10 Must-Read Trans Women and Transfeminine Authors From the UK

On April 16th, the UK Supreme Court ruled that “women”, as defined in the Equality Act, only applies to people assigned female at birth. It’s a crushing blow for equality that further endangers an already vulnerable group of people. The case was brought to the Supreme Court by For Women Scotland, an anti-trans activist group funded by JK Rowling.

If you haven’t already divested from Harry Potter, it’s long past time. The money you give to JK Rowling is funneled into campaigns to strip trans people of their rights. Don’t buy Harry Potter products. Don’t stream the upcoming adaptation. Don’t promote it. Let the franchise die. Any nostalgia for the series can’t compare to the incredible harm Rowling is doing with her power and money.

Every time something horrific happens to a marginalized group, reading lists circulate. It’s insufficient. It even feels crass. And yet, this is my platform. So, I have put together a list of trans women and transfem authors from the United Kingdom to read. But reading is not enough.

There are many ways each of us can fight against the rise of fascism, white supremacy, and anti-trans ideology across the globe—and those are all linked. No matter where you live, there are ways you can get involved. Dazed has a guide to how to support trans people in the UK right now, which is a good place to start, but here’s the short version.

• Get involved politically. Educate yourself on your representatives’ position on trans rights. Vote for candidates who stand with trans people. Write and/or call your representatives to voice your support of trans rights and to protest anti-trans legislation. This all applies whether you’re in the United Kingdom, the United States, or anywhere else.
• Attend a protest. Many protests and marches took place over the weekend about this court decision, and they’re not likely to end there. Find a protest near you and show up.
• Donate to transition crowdfunders. Medical transition is expensive. Many trans people rely on crowdfunding to access vital medical care, and often this comes from small donations by a lot of people.
• Donate to trans nonprofits like Mermaids and Gendered Intelligence.
• Educate yourself. Read books by trans authors. Follow trans creators online. If you have questions, there are so many resources out there to guide you.
• Boost trans voices and buy from trans artists. Use your platform to share work by trans people, whether it’s activism or creative work. Buy their books, art, Patreon memberships, etc.

Reading trans books isn’t enough. But it does dovetail nicely with other actions you can take, like educating yourself and boosting trans voices. So, here are ten books by UK trans women and transfem authors to put at the top of your TBR… plus seven more bonus titles at the end.

None of the Above: Reflections on Life Beyond the Binary by Travis Alabanza Alabanza is a trans writer and performer based in the UK. This memoir is structured around seven phrases—some deeply transphobic and painful, and some affirming — that have been spoken to them throughout their life. They use these phrases as jumping-off points to reflect on their life as a visibly femme and nonbinary person, the complicated intersections of gender and race, the power of queer performance and community, and so much more. —Laura Sackton

Uncomfortable Labels: My Life as a Gay Autistic Trans Woman by Laura Kate Dale In this memoir, Laura Kate Dale unpacks how her identity as a gay autistic trans woman affected her childhood and personal experiences. Told with both honesty and a sense of humor, this book is for anyone who has ever felt like they didn’t fit in. —Susie Dumond

To My Trans Sisters edited by Charlie Craggs A collection of letters primarily to trans women by trans women, To My Trans Sisters is like a social justice sleepover. Craggs emphasizes a diverse take on being trans as she collects stories and advice from more than seventy individuals, including those identifying outside the binary. Whether you’re trans, questioning, cis, or identify some other way, the words of wisdom, strength, and confidence will ring through you months after you finish the book. —Abby Hargreaves

Transitional: In One Way or Another, We All Transition by Munroe Bergdorf In this blend of memoir, journalism, and cultural critique, writer and activist Munroe Bergdorf examines the many ways that we all transition throughout life. She writes about her own journey of self-discovery, sharing stories about friendships, romantic relationships, family, sex, modeling, making art, and more. She ties these intimate experiences into a broader analysis about gender, race, and queerness in the UK. Her conversational style makes this a pleasure to read. —Laura Sackton

