BOOKS
ASK THE AUTHOR WORDS JAMES HODGE
Torrey Peters is arguably the world’s most famous trans novelist of our time. After publishing the award-winning Detransition, Baby in 2021, now she returns with a curious collection of novellas entitled Stag Dance, a series of four narratives that capture the breadth of the trans experience — in a dystopian future, a teen high-school dormitory, the deep forests of Old Vermont, and on the Las Vegas strip.
Here, Attitude speaks to Peters about the struggles of trans writing, the pleasure of genre-bending, and living in America at a time of oppression.
We also share our picks of our best recent reads, as well as our current favourite audiobook available on Audible.
What was it like to be catapulted into the mainstream and onto prize lists with
Detransition, Baby
?
It was surprising but strangely alienating. It was published during the pandemic, so my interactions were online — interviews, prize ceremonies… I remember winning the PEN/ Hemingway Award and then realising my life was exactly the same. I went to the fridge, grabbed a snack and a glass of water, and life went on. There was no glamour to it. Equally, people’s responses to the novel — both positive and critical — only existed to me through the internet. But of course, it was exciting too. It was life-changing!