Episodi

  • “Pronouns in Two-Spirit Literature” with Jas Morgan (Queer Forms and Pronouns Series)

    “Pronouns in Two-Spirit Literature” with Jas Morgan (Queer Forms and Pronouns Series)
    Apr 14 2026
    The fantastic Jas Morgan is back for a conversation about pronouns in Two-Spirit literature! We think about how kinship is reflected in language, what role pronouns take on in translation and how they can easily be misunderstood, especially when working across cultures and languages. Our conversation is based on a dialogic chapter of Queer Forms and Pronouns, which I co-wrote with Kai Minosh Pyle.

    This conversation is part of a miniseries that accompanies my book Queer Forms and Pronouns: Gender Nonconformity in Anglophone Literature (Oxford University Press, 2026). I hope you like hearing more from your host, but not to worry: we will be back to our usual format in just a few weeks.

    References:
    Kai Minosh Pyle
    Jas Morgan’s “My Pronouns are Kiy/Kin”
    https://web.archive.org/web/20210416065231/https://aabitagiizhig.com/2016/05/13/red-rising-my-pronouns-are-kiy-kin/
    Jas Morgan’s nîtisânak
    Riot Grrrl
    Robin Wall Kimmerer
    Wahkohtowin
    Joshua Whitehead’s “A Queer Geography of Woundings”
    Billy-Ray Belcourt
    Lambda Literary Awards
    Kin (web series)
    Justin Ducharme
    Aalayna
    Ta’Kaiya Blaney
    https://jasmorgan.com/2020/10/25/sewing-circle-kin-web-series/
    @notvanishing (IG)

    Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:
    1. Why might pronouns work differently in Two-Spirit literature?
    2. What do pronouns have to do with kinship?
    3. How are pronouns connected to animacy?
    4. We speak about pronouns in translation between languages that attach gendered notions to them or not. How might this affect communication? Are pronouns gendered in your favourite language?
    5. What does Jas mean by ‘I am not a metaphor’?
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    41 min
  • “Mixing Pronouns” with Sue Lanser (Queer Forms and Pronouns Series)

    “Mixing Pronouns” with Sue Lanser (Queer Forms and Pronouns Series)
    Mar 31 2026
    Come along for a deep dive into mixed pronouns in queer, trans and nonbinary narratives with none other than Sue Lanser, your favourite narratologist’s favourite narratologist. Sue and I talk about why we might need to rethink the concept of gender disguise narratives, where we find mixed pronouns in literary histories and why mixed pronouns often become sensual in literature. My favourite bit: Sue asks me about my personal hero, the Grinch.

    This conversation is part of a miniseries that accompanies my book Queer Forms and Pronouns: Gender Nonconformity in Anglophone Literature (Oxford University Press, 2026). I hope you like hearing more from your host, but not to worry: we will be back to our usual format in just a few weeks.

    References
    Sue Lanser’s The Sexuality of History
    Sue Lanser’s Narrative Theory Unbound
    Sue Lanser’s “Trans-forming Narratology” Narrative 32.2 (2024)
    Jeanette Winterson’s Written on the Body
    Le Roman de Silence
    Michel de Montaigne’s Journal de Voyage
    Margaret Cavendish’s Assaulted and Pursued Chastity
    Lyly’s Galatea
    Chevalièr(e) d’Éon
    Alex Myers’ Revolutionary
    Deborah Samson
    Jenny Fran Davis’ Dykette
    Isaac Fellman’s Dead Collections
    Spiel, Katta, Os Keyes, and Pınar Barlas. 2019. ‘Patching Gender: Non-Binary Utopias in HCI’. Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, May 2, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1145/3290607.3310425.
    The Grinch
    Dr Seuss
    Jim Carrey
    Benedict Cumberbatch
    Les Feinberg
    Maggie Nelson
    Harry Dodge
    Jen Manion
    Dean Spade

    Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:
    1. What role does narrative agency play in the difference between external and intrinsic pronoun ascription?
    2. Why does Susan suggest that we need to revisit Shakespeare’s and other’s gender disguise narratives?
    3. Susan mentions how characters that are perceived as masculine but use she/her are much more frequently ridiculed than characters viewed as feminine who use he/him. Why do you think that is?
    4. How has feminism expanded what ‘she/her’ can mean?
    5. How does mixing pronouns do similar or different work from singular they?
    6. Why does the Grinch, according to Lena, have big they energy?
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    46 min
  • “Ambiguous Pronouns” with Susan Stryker (Queer Forms and Pronouns Series)

    “Ambiguous Pronouns” with Susan Stryker (Queer Forms and Pronouns Series)
    Mar 17 2026
    It was an incredible honour to have THE Susan Stryker join me for a chat about ambiguous pronouns, trans literature and linguistic creativity. Susan’s wealth of knowledge on pronouns across languages and literary history was incredibly enriching and allowed me to speak about some of my favourite examples of ambiguous pronoun use in literature.

    This conversation is part of a miniseries that accompanies my book Queer Forms and Pronouns: Gender Nonconformity in Anglophone Literature (Oxford University Press, 2026). I hope you like hearing more from your host, but not to worry: we will be back to our usual format in just a few weeks.

    References:
    Susan Stryker’s “My Words to Victor Frankenstein above the Village of Chamounix”
    Susan Stryker’s Transgender History
    Susan Stryker, Stephen Wittle, Aren Aizura (eds) The Transgender Studies Reader
    Susan Stryker’s Changing Gender: The History and Future of a Concept (August 2026)
    Sara Taylor’s The Lauras
    Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s The Sleeping Hermaphrodite (1620)
    Teagan Bradway
    Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer (2019)
    Lal Zimman
    Rivers Solomon
    Aphra Behn’s “To The Fair Clorinda” and “The Widow Ranter”
    Thomas(ine) Hall
    Nathaniel Bacon
    Mel Y. Chen
    Andrea Lawlor’s Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl
    Andrea Gibson’s “Your Life”

    Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:
    1. Which pronouns are ambiguous when it comes to gender in English? Which ones are ambiguous in your first or favourite language?
    2. What creates ambiguity when we use pronouns? How might this ambiguity be productive?
    3. Susan explains why gendered pronouns in English function in an unusual way compared to other languages. What is something new you learned about this?
    4. We speak about why literature can teach us something about pronoun use that we might overlook when focusing on grammar. What is that?
    5. Can you name one of the examples of ambiguous pronoun use in literature we discuss?
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    48 min
  • “Singular They” with Laura Paterson (Queer Forms and Pronouns Series)

    “Singular They” with Laura Paterson (Queer Forms and Pronouns Series)
    Mar 3 2026
    Welcome to a miniseries about gender nonconformity pronouns in literature! In this episode, the amazing linguist Laura Paterson asks me many clever questions about singular they in literature. We talk about the function of pronouns, common misunderstanding about singular they, and neutral versus gender-nonconforming use of this fantastic third person pronoun. Whether you would like reading recommendations (Virginia Woolf, Lamya H, Rae Spoon…) or some insight into what singular they can do in creative and academic writing, this episode might have some answers – or questions – for you.

    References

    Lena Mattheis’ Queer Forms and Pronouns: Gender Nonconformity in Anglophone Literature (Oxford University Press, 2026)
    Laura Paterson (ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Pronouns (Routledge, 2023)
    Anna Livia
    Lamya H’s Hijab Butch Blues (2023)
    Rae Spoon’s Green Glass Ghosts (2021)
    Jeanette Winterson’s Written on the Body (1992)
    Anne Garréta’s Sphinx (1986)
    Charlie Josephine’s I, Joan (2022)
    The Globe
    https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/identity-in-i-joan/
    Kit Heyam
    Laura Paterson and Georgina Turner (eds) Approaches to Discourses of Marriage (Routledge, 2024)
    Lal Zimman

    Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:
    1. What is a pronoun?
    2. How does Lena define gender-nonconformity pronouns?
    3. Why is it relevant whether a narrator comments on pronoun use or not? Which examples does Lena provide?
    4. Which literary texts do Laura and Lena mention? Which one would you like to read and why?
    5. What do Laura and Lena discuss about pronouns in academic writing? Do you have an established practice for this?
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    46 min
  • “Queer Food” with Alex Ketchum and Megan Elias

    “Queer Food” with Alex Ketchum and Megan Elias
    Feb 17 2026
    What is queer food, you ask? Let’s find out! Alex Ketchum and Megan Elias tell me all about the connections between gender and food, cooking and sexuality, and recipes and community. The amazing book Queers at the Table is a product of the queer food conference Alex and Megan ran in 2024 (returning in 2026!) and consists of essays, stories, comics and endlessly inspiring reflections on queer cooking and intellectual inquiry. Lesbian chefs, feminist cafes, queer community cookouts – this episode has them all.

    References:
    Queers at the Table (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2025)
    Alex Ketchum’s Ingredients for Revolution: A History of American Feminist Restaurants, Cafes, and Coffeehouses (Concordia UP, 2022)
    https://press.library.concordia.ca/projects/ingredients-for-revolution (open access)
    Megan Elias’ Food on the Page (Penn Press, 2017)
    Queer Food Conference
    https://www.queerfoodconference.com/
    @queerfoodconference
    Alex Ketchum’s How to Organize Inclusive Events and Conferences (Microcosm, 2026)
    https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/63461
    Alex Ketchum’s Digital Queers and High Tech Gays (MIT Press, 2027)
    @dr.alexketchum
    http://alexketchum.ca
    Alex Ketchum’s Engage in Public Scholarship!: A Guidebook on Feminist and Accessible Communication (Concordia Uni Press, 2022)
    https://press.library.concordia.ca/projects/engage-in-public-scholarship (open access)
    https://www.justfeministtechandscholarshiplab.com/
    Greggor Mattson
    Prism Comics
    Queer Food Foundation
    The Female Glaze
    @thefemaleglaze
    The Nonbinarian Bookstore
    https://thenonbinarian.gay/
    Bishakh Som’s Spellbound
    Cait McKinney’s Information Activism: A Queer History of Lesbian Media Technologies
    The Ripped Bodice
    Casey McQuiston’s The Pairing

    Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:
    1. How do Megan and Alex define queer food?
    2. Megan thinks about what ‘not queer food’ might be and whether we would want to define this. What is your opinion? Is there ‘straight’ food?
    3. How is gender connected to food? Were you surprised by anything we mention?
    4. What connections do Megan and Alex draw between sexuality and food?
    5. Alex and Megan speak a lot about community. Can you name two examples of how community makes food queer?
    6. How might food be linked to queer knowledge production?
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    47 min
  • “Lean Cat, Savage Cat” with Lauren J. Joseph

    “Lean Cat, Savage Cat” with Lauren J. Joseph
    Feb 3 2026
    The incredible author Lauren J. Joseph joins me to talk about her new book Lean Cat, Savage Cat – out on 26 February 2026. Lauren talks about the genre-bending ambiguity of the novel, about characters that have followed her from the stage to the page, and about writing across languages. We touch on the intricacies of first-person narration, but also on what it’s like to write a novel versus writing a PhD.

    References:
    Lauren J. Joseph’s Lean Cat, Savage Cat (2026)
    Lauren J. Joseph’s At Certain Points We Touch (2022)
    Ben Robbins
    Alexander Geist
    David Bowie
    Bryan Ferry
    Morrissey
    Hildegard von Bingen
    Marty Supreme
    Timothée Chalamet
    Essen
    Dortmund
    Karstadt
    KaDeWe
    Romy Haag
    Bowie’s Berlin Trilogy: Low, Heroes, Lodger
    Narcissus and Echo
    Céleste Albaret
    Proust
    American Psycho
    Pedro Lemebel’s My Tender Matador
    Jean Genet
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    38 min
  • “Queer Exiles” with Ben Robbins

    “Queer Exiles” with Ben Robbins
    Jan 20 2026
    From Christopher Isherwood to Djuna Barnes, some of the most prolific queer writers of the 20th century wrote in exile. Ben Robbins joins me to explain how and why queer writers connected with each other in exile and how (in)voluntary movement shaped their stories. Ben shares some surprising encounters from the archives and paints a picture of some of the locations of queer exile: Berlin, Tangier and Capri.

