Science Fiction

The Membranes by Chi Ta-Wei

The Membranes is a 1995 classic queer speculative fiction novel from Taiwan which has an English translation being released on June 1st.

Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi

A Spacefaring sci-fi with polyamory and chronic illness rep. Jacqueline Koyanagi is a half Japanese autistic author with a chronic health condition.

The Tiger Flu by Larissa Lai

This sci-fi dystopian novel is set in a dark future Vancouver from accomplished Chinese Canadian author Larissa Lai. This is her most recent novel.

Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the devil: to escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six.

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

The first in the Machineries of Empire series by Korean American author Yoon Ha Lee. This book wo a Locus award for best first novel.

Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee

Raven Stratagem is the second of the Machineries of Empire series with an extremely queer and gender diverse cast.

Revenant Gun by Yoon Ha Lee

Revenant Gun is the third in the Machineries of Empire Series, set in a world that draws from Lee’s experience as a trans man.

Zero Sum Game by S L Huang

A math-genius mercenary who finds herself being manipulated by someone possessing unimaginable power…..

Null Set by S L Huang

Math-genius mercenary, Cas Russel, decides to fight crime, but her history catches up to her.

Critical Point by S L Huang

Cas’s past, present, and future collide.

Fantasy

Burning Roses by S L Huang

Burning Roses is a sapphic novella that takes us to a world where Little Red Riding Hood and the archer Hou Yi join forces as older, sadder, women.

Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard

Fireheart Tiger is a fantasy novella set in a world inspired by pre-colonial Vietnam as colonial forces try to negotiate further control over the country.

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

A nonbinary artist gets swept into political intrigue and revolution in this fantasy novel set in a world inspired by Japanese occupied Korea.

The Devourers by Indra Das

Alok, a professor in Kolkata, meets a mysterious stranger with a bizarre confession and an extraordinary story that he agrees to transcribe.

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

An Indian inspired fantasy about a priestess turned maidservant seeking her family and a captive princess seeking revenge against her dictator brother.

The Tensorate Series by Neon Yang

The Tensorate Series is made up of four awesome Asian-Inspired fantasy novellas by nonbinary Singaporean author Neon Yang.

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

A reluctant medium is drawn into the world of gods, ghosts, and family secrets in this Malaysian-set contemporary fantasy.

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

A queer reimagining of the rise of the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty with genderqueer, sapphic, and gay rep. Out July 20th.

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

A queer fantasy retelling of The Great Gatsby from the perspective of Vietnamese American Adoptee Jordan Baker which comes out on June 1st.

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

Asian-inspired fantasy with a travelling nonbinary cleric who collects stories including one of a sapphic Empress, her handmaiden, and revenge.

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo

The cleric, Chih, is at the mercy of a band of tigers, and a story, if told correctly, could save them.

The True Queen by Zen Cho

Two sisters wake up cursed on the isalnd Janda Baik, and one starts to fade away. The other sets off to Britain to navigate high society and find a cure.

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho

A ragtag crew of bandits walk into a coffee shop…

Magical Realism & Historical Fiction

Bestiary by K-Ming Chang

Three generations of Taiwanese American women embody Taiwanese and Tayal myths. All the while the youngest, Daughter, falls for the neighbour girl.

The Kappa Child by Hiromi Goto

A Japanese Canadian woman, convinced she has immaculately conceived a kappa, returns to her oppressive childhood home with her partner.

When Fox is a Thousand by Larissa Lai

The story follows an elusive fox nearing her 1000th birthday, a ninth-century Toaist poet/nun, and Artemis, an Asian Canadian woman in 90s Vancouver.

How Much of These Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang

In gold rush era California two Chinese American siblings try to find their place in a country that denies their existence. Trans and bi rep.

Oracle Bone by Lydia Kwa

In 7th century China empress Wu Zhao ascends in the Tang Court; her lover, Xie, seeks a magical object to increase his power; and the Daoist Nun Qilan and her protégé Ling stand in his way.

The Walking Boy by Lydia Kwa

In 8th century Tang dynasty a young disciple, Baoshi, is sent on a quest by an aging hermit monk, Harelip, to find Harlip’s former lover.

Short Story Collections

Look Who’s Morphing by Tom Cho

A short story collection of outlandish stories of a central character and his extended family undergoing a series of transformations.

Gaze Back by Marylyn Tan

Feminity, queerness, and the occult overlap and are complicated over this collection of stories by queer feminist Singaporean author Marylyn Tan

Let Me Tell You Something About That Night by Cyril Wong

A queer collection focused around fables, myths, and fairy tales by Singaporean author Cyril Wong.

