*Photograph of Genevieve Hudson by Thomas Teal*

Genevieve Hudson, the author of the novel Boys of Alabama, short story collection Pretend We Live Here: Stories, and memoir-hybrid A Little in Love with Everyone shares their recommended reading list.

Genevieve Hudson is an American writer. They’re the author of the novel Boys of Alabama which O, The Oprah Magazine, Lit Hub, and Ms. Magazine selected as a recommended book to read in 2020; the short story collection Pretend We Live Here, which was a LAMBDA Literary Award finalist; and the memoir-hybrid A Little in Love with Everyone. They have received fellowships from the Fulbright Program, The MacDowell Colony, Caldera Arts, and The Vermont Studio Center. They live in Portland, OR. Follow them on Twitter @genhudson and Instagram @gkhudson

Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison

“Dorothy Allison is my most beloved Southern writer, and one of my greatest influences. This novel will devastate you. It's a story about a girl named Bone growing up in rural South Carolina trying to survive her family. Interested in the beauty and terror of the south? Start here.”

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

“A study in obsession and secrecy. David is in Paris to outrun himself but what he finds instead is Giovanni. It combines two of my favorite literary topics: American expats living in Europe and tormented gay love.”

Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson

“A novel-in-verse, this book respins the myth of Geryon, where a young boy with red wings falls in love with the half-god Herakles. Every line is astonishing. Queer infatuation and love triangles between monsters and gods? Count me in.”

What It Is by Lynda Barry

“Lynda Barry is a national treasure, and it’s one of my great regrets that I haven’t taken a class with her in person. She’s stoked my growing interest in the connection between writing and drawing. Thankfully, she has a series of instruction manuals on creativity (like this one!) that push and prompt readers to develop habits and practices around reflection, idea generation, and making things up. Part workbook, part prayer.”

When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities by Chen Chen

“Within a single poem (sometimes even within a single line), Chen will make you laugh and break your heart. I could read this collection all day long. It's like drinking the juiciest pink smoothie under the warmth of the sun. Pure perfection! His poems hit all the high notes of my soul.”

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

“I wrote a book about this book. Bechdel tells the story of her own coming out in the wake of her closeted father’s death. Fun Home is an archive of queer desire and a reminder of the power storytelling has to shift culture and create possibility. Sometimes visibility really is a matter of life and death.”