gorgeous,
Muse Publishing,
Full title: "Then This Happened: After Transparently" by Lisa Salazar."When I published "Transparently: Behind the Scenes of a Good Life" in 2011, the memoir recounted the first 59 years and six months of my life, leading up to the first month after undergoing gender confirmation surgery (GCS). I wrote the book in the three months preceding the surgery, a time when I was filled with hopeful anticipation.The title I picked for the book reflected how I saw my life then; I felt disarmingly open and candid about my life's journey, which had been good to me. The subtitle also held much truth — I h
2023,
Canada,
English,
Lisa Salazar,
Full title: "Growing Up Trans: In Our Own Words" edited by Dr. Lindsay Herriot M ed PhD and Kate Fry."Growing Up Trans shares stories, essays, art and poetry created by trans youth aged 11 to 18. In their own words, the works illustrate the trans experience through childhood, family and daily life, school, their bodies and mental health. Together the collection is a story of the challenges, big and small, of being a young trans person. At the same time, it’s a toolkit for all young people, transgender or not, about what understanding, acceptance and support for the trans community looks like.
2021,
Canada,
Kate Fry,
Lindsay Herriot,
Full title: "Stranger in the Mirror: The Search For Me" by Erin LeBlanc."This memoir provides amplified inspiration of resilience for anyone moving through adversity. Erin LeBlanc describes the highs and lows of her journey of self-discovery, putting the pieces of the puzzle that is her life together to form her authentic self. She shares knowledge, tools, and practices as an emotional survival guide based on her experience for those living with Gender Dysphoria, their family and friends, supporters and allies, and the transgender and LGBTQ+ community. As a human advocate, Erin shows the worl
2020,
Canada,
English,
Erin LeBlanc,
Original title: "Le ventre des volcans" (The Belly of Volcanoes) by Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay.The Belly of Volcanoes is the result of more than five years of writing and rewriting. Understanding love, loving beyond love, these are mysteries that this book tries to elucidate. This collection is an intimate portrait of universal struggles: to free oneself from daily anxieties, to deal with one's obsessions, to survive the falls to better recover in the righteousness of the waking day, to live one's life as honestly as possible. In this book, the author tackles heavy themes with a d
2015,
Canada,
French,
Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay,
Gabrielle Tremblay,
Full title: "Sex Change, Social Change: Reflections on Identity, Institutions, and Imperialism" (2005) by Viviane Namaste. The second edition of the book was published in 2011."The book provides readers with an introduction to contemporary transsexual politics in Canadian and Quebecois contexts. Through different case studies relating to the law, human rights, health care, and prostitution, Dr. Namaste exposes readers to the complexity of the issues involved in thinking about transsexual politics in relation to feminism.Written in accessible language, and using a variety of forms, including i
2005,
Canada,
English,
Viviane Namaste,
