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How do places make us, and how do we make them?
At the turn of the century, in the shade of Cambridge's cloisters, a young E. M. Forster conceals his passion for other men, even as he daydreams about the sun-warmed bodies of ancient Greece. Under the dazzling lights of interwar Paris, Josephine Baker dances her way to fame and fortune and discovers sexual freedom backstage at the Folies Bergère. And on Jersey, in the darkest days of Nazi occupation, the transgressive surrealist Claude Cahun mounts an extraordinary resistance to save the island she loves, scattering hundreds of dissident artworks along its streets and shorelines.
Nothing Ever Just Disappears brings to life the stories of seven remarkable figures and illuminates the connections between where they lived, who they loved, and the art they created. It shows that a queer sense of place is central to the history of the twentieth century and powerfully evokes how much is lost when queer spaces are forgotten. From the lesbian London of the suffragettes to James Baldwin's home in Provence, to Jack Smith's New York, Kevin Killian's San Francisco and the Dungeness cottage of Derek Jarman, this is a thrilling new history and a celebration of freedom, survival and the hidden places of the imagination.
Author: Diarmuid Hester
Paperback Published 10 September 2024 368 pages
Recommended and Reviewed by Hendri:
"Diarmuid Hester’s debut book brings to life seven historical queer artists and writers, exploring their relationships with the places where they lived and created their art. He pieces together the artists’ work and travel experiences in Cambridge, London, Paris, New York, Jersey, and San Francisco to illuminate how these places not only shaped their queerness but also how these creative geniuses 'queered' such environments. Starting with E.M. Forster and Cambridge, Josephine Baker and Paris, and moving through James Baldwin's America and France, Hester eloquently describes the queer cultural and historical backdrop that attracted these artists. They came, stayed—physically and imaginatively—and left their lingering 'presence' upon departure. In the chapter on E.M. Forster and Cambridge, Hester explores Forster’s fascination with places he couldn’t openly inhabit, such as homoerotic ancient Greece. This yearning for homosexual liberation in conservative Cambridge led him to lead a closeted double life and to write his most popular gay novel, Maurice. Moving to London, readers encounter Vera Holmes, a member of the queer suffragettes who dressed in a masculine manner to resist societal norms when women were expected to be domesticated. In America and France, James Baldwin grappled with gay shame and his conflicted feelings about his homosexuality, attempting to reconcile his constant 'un-belongingness' to the places he lived. Erudite, compelling, and accessible, this book is a meditation on the role of places that remain relevant to many queer people today, particularly as numerous queer venues vanish from public spaces. Do they disappear entirely? Or does their absence actually leave behind queer traces, awaiting discovery?"
Diarmuid Hester's beautifully written psycho-biography explores obscure corners of places as sites of hidden queer histories. His portraits of writers and activists from E.M. Forster to Josephine Baker, London's queer suffragettes and Kevin Killian are haunted and haunting - totally riveting -CHRIS KRAUS
A charming, playfully challenging companion on a dreamy quest through lost landscapes of defiance, imagination and desire -JEREMY ATHERTON LIN