I’m Rhianne (she/her), I’m the [sole] founder of Queereads YYC and I facilitate the group. I started the bookclub in July 2020, so it’s three years old. Since then, Owl’s Nest Books has become a partner, and we use their space and their Zoom account. They also give us 10% off our books, while we still have full freedom to choose the books we read.

Queer, discussion, intersectional.

When I was living in Montreal, I had joined a queer book club as a way to ingest more queer media. When I knew I was going to be moving back to Calgary, I wanted to make sure that I could find queer community here. I looked for queer book clubs, and at the time, there weren’t any in Calgary that I could find. So, I decided to start a queer book club here as a means to meet the community and discuss topics that mattered to me. At Queereads YYC we read poetry, fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels, and children’s books, and we try to discuss a wide range of books that cover a breadth of identities. Since starting, I know there’s at least two other queer book clubs in Calgary, which is a lovely testament to the community that is building here.

It’s important to empower queer voices for a lot of reasons: to ensure that there’s representation, so that people can see themselves and others that look like them out in the community, and so that folks can see that there are a lot of opportunities for queer people in Calgary. There needs to be a diversity of options and opportunities in Calgary, to match the diversity of the queer community here.

I think Queereads YYC offers an opportunity to empower queer voices by being a place that highlights queers artists, brings folks together in a safe space, and allows for an open discussion on a broad range of queer topics. I try to pick books that center on [being] queer but that show the diversity of the queer community. I know that people who come to my book club, even when they haven’t fully read the book, really appreciate the discussion. I think that’s one of the main reasons people come – to discuss queerness together and to feel seen.

I also volunteer with Airdrie Pride and I like to do art and outdoor activities, like hiking and xc skiing.

Creating safe spaces for queer people is an important way to support a sense of belonging and understanding for the 2SLGBTQ+ community in Calgary. Being around folks who have similar experiences as you is important, and it’s important to be connected to community in order to feel a connection to the spaces we live in, and to feel validated in different parts of our identities.

For me, I really like the sense of community [Queereads YYC] brings. I really like the fact that it’s very discussion-oriented, and that people get to express themselves authentically. I’ve always had at least one person at each event, and I think that that is really special, because people are coming and finding it to be a helpful, connective and fun space.

Finally, as a community group in Calgary, I am often supported by other community groups. Owl’s Nest Books supports us. Outlink supports us. Many of the other queer organizations and bookclubs support one another by promoting each other’s events. It never feels like there are going to be too many of us, because each group is unique, and people can decide which ones fit them best. Uplifting each other in these ways really is what creates that sense of belonging for the queer community in Calgary.

Queereads YYC is an intersectional-focused book club. They will be resuming meetings in September. You can check out what they’re reading and more info on group meetings by following their Facebook or Instagram pages. Events will also be posted on Outlink’s Meetup page.