Edge of the World
An Anthology of Queer Travel Writing
In the intrepid, intimate essays of Edge of the World, edited by Alden Jones, travel engenders realizations about self, society, and the value of queer community.
Sixteen authors of diverse sexual orientations and genders contrast here and there and then and now as they narrate sensory memories and personal epiphanies. Genevieve Hudson embarked on a project of queering Dutch fairy tales in Amsterdam. In Ukraine with the Peace Corps, Garrard Conley was confused by his tutee’s combination of macho posturing and easy intimacy. Nicole Shawan Junior toggled between an ongoing custody battle with their wife and a pilgrimage to their motherland, Senegal.
In these pieces, time abroad sparks clarity. Andrew Ellis Evans refers to travel as a “litmus test” for a partnership. Such was the case for Alexander Chee when his boyfriend cheated in Granada; Zoë Sprankle’s first love proved doomed despite a tryst in Paris. And “we always spot our kind when we travel,” and there’s power in queer solidarity, whether one is in Berlin or Key West.
Alex Marzano-Lesnevich moved to New Orleans, then Canada, while coming to terms with queerness. And KB Brookins, disillusioned with the homogeneity of US Pride movements, rejoiced in a more inclusive march in Mexico. Secrecy and code-switching are also recurring elements. Cuban American women grapple with their traditional parents’ expectations; Evans and his husband encountered prudish hoteliers worldwide. Returning to Cambodia for a reunion, Putsata Reang could not tell her extended family about her wife. Denne Michele Norris panicked when a road-trip rest stop forced a gendered bathroom choice.
“We travel to see ourselves from the outside,” Reang writes—to gain perspective on relationships and political realities. Edge of the World is a stellar anthology of miniature travelogues that are as illuminating about identity as they are about the places they feature.
Reviewed by
Rebecca Foster
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
