Queer Reads Library interview
Queer Reads Library at Hong Kong Queer Literary and Culture Festival 2019. Photograph by Queer Reads Library
This time last year Queer Reads Library came into our lives as one of our librarians traveled to Hong Kong to take part in a zine residency with Asia Art Archive meeting zine makers, artists, activists, and librarians. During this residency they were introduced to Queer Reads Library, a Hong Kong based mobile library promoting queer publishing. Sound familiar? Without Queer Reads Library, Queer Zine Library absolutely could not exist. We were so inspired by their collections, their diy methods, and their flexible approach, giving us the much needed boost to start the beginnings of Queer Zine Library in the UK.
We had explored initiating a new queer zine library in the UK previously but fell at the first hurdle, thinking that finding a venue would be the most essential step. Seeing Queer Reads Library not only operating with no fixed permanent venue, but using this as a strength to change and adapt the collections and display depending on the space/event/audience inspired us to rethink our fixation on a venue. Seeing the ways that Queer Reads Library placed queer history in the hands of queer communities, forging genuine links between activists and writers and artists and readers was such an important moment.
One year later we wanted to reach out to Queer Reads Library to give credit to their work and collections and diy approach.
Rachel Lau, Beatrix Pang, Kaitlin Chan at Kitakagaya Flea, Osaka. Photography by Queer Reads Library, 2019.
Can you tell us how/why Queer Reads Library began?
Queer Reads Library 流動閱酷 (QRL) is a mobile collection of books and zines that center queer experiences and perspectives. Most of our ~170 titles are independently published, and the library is a starting point for discussions, workshops and other programs in collaboration with activists, artists, and members of the queer community. We were founded in Hong Kong in September 2018, shortly after ten children’s books with LGBTQ+ characters/themes were censored (placed in closed stacks) in our public libraries. Our members include Kaitlin Chan, Rachel Lau and Beatrix Pang.
Before QRL began, one of the questions we asked ourselves is: “Where is the queer community in HK?” Many of the “queer spaces” are established and faciliated for and by gay men in the city, like saunas, bars and private clubs, etc. The meeting point for other queer folks seems very limited and restricted here in HK. Can we imagine creating a “queer space” that extends beyond the current circumstances that are offered? The banned book incident from the public library came at the right time because it triggered the thought of what space is possible for queer people. What does it look like and what can we do in such a space?
How has the library grown since then? Do you have lots of people wanting to donate books and zines to you now?
Some artists reach out to us, and sometimes we reach out to artists. As individuals, we have friends living in different countries, many of whom are queer, and we build on these relationships when they recommend or send titles to us. Besides Instagram DM, we mainly get zines from zine stores, art book fairs and meet-ups. As for the differences between Hong Kong zines and zines from abroad, we prefer not to broadly generalize Hong Kong. We can say that Hong Kong zines sometimes reflect specific aspects of local experiences, such as zines by migrant Filipinx workers in Hong Kong, or are written in Cantonese language and shot in Hong Kong, like the magazine Fung Lau.
Have you had books or zines go missing? How do you manage this? One of my favourite zines went missing during our last Queer Zine Library tour and I was really surprised by my own reaction to it.
During our October 2018 pop up at Eaton Workshop, a very important book to us (中國同性愛史綠 History of Homosexuality in China by Sam Shasha) went missing. As this pop-up took place over the course of some weeks, we weren’t able to be there the whole time. We were quite distraught as the book is rare to find and also practically encyclopedic in its scope. While Beatrix’s positive relationship with the co-publisher allowed us to obtain one replacement copy, we have been more careful about this in future pop-ups, with either one of ourselves or collaborators being present throughout the program so it is less likely that things get lost or missing.
The Next Best Thing to Loving You by Jeff Hahn
What are your favourite books from the Queer Reads Library?
Kaitlin: One of my favourite books in the library is the illustrated graphic novel Skim, written by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Jillian Tamaki. Skim is a very formative work for my own queer journey and seeing diasporic Asian characters represented in a complex and human way. I also love the style of both the dialogue and the lush grayscale illustrations.
Rachel: Two of my favourite books from our collection is a hurry of english and Flèche by poet Mary Jean Chan. Before reading Mary Jean Chan’s work, I don’t think I’ve encountered poetry about queer Chinese experiences that touched my heart so profoundly. Chan’s careful crafting of the English language is both disruptive and comforting. I always recommend her work to any of our readers who are interested in poetry.
