The Horrors Persist But So Do I

Well, the world certainly got worse since my last post, but then again that’s been true of every post I’ve ever made. So maybe I should just say that the world is still getting worse, but I don’t even need to say that because by this point it’s simply a given. Thankfully we introverts are adept at hiding ourselves indoors, which will be a useful skill once outside is filled with nothing but roving bands of marauders (bad) and crypto bros (worse).

So let’s try and focus on the positive – the past few weeks have been a productive time for your favourite two-metre-tall enby author, so go grab a coffee (or cup of stagnant puddle water if global trade has broken down by the time you read this) and feast your hope-starved eyes on mildly interesting news.

All About Ambitopia

All this talk of slow societal collapse is actually pretty relevant, as my number-one stalkers will remember that I once coined the term ‘ambitopia’ in an interview with Eleanor Tremeer and Laurie Penny. I then wrote an article about it for the British Science Fiction Association’s magazine, Vector, called ‘Ambitopia: Futures Beyond the Binary’ – where I further broke down the utopia-dystopia pairing in favour of depicting futures that are simultaneously radically better and worse. The concept has already garnered a lot of attention, and I was recently pleased to see that it has at least partially inspired an exhibition, at least according to magazines covering it.

Ambitopia has also been covered in an article by environmentalist media group Mongabay, on hope and fear in climate fiction.

I Went Out in Public

That’s right, I bravely ventured out into The Real World and did a reading at Tap Water Berlin. Hosted at Keith Bar, the event was presented by the wonderful Orla O’Hagan and featured a lovely audience.

Tap Water takes place once a month, and invites a variety of readers and performers to showcase their work. Speaking of which, I’m excited to be reading for the European Writers Salon next month! More to follow…

I Wrote Things!

In the past weeks I’ve had a few opportunities to write and comment on my favourite media. First up, Strange Horizons published my review of Ken Macleod’s latest work, Beyond the Light Horizon. The third in his Lightspeed Trilogy, the novel promises a conclusion to what had so far been a gripping, far-sighted geopolitical sci-fi series. It was a lot to live up to…

“The story moves so quickly, and the characters are so numerous, that cradling every single plot point from the previous two books becomes difficult-to-impossible, even with the helpful summary at the opening of Beyond the Light Horizon: There are three sides, three hundred characters … and an entire universe out there that’s ripe for colonisation.”

I was also pleased to contribute to Strange Horizon’s ‘Year in Review’, where their contributors comment on speculative media they enjoyed the past year. For 2024 I broke the trend of discussing books, movies, and shows in favour of a long-running pastime of mine: video games.

Speaking of summing up 2024, I was also pleased to provide my three favourite reads of the year for Shepherd, a Goodreads-style site for book recommendations. I’ve read a lot of great writing the past year, so it was a tough one, but I’m happy with my choices.

“Every now and then I read a book that expands my on perceptions of the world and those who dwell within it. A book that cuts through the distracting stress and division of life in the 2020s to awaken my curiosity and empathy…”

Nature is Coming

Lastly, there’s a date for the release of my latest short story, which will be published in Nature Futures – the sci-fi component of the journal Nature. This dark and haunting story will be coming out February 12th, and I’ll be posting about it here…

And that’s all you’re getting for this stage of the apocalypse! Join me next time once more social norms have eroded, as I’ll surely have been doing more things! Until then, fellow ambitopians…

– Redfern

Blue Skies, White Monuments, and Multicolour Eyelids

First of all, today was the first day of snow, and as everyone knows, that’s the day you don’t leave home until winter is over. If you don’t have enough provisions to last until thaw, try luring unsuspecting birds in through the window – or if you’re vegetarian like me, use a fishing rod to hook the groceries right out of pedestrians’ hands. It’s not stealing if they can’t see you.

So now that I’m safely ensconced indoors for the next five months, I finally have time to recap what’s been going on lately. And on things have been going, oh yes!

BERLIN’S SKY IS GREY, NOT BLUE

First of all, I am actually on social media. I’ve been on Mastodon for a couple years now, and I joined Bluesky several months ago, Before It Was Cool. And now that everyone has apparently been driven away from Twitter by some lump of sentient racist ham, I’ve been gaining a lot of new followers. You can follow me too, and enjoy the sight of my face painted with bright, shiny colours.

I also post about other things, but they’re mainly just filler in between each lusciously-rendered vision of my dazzling eyelids.

HUGO, GIRL! (HOW DID I ONLY JUST GET THIS PUN?!)

As long-time stalkers will know, sometimes I like to talk to people. Real actual people, who probably exist and aren’t just the embodied personifications of repressed emotions. Some of these flesh-and-blood people were the lovely cast of the Hugo, Girl! podcast, Lori, Haley, and Amy. We discussed Ursula Le Guin’s classic novel The Dispossessed, as well as my concept of ambitopia and how it relates to my book Proud Pink Sky. My publisher even made this lovely graphic for the event!

You can listen to the episode here.

ADVENTURES IN WASHINGTON D.C.

