Kalmus, Sage (ed.) Hashtag Queer LGBTQ+ Creative Anthology Vol. 3. Qommunicate Publishing. 2019. $16.99. 230p. PB. ISBN 978-1-946952-25-7
The third volume of Hashtag Queer delivers fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and scripts written by and/or about LGBTQ+ people and their lives. This anthology includes stories focused on different queer identities, the connection between different generations of queer folx, cultural progress towards acceptance of queer identities, and ends with a powerful story about unconditional love and care for queer children who are trying to find their place in the community and the world.
There is a thread of magic woven throughout many of the works. This magical realism allows us to paint “new worlds similar enough to our own for us to see ourselves in them yet different enough to describe the indescribable, convey the inconceivable, reveal the unfamiliar in the familiar” (p. iv). Just as magical realism allows us to expand our understanding of the world, the layout of this anthology does as well. The layout of the book is unique, having the table of contents organized by type of work written, rather than the order they appear in the book. If read like a traditional book, the layout of the works encourages the reader to expand their literary consumption from perhaps non-fiction, to scripts or poetry.
This book is recommended for anyone interested in stories focused on the queer experience, or written by queer authors.
