“Ambiguous Pronouns” with Susan Stryker (Queer Forms and Pronouns Series)

It was an incredible honour to have THE Susan Stryker join me for a chat about ambiguous pronouns, trans literature and linguistic creativity. Susan’s wealth of knowledge on pronouns across languages and literary history was incredibly enriching and allowed me to speak about some of my favourite examples of ambiguous pronoun use in literature.This conversation is part of a miniseries that accompanies my book Queer Forms and Pronouns: Gender Nonconformity in Anglophone Literature (Oxford University Press, 2026). I hope you like hearing more from your host, but not to worry: we will be back to our usual format in just a few weeks.  References:Susan Stryker’s “My Words to Victor Frankenstein above the Village of Chamounix”Susan Stryker’s Transgender HistorySusan Stryker, Stephen Wittle, Aren Aizura (eds) The Transgender Studies ReaderSusan Stryker’s Changing Gender: The History and Future of a Concept (August 2026)Sara Taylor’s The LaurasGian Lorenzo Bernini’s The Sleeping Hermaphrodite (1620)Teagan BradwayMaia Kobabe’s Gender Queer (2019)Lal ZimmanRivers SolomonAphra Behn’s “To The Fair Clorinda” and “The Widow Ranter”Thomas(ine) HallNathaniel BaconMel Y. ChenAndrea Lawlor’s Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal GirlAndrea Gibson’s “Your Life”  Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:     Which pronouns are ambiguous when it comes to gender in English? Which ones are ambiguous in your first or favourite language?     What creates ambiguity when we use pronouns? How might this ambiguity be productive?     Susan explains why gendered pronouns in English function in an unusual way compared to other languages. What is something new you learned about this?     We speak about why literature can teach us something about pronoun use that we might overlook when focusing on grammar. What is that?     Can you name one of the examples of ambiguous pronoun use in literature we discuss?      

Welcome to a miniseries about gender nonconformity pronouns in literature! In this episode, the amazing linguist Laura Paterson asks me many clever questions about singular they in literature. We talk about the function of pronouns, common misunderstanding about singular they, and neutral versus gender-nonconforming use of this fantastic third person pronoun. Whether you would like reading recommendations (Virginia Woolf, Lamya H, Rae Spoon…) or some insight into what singular they can do in creative and academic writing, this episode might have some answers – or questions – for you.  ReferencesLena Mattheis’ Queer Forms and Pronouns: Gender Nonconformity in Anglophone Literature (Oxford University Press, 2026)Laura Paterson (ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Pronouns (Routledge, 2023)Anna LiviaLamya H’s Hijab Butch Blues (2023)Rae Spoon’s Green Glass Ghosts (2021)Jeanette Winterson’s Written on the Body (1992)Anne Garréta’s Sphinx (1986)Charlie Josephine’s I, Joan (2022)The Globehttps://www.shakespearesglobe.com/identity-in-i-joan/Kit HeyamLaura Paterson and Georgina Turner (eds) Approaches to Discourses of Marriage (Routledge, 2024)Lal Zimman  Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:    What is a pronoun?    How does Lena define gender-nonconformity pronouns?    Why is it relevant whether a narrator comments on pronoun use or not? Which examples does Lena provide?    Which literary texts do Laura and Lena mention? Which one would you like to read and why?    What do Laura and Lena discuss about pronouns in academic writing? Do you have an established practice for this?

What is queer food, you ask? Let’s find out! Alex Ketchum and Megan Elias tell me all about the connections between gender and food, cooking and sexuality, and recipes and community. The amazing book Queers at the Table is a product of the queer food conference Alex and Megan ran in 2024 (returning in 2026!) and consists of essays, stories, comics and endlessly inspiring reflections on queer cooking and intellectual inquiry. Lesbian chefs, feminist cafes, queer community cookouts – this episode has them all.  References:Queers at the Table (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2025)Alex Ketchum’s Ingredients for Revolution: A History of American Feminist Restaurants, Cafes, and Coffeehouses (Concordia UP, 2022)https://press.library.concordia.ca/projects/ingredients-for-revolution (open access)Megan Elias’ Food on the Page (Penn Press, 2017)Queer Food Conferencehttps://www.queerfoodconference.com/@queerfoodconferenceAlex Ketchum’s How to Organize Inclusive Events and Conferences (Microcosm, 2026)https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/63461Alex Ketchum’s Digital Queers and High Tech Gays (MIT Press, 2027)@dr.alexketchumhttp://alexketchum.caAlex Ketchum’s Engage in Public Scholarship!: A Guidebook on Feminist and Accessible Communication (Concordia Uni Press, 2022)https://press.library.concordia.ca/projects/engage-in-public-scholarship (open access)https://www.justfeministtechandscholarshiplab.com/Greggor MattsonPrism ComicsQueer Food FoundationThe Female Glaze@thefemaleglazeThe Nonbinarian Bookstorehttps://thenonbinarian.gay/Bishakh Som’s SpellboundCait McKinney’s Information Activism: A Queer History of Lesbian Media TechnologiesThe Ripped BodiceCasey McQuiston’s The Pairing  Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:     How do Megan and Alex define queer food?     Megan thinks about what ‘not queer food’ might be and whether we would want to define this. What is your opinion? Is there ‘straight’ food?     How is gender connected to food? Were you surprised by anything we mention?     What connections do Megan and Alex draw between sexuality and food?     Alex and Megan speak a lot about community. Can you name two examples of how community makes food queer?     How might food be linked to queer knowledge production?

