Lit fest The Coast is Queer returns in 2021 with Stuart and McDermid

Douglas Stuart, the 2020 Booker Prize winner, is among confirmed speakers for Brighton & Hove’s LGBTQ+ literature festival, The Coast is Queer, which returns in digital form from 5th-7th February 2021.

In its second year following its successful inaugural year in 2019, the programme of events brings together writers, performers, academics, activists and readers, for a weekend of in-conversation events, workshops, films and discussions celebrating queer lives and writing. It will also be possible to buy and browse the festival’s "virtual bookshelf", curated by Brighton and Hove’s largest independent bookshop City Books.

Alongside Stuart, the winner of the 2020 Booker Prize for his debut Shuggie Bain, author speakers include Val McDermid, Juno Dawson and Golnoosh Nour (all pictured below), as well as Alan Hollinghurst, Valerie Mason-John, Tanaka Mhishi and Maria Jastrzƒôbska. Phyll Opuku, executive director for UK Black Pride, is expected to attend also, and other guests are to be confirmed soon.

The inaugural Coast Is Queer festival ran in September 2019 and was attended by more than 1,000 people, featuring 40 writer speakers over a period of four days in Brighton.

It is a collaboration between New Writing South and Marlborough Productions, and is funded by Arts Council England, with additional support from the University of Sussex and the University of Brighton.

Further details can be found on the festival's website.