It was lovely to chat with everyone at the A Festival of Dangerous Ideas: Queer Hedge School Event on December 16, 2020!
Click here to watch the recording of the event.
Below you will find some useful links to further reading and resources on steampunk and LGBTQ+ identities.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any follow-up questions.
What is Steampunk?
“Histoire des ballons et des aéronautes célèbres (1887) (pg. 34) https://flic.kr/p/ouQDi2
First named by K. W. Jeter in 1987, steampunk, a subgenre of science fiction and fantasy in which alternate histories of the nineteenth century dramatically reshape the past, present, and future, has become increasingly popular in mainstream culture as both a literary genre and a fan subculture, to the point that one can now purchase mass-produced steampunk costumes from most American party shops.
As an alternate history genre, steampunk literature builds its worlds by answering the “what if?” question of science fiction and fantasy; it does so by tweaking nineteenth-century history and literature and engaging with cultural discourses of the day.
Here are the slides from my presentation:
Madame Askew & the Grand Arbiter
Click here to visit madameaskew.com
Photo by Paul Davis
Madame Askew and the Grand Arbiter met at a fixed point in time, during a small birthday fête for a mutual friend. In that instant, the two time travelers realized they had met their essential other. The universe shifted forever, and they have been happily traveling, performing, and creating art together ever since.
For over 10 linear earth-years, they and the delightful members of the Temporal Entourage have enjoyed adventures across time and space and hope you will join them.
They delighted us with the game of Compliment Dueling, and there was much flummoxing with joy! Here are the rules to game for your own gaming adventures:
- Compliment Dueling: The Grand Yorkshire Assembly of 1882* for the Order of the Most Glorious Confederation of Compliment Duellists (the basic rules)
- Compliment Dueling: Appendix of Foibles
- Compliment Dueling: Notes for New Judges
Follow Madame Askew & the Grand Arbiter on social media!
Lisa Hager’s Writing on Steampunk & Victorian Queer & Transgender Identities
Invited Blog Posts
- Queer Cogs: Steampunk, Gender Identity, and Sexuality (Tor.com)
- Steampunk and the Academy; or it really is a clockwork universe, my dear Victorianists (The Journal of Victorian Culture Online)
- Roundtable on Paul St George’s Telectroscope (The Journal of Victorian Culture Online)
Academic Articles and Book Chapters
Harper’s New Monthly Magazine. Vol. 21 June-November 1860 (pg. 196) https://flic.kr/p/oeSwdE
- “A Case for a Trans Studies Turn in Victorian Studies: ‘Female Husbands’ of the Nineteenth Century.” Victorian Review, vol. 44, no. 1, 2018, pp. 37-54. (click here to download for free!)
. - “The Alchemy of Aether: Steampunk as Reading Practice in Karina Cooper’s Tarnished and Gilded.” Like Clockwork: Steampunk Pasts, Presents, and Futures, edited by Rachel A. Bowser and Brian Croxall, University of Minnesota Press, 2016, pp. 179-197.
. - “Steampunk Technologies of Gender: Deryn Sharp’s Non-Binary Gender Identity in Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan Series.” Virtual Victorians: Networks, Connections, Technologies, edited by Veronica Alfano and Andrew Stauffer, Palgrave Macmillan, 2015, pp. 215-229.
. - “Aiming to Misbehave at the Boundary between the Human and the Machine: The Queer Steampunk Ecology of Joss Whedon’s Firefly and Serenity.” The Philosophy of Joss Whedon, edited by Dean Kowalski and Evan Kreider, University Press of Kentucky, 2011, pp. 182-193.
Steampunk Literature & Blogs
From “St. Nicholas” (1873) https://flic.kr/p/ow58BR
If you are interested in reading some steampunk literature or learning more about steampunk in general, the suggestions below will give you a good sense of steampunk from a variety of voices. The reading list from my International Steampunk Literature and Culture class may also be of interest to you.
Please note that I have put an asterisk (*) next to the books that I have read and can personal recommend.
Short Story Anthologies
- (*) Goh, Jaymee and Joyce Chng. The Sea Is Ours: Tales from Steampunk Southeast Asia. Rosarium Publishing, 2015.
- (*) Hans, Sarah. Steampunk World. Alliteration Ink, 2014.
- (*) Vanderhooft, JoSelle. Steam-Powered: Lesbian Steampunk Stories. Torquere Press, 2011.
- (*) VanderMeer, Ann and Jeff, Eds. Steampunk. Tachyon Press, 2008. (and subsequent volumes of this anthology)
“Frost & fire : natural engines, tool-marks & chips : with sketches taken at home and abroad by a traveller” (1863) (pg. 14) https://flic.kr/p/oeXchp
Novels
- Bear, Elizabeth. Karen Memory. Tor Books, 2016.
- (*) Carriger, Gail. Soulless. (first book of the Parasol Protectorate series; her other series are very queer and very delightful)
- (*) Clark, P. Djèlí. The Black God’s Drums. Tor Books, 2018.
- (*) Cooper, Karina. Tarnished. Avon, 2012. (first book of the St. Croix Chronicles series)
- (*) Bruchac, Joseph. Killer of Enemies. Tu Books, 2013. (steampunk adjacent)
- Ford, Rhys. Clockwork Tangerine. Dreamspinner Press, 2014.
- Hall, Alexis. Prosperity. 2018. (first book of the Prosperity series)
- Ottoman, EE. A Matter of Disagreement. 2018. (Mechanical Universe #1)
- Shawl, Nisi. Everfair. Tor Books, 2016.
- Sim, Tara. Timekeeper. Sky Pony Press, 2016. (first book of the Timekeeper trilogy)
- (*) Westerfield, Scott. Leviathan. Simon Pulse, 2009. (first book of the Leviathan trilogy)
Related Book Lists
Blogs & Online Periodicals
- Airship Ambassador: http://www.airshipambassador.com/
- Beyond Victoriana: A Multicultural Perspective on Steampunk: http://beyondvictoriana.com/
- Journal of Neo-Victorian Studies: http://www.neovictorianstudies.com/
- Silver Goggles: http://silver-goggles.blogspot.com/
- Steampunk Chronicle: http://www.steampunkchronicle.com/
- Steampunk Magazine: http://www.steampunkmagazine.com/
- Steampunk Scholar: http://steampunkscholar.blogspot.com/
- Steampunk Week 2011 at Tor.com: http://www.tor.com/features/series/steampunk-week