Happy Pride Month! Several years ago, I made an observation… my home state of Maine has produced a fairly high number of books by, about, or connected to Trans people. I thought I’d gather those I know of here.
- Jennifer Finney Boylan
Jennifer is a former professor at Colby College here in Waterville, Maine. She’s best known for her book She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders, which documented her transition. I’ve also attended a few readings of the book and was able to meet her on at least one of those occasions.
- Nicole Maines
Nicole first came to the public’s attention by fighting discriminatory practices at her school outside of Bangor, Maine. The incidents resulted in several legal cases as well as her family relocating to Portland, Maine. She went on to star as Dreamer in the TV series Supergirl and the independent vampire movie Bit. I met her in passing at a past Portland Pride event.
- Imogen Binnie
I can’t recommend this book, and its very stream-of-conscience writing, enough. It’s clearly semi-autobiographical – the lead character is Trans and works in a bookshop (much like the author). Though I’d seen her band, Correspondences, a few times, I met her briefly when she was working in a local bookshop here in Portland.
From the Amazon page for the recently republished version of the book:- `One of Vogue‘s Best Books of 2022 So Far
- Buzzfeed‘s Summer Books You Won’t Be Able To Put Down
- Book Riot‘s Best Summer Reads for 2022
- Dazed‘s Queer Books to Read in 2022
- Janet Mock
Janet isn’t from Maine, but the state gets a shoutout early on in the book. Her boyfriend at the time the book was published grew up in Cumberland, Maine.
So, did I miss amy others?
Stephen Quirk 