Fiction by UK Trans Women and Transfeminine Authors

Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson Fans of British workplace fantasy books looking for something queerer and witchier need Her Majesty’s Royal Coven immediately. These four witches are childhood friends who fought in a magical war and now have separate adult lives. Helena is HMRC’s priestess, Elle is a stay-at-home mother, and Niamh is a countryside vet. Finally, after being fed up with the sanctimonious HMRC, Leonie has founded an inclusive Coven where being a Black lesbian is unproblematic. When HMRC discovers a powerful teen, the oracles predict the end times. Now, they will have to either choose to avoid calamity or become a part of the foretold disaster. In the UK, the witches’ coven and the warlocks’ cabal work secretly for the government and the place of trans women is a primary point of conflict. I need to let you know there are TERFs in the novel, so please take care as you read. However, the book has compassion for trans women and trans youth, and the characters will move the earth to protect them. –R. Nassor

Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan Nicola Dinan’s debut novel Bellies received a lot of critical acclaim, including winning the Polari First Book Prize, and now she’s back with her sophomore novel, Disappoint Me. Max is a 30-year-old disillusioned trans poet who decides to reinvent her life after a fall down the stairs at a New Year’s Eve party. Vincent is a corporate lawyer who bakes in his free time; dating him seems to offer the perfect entry point into heteronormativity for Max. But he has baggage involving a whirlwind romance he had during his gap year in Thailand, and it threatens to upend Max’s attempt at “bourgeois domesticity.”

Welcome to Dorley Hall by Alyson Greaves In this dark thriller, Stefan uncovers a conspiracy of men who have disappeared from the Royal College of Saint Almsworth, replaced with near-identical women. Stefan then infiltrates this underground forced feminization facility to get free medical transition. Torrey Peters, author of Detransition, Baby, says, “Dorley Hall delivers what I need from art: Alyson Greaves has developed an ethics on fantasy, self-creation, and authority that only a trans woman could have come up with, all while telling a story so intimate and psyche-gripping I had to remind myself to breathe.”

The Library Thief by Kuchenga Shenjé This is historical fiction set in Victorian England, where a 19-year-old woman finds temporary work as a bookbinder at Rose Hall and has to navigate the complex hierarchy of all the residents there. She also becomes obsessed with the mystery of the death of the former lady of the house. This book doesn’t have a trans main character, but there are several supporting queer and trans characters. I thought this was a really interesting book of historical fiction with a focus on characters who don’t usually get written about in that genre.

Tell Me I’m Worthless by Alison Rumfitt Tell Me I’m Worthless is one of the most thought-provoking and memorable horror books I’ve ever experienced, but it’s also a brutal read. The content warnings include rape, racism, transphobia, fascism, antisemitism, and eugenics—and those are not just mentioned in passing. It’s a haunted house story, if a house were haunted by fascism. Three friends enter a haunted house together, and only two emerge. The two survivors’ lives diverge in the years that follow. One is out as trans, the other becomes a TERF. But the house keeps calling them back until they can no longer resist it.

The following comes to you from the Editorial Desk.

This week, we’re highlighting a post that had our Managing Editor Vanessa Diaz feeling a type of way. Now, even five years after it was published, Vanessa is still salty about American Dirt. Read on for an excerpt and become an All Access member to unlock the full post.

Picture it: The United States, January 2020. A book with a pretty blue and white cover is making the rounds on the bookish internet. The blue ink forms a beautiful hummingbird motif against a creamy background, a bird associated with the sun god Huitzilopochtli in Aztec mythology. Black barbed wire, at once delicate and menacing, cuts the pattern into a grid resembling an arrangement of Talavera tiles. The package is eye-catching, ostensibly Mexican in feel, and evocative of borders and the migrant experience. 

The book tells the story of a bookstore owner in Acapulco, Mexico, who is forced to flee her home when a drug cartel murders everyone in her family except for her young son at a quinceañera. She and the boy are forced to become migrants and embark on a treacherous journey north to the U.S. border, evading the cartel and befriending fellow migrants along the way. The book is being lauded not just as the “it” book of the season but as the immigration story. It gets the Oprah treatment and is praised by everyone from Salma Hayek to the great Sandra Cisneros, who called it “the great novel of Las Américas.” 

It’s been over five years, and this book is still the bane of my existence.

Sign up to become an All Access member for only $6/month and then click here to read the full, unlocked article. Level up your reading life with All Access membership and explore a full library of exclusive bonus content, including must-reads, deep dives, and reading challenge recommendations.