Whether you picked up this book because you identify as LGBTQ+, or because you’re having a think about your identity, or because you’re one of the millions of friendly allies we absolutely rely on to coexist in a very heteronormative, cisgender society, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I really hope you enjoy these stories, poems and pictures.

I’m proud of you.

Juno Dawson

August 2018

INTRODUCTION

The theme of pride is all encompassing – whether it’s pride in an achievement or pride in who you are. Every teen has something to be proud of. Each writer in this collection has interpreted the theme in their own way, and the resulting work ranges from advice on ‘How to Come Out as Gay’ by poet Dean Atta, to two girls in a graffiti-strewn Dublin in ‘Love Poem to the City’ by Moïra Fowley-Doyle, to a celebration of diverse voices working together in David Levithan’s ‘As the Philadelphia Queer Youth Choir Sings Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’…’, surely a metaphor for this anthology itself?

The stories are funny – see Cameron attempting to come out to his parents in Simon James Green’s ‘Penguins’ – and moving: Tanya Byrne’s character Orla, in ‘Almost Certain’, struggles with anxiety. They are thought-provoking, for instance ‘The Instructor’ by Jess Vallance, and engender a sense of camaraderie, as in ‘The Courage of Dragons’ by Fox Benwell. And all show – as Caroline Bird’s poem ‘Dive Bar’ captures perfectly – that pride is an incredibly important and deeply personal feeling.

Once more, we have commissioned four debut voices. Each story is fabulously individual. From a lesbian retelling of Pride and Prejudice (Karen Lawler’s ‘I Hate Darcy Pemberley’) to a ragtag football team supporting their trans star player (Michael Lee Richardson’s ‘The Other Team’); from a couple escaping their background in a Travelodge (Kay Staples’ ‘On the Run’), to a world where a Chinese lantern-maker has to choose between the Emperor and her friend (Cynthia So’s ‘The Phoenix’s Fault’), they all resonate with pride.

We hope you enjoy these stories and the accompanying art. It has been a joy to work on this anthology.

Rachel Boden

Acting Editorial Director, Stripes Publishing

There is a true wealth of creative talent in the LGBTQ+ community, which made putting together a longlist of artists for this anthology a real joy. Reducing our longlist to just twelve was a little trickier.

Some pairings presented themselves quite quickly – the vibrancy of Kameron White’s work finds harmony with Karen’s Lawler’s bold storytelling, and the closeness and south-coast tones of Tanya Byrne’s and Frank Duffy’s work felt a natural fit. Other combinations were maybe less obvious, like David Roberts turning his hand to Michael Lee Richardson’s footballers, or Priyanka Meenakshi’s dramatic accompaniment to the quiet colour of Cynthia So’s world.

The range of art styles in the anthology is intended as a small reflection of the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community, but beyond that our artists were encouraged to respond to the stories in a way that illustrates their personal readings. All of their responses to the stories have made the experience a richer one for us, and, I hope, for you, the reader.