Queer Books

Join us at Bishops & Brews by Yas Queen! Chess Club for a relaxed Sunday afternoon of chess over a cup of tea! Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned pro, come hang out with us and enjoy some friendly games of chess in a queer friendly space. We are generously supported by ODAC/Old Diorama Arts Centre/@olddiorama, our fantastic venue near Euston/Warren Street station. More about us on yasqueen.uk Instagram yasqueen.chessclub Yas Queen! Code of Conduct: We are an LGBTQ+ club. All allies are welcome. We reserve the right to exclude anyone from our events in case of any behaviour (at our events or otherwise) which does not support our aim of creating a safe space for LGBTQ+ club members.

**Level up mentally and physically** Join our growing community this Sunday. * Storm leads a bespoke yoga session from 11am. * AnnieV guides the group through another literature roundup, with readings and writing challenges from 1pm. First time entry free / £15 cash on the door / Advance tickets [here](https://btcpay.btc.aw/apps/rvvVwGSSSiJ7UgtzjmBdxy1Uq6a/pos "https://btcpay.btc.aw/apps/rvvVwGSSSiJ7UgtzjmBdxy1Uq6a/pos") No unsolicited photograhy. Stay humble.

Join us for our monthly Sunday group walk in Lesnes Abbey Woods! Enjoy some fresh air, beautiful surroundings, and get to know other LGBTQIA+ people in your local area. This will be a relaxed walk with the intent of socialising and getting to know other members of the group. Each participant is free to set their own pace. We'll meet from 10:30am outside Chestnuts Kiosk (on the side of the Lodge where refreshments are served, facing onto the Monk's Gardens), where you can grab yourself a drink to keep warm and introduce yourself to your fellow walkers. We'll set off at 10:45am. At the end of the walk, we'll return to Chestnuts Kiosk where everyone will be welcome to get another drink, relax in the Abbey's grounds, and continue chatting with each other (and maybe even reward yourself with a nice slice of cake!) ☔ This meetup will still go ahead if it's raining (to a reasonable degree!) However, if the weather is forecast to be particularly bad or potentially dangerous, we'll reschedule the activity with as much notice as possible. 🐶 Dogs, families and friends are more than welcome! While the park and gardens of Lesnes Abbey are accessible for wheelchairs and buggies, many areas of the woods have steep hills or steps. You can [check the park's facilities and accessibility information](https://www.lesnesabbeywoods.org/plan-your-visit/facilities-and-accessibility/) to find out more about accessibility at Lesnes Abbey.

Join our group for under-represented writers who want more time to write, feedback on their work, and tips on developing their craft. \*\* Please come to the Reading Room on the 2nd floor at The Wellcome Collection and look out for the Writer's Corner sign \*\* The Writers' Corner is a peer support community for under-represented writers, with bi-monthly meet-ups both online and in-person. Join us if you want more time and space to write, get feedback on your work or to develop your craft. We welcome all writers who tend to get overlooked by the publishing industry, or struggle to afford the costs of other writing courses and groups. We'll let you self define, but we particularly welcome writers of colour, those from the LGBTQ+ community, disabled writers, unpaid carers, low income writers and anyone who self-defines as a woman. While we have done our best to pick venues that are accessible to all, if you have any specific accesss requirements please send us a message so we can discuss how we can meet your needs. That includes anyone feeling anxious about attending a group for the first time (very happy for you to come a bit early, before everyone else, if that helps). While we are establishing the group we will be deciding week-by-week how each session will be structured. This will be led by the group. Once we are more established we will have a structured programme of events that you can chose to take part in.

Join us for our February Book Club gathering where we will come together to discuss *A Master of Djinn* by P. Djèlí Clark in a safe and welcoming environment. Make new friends who share your passion for books and connect with fellow LGBTQ book enthusiasts.

Join us for our March Book Club gathering where we will come together to discuss *The Manor of Dreams* by Christina Li in a safe and welcoming environment. Make new friends who share your passion for books and connect with fellow LGBTQ book enthusiasts.

Calling all founders, CEOs, lawyers, doctors, and entrepreneurs to join our special *Founder Edition* of Sip & Read meetup event. Let's sip on fine wine and discuss our first book **The 5AM Club- Own Your Morning Elevate Your Life, by Robin Sharma**. We will pair this book with our favorite wine at **Wine on High** and engage in thought-provoking discussions on startup businesses and entrepreneurship, and network with like-minded individuals in a cozy book club setting. Come prepared to discuss this month's book. At the end of each book club meeting, we will take next book and venue suggestions from the participants for the next meeting. Whether you are a book lover, women entrepreneur, or a content creator, this event is perfect for sharing ideas and insights with other funders and founders in the entrepreneurial world. Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to connect, learn, and grow together. Sign up now to reserve your spot! *Fun fact! This meetup was established in 2015 and had over 1,000 members. I had to shut down operations while attending law school, but we're back!!*

A quiet writing and sharing space, Queer Quills features some prompts, supplies and friendly faces to help get some inspiration or feedback for your writing. Hope to see you there!

**I’m planning future book club meetups and would love your input. Please choose your top three from the list below—your picks will help decide what we read next!** **Book Options** *The Hong Kong Widow* – Kristen Loesch *American Spy* – Lauren Wilkinson *God of the Woods* – Liz Moore *Listen for the Lie* – Amy Tintera *The Swallows* – Lisa Lutz *The Drowning Kind* – Jennifer McMahon *The Eights* – Joanna Miller *The Quiet Librarian* – Allen Eskens Thanks so much for sharing your pick! Please **reply in the comments** with your top three. I can’t wait to see which books rise to the top and to discuss them together at our next meetups.

Join fellow Queer birders on February 22nd for birding at Pickerington Ponds Metropark. No expertise required!

**Our February novel is: Julia by Sandra Newman** **This month is a classic, dystopian, fiction, literary fiction, women’s fiction, and science fiction novel. The book is 394 pages in print and 14 hours and 20 minutes on audiobook.** **An imaginative, feminist, and brilliantly relevant-to-today retelling of Orwell’s 1984, from the point of view of Winston Smith’s lover, Julia, by critically acclaimed novelist Sandra Newman.** Julia Worthing is a mechanic, working in the Fiction Department at the Ministry of Truth. It’s 1984, and Britain (now called Airstrip One) has long been absorbed into the larger trans-Atlantic nation of Oceania. Oceania has been at war for as long as anyone can remember, and is ruled by an ultra-totalitarian Party, whose leader is a quasi-mythical figure called Big Brother. In short, everything about this world is as it is in Orwell’s 1984. All her life, Julia has known only Oceania, and, until she meets Winston Smith, she has never imagined anything else. She is an ideal citizen: cheerfully cynical, always ready with a bribe, piously repeating every political slogan while believing in nothing. She routinely breaks the rules, but also collaborates with the regime when necessary. Everyone likes Julia. Then one day she finds herself walking toward Winston Smith in a corridor and impulsively slips him a note, setting in motion the devastating, unforgettable events of the classic story. Julia takes us on a surprising journey through Orwell’s now-iconic dystopia, with twists that reveal unexpected sides not only to Julia, but to other familiar figures in the 1984 universe. This unique perspective lays bare our own world in haunting and provocative ways, just as the original did almost seventy-five years ago.