February Queer Book of the Month: Queer Country Crossroads as Edited by Mabe Kyle (they/them)

Sydney Goodwin: Stratford-Perth Pride

Queer Country Crossroads, edited by Mabe Kyle (they/them), is an anthology that compiles short stories, and poetry from various Queer authors all throughout Canada. This anthology beautifully showcases what life is like to live in rural Canada through the lens of 50 authors and 60 pieces in a mixture of poetry and short stories. The pieces are divided up into 6 sections: Coming of age/Growing up, Love, Multimedia works, Pain and Isolation, Resilience and Community, and Home, making each piece flow perfectly into the next, and all having similar, overarching themes depending on the section they are a part of.

This anthology gets into the truth of what it’s like to live as a queer individual in rural Canada, the difficulties and hardships that come along with feeling like you’re alone in how you feel. Kyle wanted to make sure they provided a blend of hopeful, loving stories, and more difficult times in people's lives.

The project overall took two years to complete, it was a very interesting process, connecting with all of the authors. Kyle wanted to make sure they got a wide range of queer voices, reaching nearly every single province and territory in all of Canada, and ages ranging from 17-70. When they wrote the introduction, Kyle was at a very vulnerable spot in their life, after the death of a person who had worked closely with Kyle during the creation of this book, and their story included in the piece, Kyle wanted to make sure their friend’s story was heard.

Queer Country Crossroads can be purchased at many local bookstores, or can be borrowed to read from the Stratford-Perth Pride Centre