The Tangleroot Palace by Marjorie Liu

Unexpected detours, dangerous magic, and even more dangerous women.

Poetry

A Place Called No Homeland by Kai Cheng Thom

A poetry collection that draws from memory and mythology to create narratives around gender, race, sexuality, and violence.

Bodymap by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Sanarasinha

A poetry collections that examines disability justice, queer desire, survivorhood, and transformative love through a queer disabled femme of colour lens.

Iron Goddess of Mercy by Larissa Lai

A long form poem inspired by the tumultuous history of Hong Kong, from Japanese and British occupations to ongoing democracy protests.

Even This Page is White by Vivek Shraya

Vivek’s debut collection of poetry interrogates racism; what it means to be racialized; and the rogins, functions, and limitations of skin.

Night Sky With Exist Wounds by Ocean Vuong

A poetry collection focusing on romance, family, memory, grief, war, and melancholia from Vietnamese American poet Ocean Vuong.

Poems of a Penisist by Mutsuo Takashi

A homoerotic poetry collection from 1975 that is a celebration of the male body and treats queer desire as something sacred.

Soft Science by Franny Choi

Soft science explores queer, Asian American femininity through a series of Turing Test-inspired poems that explore identity and consciousness.

Tonguebreaker by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

An exploration of working class queer, brown, femme survivorhood and desire.

This Way to the Sugar by Hieu Minh Nguyen

A poetry collections that captures the queer Asian American Midwest experience. Looks at nostalgia, tradition, race, apology, and sexuality.

Memoirs and Essays

Double Melancholy by C E Gatchalian

An introverted, anxious, ambitious, artistically gifted queer Filipino Canadian boy finds solace in the arts, despite their white heternormativity.

Socialist Realism by Trisha Low

Trisha Low moves west wanting to find somewhere better, but instead faces the end of relationships, American’s casual racism, sexism, and homophobia.

I’m Afraid of Men by Vivek Shraya

Vivek Shraya delivers a record of the damage caused by misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia as she releases trauma and refuses to assimilate.

The Groom Will Keep His Name by Matt Ortile

Blending personal and political, Matt Ortile writes about the colonization of the Philippines and its
effect on his life, his life in America, and exploration.

General Fiction

Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars by Kai Cheng Thom

A coming of age story of a young Asian trans girl with a queer trans femme found family.

Disoriental by Négar Djavadi

Shifting between past and present, Disoriental tells the story of Kimiâ Sadr and her family as they flee Iran for France and face new challenges.

Beijing Comrades by Bei Tong

Beijing Comrades first circulated online in China in 1998. It tells the story of a gay romance set against the sociopolitical unrest of late 80s China.

Confessions of a Mask by Yukio Mishima

A queer coming of age novel from 1949 following Kochan as he comes to terms with his attraction to men set in war-time Japan.

God in Pink by Hasan Namir

A novel about being queer and muslim, set in Iraq in 2003. Ramy is a young, gay Iraqi struggling to balance his sexuality, his culture, and his religion.

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

Published in Japan in 1988, Kitchen follows orphan Mikage, grieving after the death of her grandmother, taken in by her friend and his trans mother.

Last Words from Monmartre by Qiu Miaojin

Published posthumously after queer Taiwanese author Qiu Miaojin’s death, the book is a collection of experimental letters about art, intimacy, and suicide.

Polar Vortex by Shani Mootoo

This novel examines the effects of sexism, racism, and homophobia on queer women of colour through the lens of a long term queer relationship.

Notes of a Crocodile by Qiu Miaojin

A queer coming of age story around a group of queer university friends set in late 1989s Taipei as they struggle with love, friendship, and art.

Prairie Ostrich by Tamai Kobayashi

The book shows a lesbian relationship and life in general through the eyes of an eight-year-old Japanese Canadian girl in rural Alberta in 1974.

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

A letter from son to mother that unearths a family’s history that began before he was born and is rooted in Vietnam. Explores race, class, and masculinity.

She of the Mountains by Vivek Shraya

A contemporary love story between a man and his body with a reimagining of Hindu mythology that explores the policing of gender and sexuality.

Quicksand by Jun’ichirō Tanizaki

This novel has been referred to a bisexual noir. A novel of erotic gamesmanship and obsession. From the perspective of a married woman of good standing.

Small Beauty by Jia Qing Wilson-Yang

A quiet and meditative novel about a young, queer mixed-race trans woman deals with grief and uncovers family secrets after the death of her cousin.