Fiction is one of the most powerful ways we see ourselves—and each other. This LGBTQIA+ reading list invites you into imagined worlds where queer lives are centered, explored, and cherished. These books aren’t just stories—they’re mirrors, portals, and sometimes even lifelines.
Queer African Narratives
-
Butter Honey Pig Bread – Francesca Ekwuyasi
-
Embracing My Shadow: Growing Up Lesbian in Nigeria – Unoma Azuah
-
Exhale: Queer African Erotic Fiction – Edited by P. E. P.
-
Hairdresser of Harare – Tendai Huchu
-
Holy Sex – Nakhane Touré
-
La Bastarda – Trifonia Melibea Obono
-
She Called Me Woman: Nigeria’s Queer Women Speak – Edited by Azeenarh Mohammed & Omi Adegoke
-
Under the Udala Trees – Chinelo Okparanta
-
Walking With Shadows – Judie A. T. Tien
-
You Have to Be Gay to Know God – Siyanda Mohutsiwa
✨ Literary Fiction & Identity
-
Freshwater – Akwaeke Emezi
-
Here Comes the Sun – Nicole Dennis-Benn
-
Patsy – Nicole Dennis-Benn
-
Pet – Akwaeke Emezi
-
The Death of Vivek Oji – Akwaeke Emezi
-
The Fullness of Everything – André Bagoo
-
When We Speak of Nothing – Olumide Popoola
🌌 Experimental, Poetic & Coming-of-Age
-
A People’s History of Heaven – Mathangi Subramanian
-
Blackbread Calling – Liselle Sambury
-
Last Night I Sang to the Monster – Benjamin Alire Sáenz
-
Notes of a Crocodile – Qiu Miaojin
-
The Hungry Ghosts – Shyam Selvadurai
-
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness – Arundhati Roy
-
Time Is a Mother – Ocean Vuong
Download the PDF version of this list below.