The incredible author Lauren J. Joseph joins me to talk about her new book Lean Cat, Savage Cat – out on 26 February 2026. Lauren talks about the genre-bending ambiguity of the novel, about characters that have followed her from the stage to the page, and about writing across languages. We touch on the intricacies of first-person narration, but also on what it’s like to write a novel versus writing a PhD.  References:Lauren J. Joseph’s Lean Cat, Savage Cat (2026)Lauren J. Joseph’s At Certain Points We Touch (2022)Ben RobbinsAlexander GeistDavid BowieBryan FerryMorrisseyHildegard von BingenMarty SupremeTimothée ChalametEssenDortmundKarstadtKaDeWeRomy HaagBowie’s Berlin Trilogy: Low, Heroes, LodgerNarcissus and EchoCéleste AlbaretProustAmerican PsychoPedro Lemebel’s My Tender MatadorJean Genet

From Christopher Isherwood to Djuna Barnes, some of the most prolific queer writers of the 20th century wrote in exile. Ben Robbins joins me to explain how and why queer writers connected with each other in exile and how (in)voluntary movement shaped their stories. Ben shares some surprising encounters from the archives and paints a picture of some of the locations of queer exile: Berlin, Tangier and Capri.  References:Networked Narratives: Queer Exile Literature 1900-1969Funded by the Austrian Science Fund/FWF (Project DOI: 10.55776/P35199)  https://www.uibk.ac.at/projects/networkednarratives/Ben Robbins’ “‘Marriages ought to be secret’: Queer Marriages of Convenience and the Exile Narrative” JAAAS: Journal of the Austrian Association for American Studies, vol. 5, no. 1, Dec. 2023, pp. 100–122, https://doi.org/10.47060/jaaas.v5i1.173.Networks of Anglophone LGBTQ+ Exile Writershttp://queerexilelit.uibk.ac.at/ Robbins, Ben, and Ralph J. Poole. "Introduction: Queer Ruralisms." AmLit – American Literatures 4.2 (2024): 4-21.Ben Robbins’ Faulkner's Hollywood Novels: Women between Page and Screen (University of Virginia Press 2024) https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/5855/Queer Second CitiesMaria SulimmaBen Robbins’ “Christopher Isherwood in Exile” https://www.huntington.org/verso/christopher-isherwood-exileHarry Ransom CenterBryher (Annie Winifred Ellerman)Oscar WildeW. Somerset MaughamE.F. BensonJohn Ellingham BrooksRomaine BrooksJohn EllermanRobert McAlmonDjuna Barnes’ NightwoodNatalie BarneyChristopher Isherwood’s Goodbye to BerlinStephen Spender’s The TempleJane Bowles’ Two Serious LadiesW.H. AudenPatricia HighsmithAllen GinsbergClaude McKayThornton WilderBen Robbins. "Space, Sexuality, and Thornton Wilder's Villa Rhabani." Thornton Wilder Journal 5:1, November 2024, pp. 99-119. DOI: 10.5325/thorntonwilderj.5.1.0099 https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/psup/thornton-wilder/article-abstract/5/1/99/392187/Space-Sexuality-and-Thornton-Wilder-s-Villa?redirectedFrom=fulltextOpen access: https://ulb-dok.uibk.ac.at/urn/urn:nbn:at:at-ubi:3-40689William Burroughs’ Naked LunchAlfred Chester’s Looking for Genet: Literary Essays and ReviewsSusan SontagGore VidalHenry JamesTruman Capote  Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:     How does Ben define ‘exile’? How is this similar to and different from ‘expat’?     How does exile relate to class status and financial means?     Why are queer networks so important in this context?     What does Ben say about exile and (involuntary) movement affecting narrative form?     How do you find out where you can safely travel?

Time for a cross-over! I had the absolute pleasure on being invited to join the Amplified network and appear on their superb podcast. Here is our episode and Amplified's show notes:"Amplified is an audio blog series about the sounds of scholarship from our team here at the Amplify Podcast Network. This month on Amplified, Stacey Copeland and Hannah McGregor are joined by Lena Mattheis to kick off a brand new series featuring the latest additions to our sustained cohort of podcasters. Lena is the creator and host of Queer Lit, a podcast about LGBTQIA2S+* literature and culture. In this conversation, we reflect on podcasting as a tool for community building and queer scholarly practice, tracing how Queer Lit emerged from Lena's teaching practice and a commitment to accessible feminist and queer knowledge creation."