Beatrix: The Next Best Thing to Loving You is a non-traditional book form photographic publication by Swiss-Chinese photographer Jeff Hahn. The soft lights and shades on these photo images showing people some alone and intimate moments. I really like the images printed on paper with various types and textures which gives a different level of warmth and temperature. The tenderness and peaceful moments in these pictures telling stories of people in different relationships go beyond their gender and sexuality is a beautiful thing.
Queer Azn Musicians -Mixed Rice Zines
What are some of your favourite zines from Queer Reads Library?
Kaitlin: Queer Azn Musicians is a pink and blue risograph zine produced by Mixed Rice Zines based in the Bay Area, California and Taiwan. The zine is a collection of conversations and images featuring musicians of Asian heritage who identify as queer. Reading this zine makes me feel warm, seen, and like DIY scenes can make and hold space for folks of different identities.
Rachel: One of my favorite zines in QRL is skin & skin by Vancouver-based artist and friend, Amanda Wan. The zine opens with a dedication that reads “this zine is dedicated to us,” and what follows is a beautiful collection of poetry, meditations, and illustrations that feel like a love letter to all queer diasporic Asians who have the privilege of reading this work.
Beatrix: Jeffrey Cheung is a talented artist and our dear friend who established Unity Skateboarding and Unity Press. His freestyle brushstroke drawing bold and funny naked figures of men and women are always so delightful to look at. I love this B5 size zine without a title published in 2018 is a feast of Jeffrery’s greatest pieces.
What has the reaction been like when people have encountered Queer Reads Library for the first time? Does it depend on which venue you are in?
People who encounter QRL for the first time are usually curious or excited about our collection. When we share the origins of our library and how the book banning in HK catalyzed this project, people often become more engaged in the spirit of QRL. They want to know more about how events transpired and how our collection responds to the banning.
One of the most exciting aspects of QRL is being able to share our collection in a variety of venues where we encounter both likely and unlikely readers. Someone at an art book fair who may not actively seek out queer printed matter may stumble upon QRL and become engaged because they are interested in independent publishing. On the other hand, queer folks who already know about our collection (whether through social media or word of mouth) may feel excited about finally engaging with our collection in person. The Hong Kong Queer Literary and Cultural Festival (HKQLCF) where we showcased QRL in 2019 is a wonderful example of a space filled with like-minded readers. That said, our readers and their reactions definitely vary depending on the venue.
Poster for Hong Kong Queer Literary & Cultural Festival 2019, by @cengatse
What is it like for the library to occupy a space at a book fair where the focus is on selling and promoting work?
People are often surprised when we tell them that our books and zines are not for sale. It’s fascinating to curate a space that encourages being present and spending time to pause and read rather than purchasing something. The responses we’ve witnessed from our readers are varied, but in general, we find that people do appreciate the opportunity to read and enjoy our books and zines amidst the busyness of book fairs. However, there are challenges too. The frenzied energy of book fairs can often cause people to feel uncomfortable about lingering for too long, so we put a lot of effort into creating spaces that people want to stay a while in.
For example, when we traveled to participate in the Singapore art book fair last year (2019), we shared a table with our local artists friends and their new publications for sale. It was a struggle for us to present QRL in such a crowded and noisy environment at one table together. We didn’t want to confuse people with our books and zines that are not for sale. So we ended up asking permission from the book fair organiser to let us present our library in a luggage box at the fair entrance, creating a resting and relaxing area with less hustle. The little space allowed us to have a corner of our own and yet visible enough to encounter some new faces of our readers and surprises.
Do you have an idea of what books and materials you'd like to collect in future? Is there anything you say no to?
The curation process is not so regular, but organic. Based on our individual travels, projects or curating for specific book fairs, we seek out zines from our networks and connections. We do read and look through every title that comes our way. So far, we have not turned down zines. We happen to be fortunate to be connected to many artists whose intersectional and vivid practices we wholly endorse and want to amplify through sharing with readers. We aim not to make everyone happy, which is impossible, but to continually share zines that we feel represent a nuanced, thoughtful, sometimes playful, sometimes serious, aspects of being queer in the world, today or yesterday or in the future. These days, we’ve shifted out focus to primarily curating queer Asian content, as in content made in Asia or by creators who identify as Asian/ part of the Asian diaspora, but we are flexible.
QRL at Art Book in China, 201. Photograph by Kaitlin Chan.
We’re very interested in the ways you collaborate with and support artists. I wondered if you could talk a little bit about the importance of collaborating with communities of artists and publishers and zine makers as it's something that doesn't always happen with 'proper' libraries and archives.