    References:
    Networked Narratives: Queer Exile Literature 1900-1969
    Funded by the Austrian Science Fund/FWF (Project DOI: 10.55776/P35199)
    https://www.uibk.ac.at/projects/networkednarratives/
    Ben Robbins’ “‘Marriages ought to be secret’: Queer Marriages of Convenience and the Exile Narrative” JAAAS: Journal of the Austrian Association for American Studies, vol. 5, no. 1, Dec. 2023, pp. 100–122, https://doi.org/10.47060/jaaas.v5i1.173.
    Networks of Anglophone LGBTQ+ Exile Writers
    http://queerexilelit.uibk.ac.at/ Robbins, Ben, and Ralph J. Poole. "Introduction: Queer Ruralisms." AmLit – American Literatures 4.2 (2024): 4-21.
    Ben Robbins’ Faulkner's Hollywood Novels: Women between Page and Screen (University of Virginia Press 2024) https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/5855/
    Queer Second Cities
    Maria Sulimma
    Ben Robbins’ “Christopher Isherwood in Exile”
    https://www.huntington.org/verso/christopher-isherwood-exile
    Harry Ransom Center
    Bryher (Annie Winifred Ellerman)
    Oscar Wilde
    W. Somerset Maugham
    E.F. Benson
    John Ellingham Brooks
    Romaine Brooks
    John Ellerman
    Robert McAlmon
    Djuna Barnes’ Nightwood
    Natalie Barney
    Christopher Isherwood’s Goodbye to Berlin
    Stephen Spender’s The Temple
    Jane Bowles’ Two Serious Ladies
    W.H. Auden
    Patricia Highsmith
    Allen Ginsberg
    Claude McKay
    Thornton Wilder
    Ben Robbins. "Space, Sexuality, and Thornton Wilder's Villa Rhabani." Thornton Wilder Journal 5:1, November 2024, pp. 99-119. DOI: 10.5325/thorntonwilderj.5.1.0099
    https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/psup/thornton-wilder/article-abstract/5/1/99/392187/Space-Sexuality-and-Thornton-Wilder-s-Villa?redirectedFrom=fulltext
    Open access: https://ulb-dok.uibk.ac.at/urn/urn:nbn:at:at-ubi:3-40689
    William Burroughs’ Naked Lunch
    Alfred Chester’s Looking for Genet: Literary Essays and Reviews
    Susan Sontag
    Gore Vidal
    Henry James
    Truman Capote

    Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:
    1. How does Ben define ‘exile’? How is this similar to and different from ‘expat’?
    2. How does exile relate to class status and financial means?
    3. Why are queer networks so important in this context?
    4. What does Ben say about exile and (involuntary) movement affecting narrative form?
    5. How do you find out where you can safely travel?
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    47 min
  • Queer Lit on Amplified

    Queer Lit on Amplified
    Jan 6 2026
    Time for a cross-over! I had the absolute pleasure on being invited to join the Amplified network and appear on their superb podcast. Here is our episode and Amplified's show notes:

    "Amplified is an audio blog series about the sounds of scholarship from our team here at the Amplify Podcast Network. This month on Amplified, Stacey Copeland and Hannah McGregor are joined by Lena Mattheis to kick off a brand new series featuring the latest additions to our sustained cohort of podcasters. Lena is the creator and host of Queer Lit, a podcast about LGBTQIA2S+* literature and culture. In this conversation, we reflect on podcasting as a tool for community building and queer scholarly practice, tracing how Queer Lit emerged from Lena's teaching practice and a commitment to accessible feminist and queer knowledge creation."
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    24 min