Author Dean Atta on his favourite book of the year: ‘It made me reflect on the inner child and how formative our youth is’
In association with Audible
By James Hodge
Dean Atta, celebrated poet and author of The Black Flamingo, has shared with Attitude his reflections on the books that have profoundly influenced his life and writing.
Atta, whose work has received widespread acclaim, is a significant voice in young adult literature, particularly for his explorations of identity and queerness. The Black Flamingo was honoured with the Stonewall Book Award and shortlisted for the prestigious CILIP Carnegie Medal.
In this exclusive interview, the author also delves into the literature that has inspired his storytelling, offering insights into the works that resonate with his experiences and perspectives.
We also share our picks of our best recent reads, as well as our current favourite audiobook available on Audible.
Which writer did you learn most about your racial identity from?
Maya Angelou. She offers an African-American female perspective on America, standing up for not just herself, but for the oppressed, with steely determination.
Which YA novel impressed you?
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo. It’s a stunning verse novel that inspired Only on the Weekends. The directness of the language cuts to the heart of the issues it explores — including a moving secondary storyline about a gay twin — but is also highly emotive.
A work that portrayed bodies in a memorable way?
Hunger by Roxane Gay, a memoir. She speaks so frankly about body issues: eating, weight, a general lack of self-love, and how she has come to accept herself. We use the body as a lens to look at life, and she writes frankly, unflinchingly, with a punch.
What is your favourite portrayal of a drag queen in literature?
There’s a brilliant novel by Neil Bartlett called Ready to Catch Him Should He Fall. Madame, the mother of the club, is a goddess who pulls the strings of the community and looks after the men. She’s the timeless drag queen archetype.
Which poem can you recite from memory?
Two Black Boys in Paradise — one of my own — about two queer lovers in the Garden of Eden, exploring what’s possible in a world without society’s pressure and expectations, without homophobia, without racism, without a need for traditional masculinity.
The best book you’ve read this year?
Grow When They Fall by Michael Doncor. It’s the story of a queer man that simultaneously explores his childhood and later life — you see how the boy becomes the man. It made me reflect on the inner child and how formative our youth is — how it shapes the people we become.
Recommended reading…
Attitude shares our best recent reads, alongside our current favourite Audible audiobook.
The House of Hidden Meanings by RuPaul Charles (Out now in paperback)
We all love the iconic supermodel of the world, RuPaul, but who is the man behind the drag? Following Guru, the icon dives back in time, recounting his journey from humble beginnings in San Diego to his club kid career in New York to the drag queen supreme of today. Two things are striking about this read. Firstly, the reality of his trajectory that ends in Drag Race highs has also been a litany of challenging lows, highlighting Charles’ steely resilient streak. Secondly, the biting persona that reads the house down boots here reveals a gentler, more sentimental man whose meditations on life will inspire any reader.
Cecilia by K-Ming Chang (Out now in paperback)
Cecilia, it is fair to say, is one of the weirdest novels that I have read in a long time. It’s an intriguing tale of obsession, charting protagonist Seven’s fascination with the subversive and volatile Cecilia. As an immigrant, Seven struggles to find a place for herself in the world of the great American West, but a chance encounter with the rebellious Cecilia takes her on a strange journey through our heroine’s life. Touched by magical realism and clearly influenced by the folklore of the author Chang’s upbringing, this novel is at once strange and erotic, with the pairing’s charged relationship leading to gripping consequences.
AUDIO BOOK PICK
Anyone’s Ghost by August Thompson (Out now on Audible and in hardback)
“It took three car crashes to kill Jake,” begins August Thompson’s moving debut coming-of-age novel.
During the long summer break in New Hampshire, stoner and loner 15-year-old Theron is adrift from life. Forced to get a job, he then has a beautiful encounter with Jake — a cool, swaggering musician just a year older than him. This changes the course of his destiny, one that the reader knows from the very beginning will end in tragedy with Jake’s death.
Charting the course of a doomed friendship, Thompson explores the power of male intimacy and the complexity of sexuality in modern American society, demonstrating how the most chance encounters can change our future entirely and shape our relationship with the world around us — for better or for worse. As asserted by American novelist Jonathan Safran Foer, “This novel will make you cry”, and the audiobook, so tenderly read by Lee Osorio, even more so.
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