While our QRL team has three core members, all our programs are made possible with partnerships and collaborations. Our friends Addy, El, Rebecca, Siao-ting, amongst others have helped us with tabling at fairs and introducing readers to the collection, and various venues and art institutions have been generous with their space and time. We would like to thank pioneering Hong Kong LGBTQ+ activist Connie Chan for sharing her personal collection of 90s HK queer zines with us and her faith in QRL. We are also big fans of you, Queer Zine Library! The fact you have already collected 400+ titles is amazing and we love how you are strong advocates for printed matter that amplifies many values we share: anti-racism, anti-colonialism, anti-ableism. Also, we met Gabbi from Queer Zine Fest last year in Singapore who started QZF same year as QRL! QZF is an energetic and colorful bunch of friends with many passions and great bonding with each other, trying to make Singapore queer folks visble in a rather conservative and monogomous environment.
In addition, here are some individuals and groups that we have connected with and we want to send some love to:
Erica and Kayla from Fung Lau magazine (Hong Kong), a lesbian magazine found in 2019 in Hong Kong
Yo Katami (Tokyo, Japan) from Loneliness Books and Queer Publisher’s Products
Lee Chang Ming (Singapore) from Nope Fun, an independent photo book press
Vincy Chan (Hong Kong), a trans non-binary singer, songwriter, queer advocate, artist
OOMZICC Publisher (Seoul, South Korea), an indie publisher of queer and feminist readings
Queer Zine Fest (Singapore), a zinesters’ collective and platform for queer folks from Singapore
Sage Kobayashi, PURX Tokyo (Japan) A queer friendly cafe and gathering space started by Sage and their friends.
When QRL was first established by Kaitlin and Beatrix in September 2018, they bonded over sharing their personal collections of queer printed matter with each other. As a reader of QRL and new friends with Kaitlin and Beatrix at the time, Rachel was interested in interviewing the two of them about the origins of the project and what their goals were. At the time QRL was only three months old. However, what began as an interview became a full-fledged collaboration. Shortly after Rachel’s interview with Kaitlin and Beatrix in December 2018, they invited Rachel to join the QRL team. We’ve been good friends and collaborators ever since. It’s been a pleasure to see how QRL has nurtured our growth as artists, librarians, friends, and activists.
QRL at CultureFest 2018, organised by Plug Magazine. Photograph by Kaitlin Chan.
Has the lack of a permanent venue ever felt like it hindered you or do you feel that it gives you a strength?
Part of the beauty of QRL is its mobility. By virtue of living our lives, in 2019 we found ourselves in three different cities: Beatrix in Hong Kong, Rachel in Vancouver, and Kaitlin in Taipei (but now back in HK). The main portion of the library is stored in Hong Kong, where we met, were founded, and worked together until the summer of 2019. Now we are building satellite collections that respond to the contexts we are living in. For example, Rachel recently collected several titles from queer artists of the Asian diaspora based in Canada for the debut of QRL in Vancouver. The fact that QRL does not have a fixed location allows us to explore where the library will take us. We are interested in what spaces we are welcome in and who chooses to engage with our collection.
Do you make zines yourselves? If so please tell us about them!
Kaitlin: Yes, I do! I started making personal zines in the summer of 2018 as a way to process some of my feelings around diaspora and moving around. Now, the subjects I cover in my zines are whatever I feel strongly about, whether its bisexuality, combatting Anti-blackness in Asian communities, or how much I love citrus fruits. You can read excerpts online at www.kaitlinchan.com/zine and on my instagram @chen_jiaxian.
Rachel: Yes! I’d consider myself a zinester. I made my very first zine with a friend in May 2018 shortly before I moved to Hong Kong. Meeting Kaitlin and Beatrix encouraged me to print my first zine Please Mind the Gap using a risograph printer at Small Tune Press -- Beatrix’s personal publication studio. I’ve been making zines ever since! Nowadays the zines I make are mostly perzines that dabble in queerness, poetry, anti-capitalism, and Asian diaspora. You can find some of my zines on my Instagram account: @racholauart.
Beatrix: I am an artists’ book publisher but actually I started my publishing journey through learning about and being inspired by zine-making! I didn't make a lot of zines, as my process of making one is slow :P, But I enjoy collecting a lot and reading zines.
What are your future plans for Queer Reads Library?
In the fall of 2020, we hope to participate in a group exhibition in San Francisco called “WO MEN” curated by Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco that we are invited to take part in. We also have a publication project called “Queer Lexicon” that is a work in progress waiting to be published. The lexicon was intiated in May 2019 when we collected an array of Chinese and English queer slangs and terms from queer folks in our community through a collaborative workshop.
