It’s queer up North
The time has come to write my story, SAYS LEANNE EGAN
LEANNE EGAN (they/them) grew up in Liverpool before moving to London. They are the writer and producer of the scripted fiction podcast Tell No Tales. Lover Birds is their debut novel. @itsleanneegan
Photo Kate McDonald Photography
Take your pick: the London-centric nature of traditional publishing, the rampant negative stereotypes (“It’s grim up North,” says the Londoner paying £1.5k a month to share a studio flat with a family of mice), or just outright classism. Even among other Northerners, under-funded cities like Liverpool and Hull get a bad rep. When I moved to university, my new flatmate from Cumbria wasted no time in saying, “I was nervous about living with a scouser, but you’re alright. You barely have an accent.”