What is the queerest thing you did this year? Listen to the festive special to find out how queer our guests and listeners made 2025!References:Liz BreslinHow To Read podcasthttps://www.howtoreadpodcast.com/elaine-auyoung-one-sided-relationships/Queer Forms and Pronouns: Gender Nonconformity in Anglophone Literature (OUP, March 2026)https://global.oup.com/academic/product/queer-forms-and-pronouns-9780198974116?q=lena%20mattheis&lang=en&cc=gbSusan StrykerLouise Siddons’ Good Pictures Are A Strong Weaponhttps://www.upress.umn.edu/9781517910730/good-pictures-are-a-strong-weapon/Category is Books (Glasgow)Lighthouse Books (Edinburgh)The Bookish Type (Leeds)Kit HeyamRoyal Vauxhall TavernAll Of Us StrangersNick CherrymanEuropean Gay Ski WeekOliver Slate-Green’s The Way Blood TravelsLeah DavidsonListenqueer.co.ukOut and WildLeilah KingCoast is QueerJack GiesekingOur Dyke Histories podcastJulie EnszerLesbian Lives Sinister WisdomThe Essential Poems of Pat Parker (The 87 Press)Caro de Robertis’ The Palace of ErosJoelle Taylor’s MaryvilleAlison Bechdel’s SpentAllan Johnson https://thisisallan.medium.com/elf-and-safety-2b061323dbc1Flora Johnson’s Christopher Popinkins

What is the queerest thing you did this year? Listen to the festive special to find out how queer our guests and listeners made 2025!   References: Happiest Season Kristen Stewart Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid Joe Jukes https://www.hiss.sydney/ Virginia Gay’s Cyrano Qtopia Sydney Queer Britain @guildfordgaybookclub New House Art Space (Guildford) Juno Dawson’s Stay Another Day Layla McCay’s The Queer Bookshelf: A Reader’s Guide (June 2026) Libro.fm Pillion Arzner @Arznercinema  

Share the queerest thing you did this year by 6 December to be featured on the end-of-year special and for the chance to win a special gift (if you are based in the UK). Send an email or voice recording to [email protected] by 6 December.I can't wait to hear from you!

Medusa, Medea, Artemis… we’ve all heard their stories before but what do they sound like when not told by (or centred on) men? Mara Gold, the sapphic scholar, is here to tell us all about these figures and about how there is always more than one side to a story and more than one reading to a myth. Come for the lesbian legends, stay for the witty witches and follow us @queerlitpodcast and @sapphic_scholar.  ReferencesMara Gold’s Ancient Myths and Legends Without Men (2025)Mara Gold’s “Rebels Against the Tyranny of Men’: Women Performing Greek Comedy in Early Twentieth-Century Britain” in Women Creating Classics (2025) https://mara-gold.com/@sapphic_scholarBeyond the Binary Pitt Rivers Museumhttps://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/beyond-the-binaryAshmolean MuseumRebellious Bodies audio tour https://app.smartify.org/en-GB/tours/ashmolean-rebellious-bodies-tour?utm_campaign=ashmoleansmartifywebpage&utm_medium=webpagelink&utm_source=ashmoleanwebsite&utm_content=rebelliousbodiestourSmartifyHélène Cixous’ “The Laugh of the Medusa” (1975)Femme fataleGorgonsApotropaic figureAthenaHeraNatalie Haynes’ Stone BlindMadeleine Miller’s CirceRosie HewlettPat BarkerMadeleine Miller’s CirceSirensOdysseyDurham CastleHans Christian AndersenSelkieDemeterPenelopeMedeaMaenadDionysusBacchusTrue BloodAmazonAtalantaNataly BarneyLesbos-en-SeineArtemisDouble Slicehttps://doubleslice.studio/ActaeonCallistoZeusAphroditeJasonArgonautsGlauceSuranne JonesDoctor FosterGentleman JackChildren of Srikandi (2012)Hector and HephaestusRadical Book FairLighthouse Books EdinburghThe Bookish TypeCaper bookshopThe MagiciansPersephoneCassandra  Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:     What is sapphism?     What is classical reception? How is this relevant to Mara’s work?     What are the archetypes that Mara uses to structure the book? Which one are you most interested in and why?     What does Mara say about Srikandi and Srikandi’s role in LGBTQIA+ activism in Indonesia?     How can we draw on ancient myths for queer activism today? What does Mara say about this? What are your thoughts?     Do you have a favourite figure from mythology or legends?