I was recently in the U.S. capital, staying with a dear friend of mine and visiting monuments that honestly could do with a dab more colour. Just think of it: the Capitol building in retro ’90s lime green, the Washington Monument in a kaleidoscope of neon, Statue Lincoln of the Lincoln Memorial in vivid, fleshy tones. Why does everything have to be in white?

While I wasn’t scaling national monuments with a bucket of paint in hand and a lot of people screaming at me (rude), I had the chance to visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library – where I was touched to find a copy of Proud Pink Sky. I joke a fair bit on this blog, but here’s a rare shard of sincerity: it means a huge amount to me that my book about trans and nonbinary oppression is in such a beautiful location. It was wonderful.

IT’S IN MY NATURE

Finally, I have a lovely piece of news: I have another upcoming story in Nature Futures, the science fiction section of the journal Nature. It will feature alongside a piece on the inspiration for the story, and I’ll be sharing more news when I have it.

That’s all for now! Join me next time when I’ll be precariously dangling from my window, attached to a fishing line that’s somehow become caught on the back of a speeding bus.

Until then, Snow Fearers!

– Redfern

Talking to the Internet

If you know anything about me, it’s that I’m relentlessly charming, effusive, and witty. In fact, not a day goes by that people aren’t drawn to me in the street, laughing and pointing even though I haven’t had chance to tell a joke yet! And if you haven’t had the opportunity to hear the dulcet yet ogrish tones of my giant-person voice, then fear not! Because I’ve been talking to the internet! I’ve actually talked about all sorts of things, but not least the wonderful re-edition of my book The Giddy Death of the Gays & the Strange Demise of Straights from Amble Press.

The Science Witch Podcast

This was an interview I was really looking forward to, not least because it’s co-hosted by my friend of twenty years, Enku Ide. Enku and I met when we were tiny baby queers living in Swansea, south Wales, and despite spending the next decades on different continents we’ve kept in touch ever since. Last year I even had the absolute pleasure of staying with him and his husband in rural Georgia, where we had a marvelous time exploring thrift stores the size of supermarkets and attending Savannah’s incredibly friendly pride event.

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING PHOTO CONTAINS PICTURES OF REDFERN SANS MAKE UP AND THUS IS ONLY AT 80% GLAMOUR

Anyway, in honour of the recent Giddy Death re-release I had the opportunity to chat with Enku, as well as his podcast co-hosts Ruby, and Anjel about everything from my novels, to LGBTQ solidarity, trans and nonbinary representation in fiction, pagan rituals, and even the impact of generative AI on writers. I had a fantastic time and the heartfelt and emotional discussion even brought one of the hosts to tears. The talk was something really special to me, and you can listen to it for yourself at any of the internet’s fine podcast vendors:

Click here for links.

Gender Identity Weekly

I also had the fantastic opportunity to talk with Amethysta Herrick for the Gender Identity Weekly podcast. The time absolutely flew by, and I was thrilled to actually talk about my doctorate, which I all-too-frequently forget I even have. This means we really got to delve into some queer history (I know things, I promise!) right back to the 18th century (spoiler: not a fun time for queer people!).

We also talked about both Proud Pink Sky and Giddy Death, as well as our favourite Pokemon (see obvious choice Jigglypuff on the shelf just behind me).

If you want the voice-only version, click the link here for the podcast website.

If you’d rather see our joyful faces, click here for the YouTube link.

Loveliness From 'Nathan Burgoine

Finally, I was really touched by ‘Nathan Burgoine’s Pride Roundup of books, which included Proud Pink Sky:

“…if there’s anything Redfern Jon Barrett knows how to do, it’s to take something binary—good or bad, gay or straight, you name the dichotomy—and then shatter the false binary into something way, way, way more nuanced and fascinating than you ever considered.”

To read the full post, simply click here.

In case that’s not enough, I shall leave you with this picture of myself with my big ol’ nonbinary books that was taken for International Non-Binary People’s Day. If you want more pictures of my face, you can find them on Mastodon: @Redfern or on Bluesky: @redfernjon.

Until the next mounting global crisis, friends!

— Redfern

The Giddy Release!

The Giddy Death of the Gays & the Strange Demise of Straights finally has a new edition! Thanks to Amble Press, an imprint of Bywater, we now have an all-new version updated for the 2020s — featuring a foreword by the author and an afterword by queer author Meg-John Barker.

My publisher also made this wonderful graphic to celebrate!

You can pick up a copy from the following places (along with a lot of others)!
- Amazon
- Abebooks
- Alibris
- Barnes & Noble
- Bookshop.org

And of course, you can also buy it from Bywater Books directly.

That’s not all, because I have some exciting new events coming up, including a brand new interview I did with the Science Witch podcast – which was a truly lovely and emotional experience! Some secret projects have been in the pipeline too…

Yes, I’m going to tease you. I am cruel. But still, buy my book! BUY ALL OF THEM.

— Redfern

The All-New Giddy Death Releases Tomorrow!

This is a novel that really means a lot to me – first written back before I came out as nonbinary, it allowed me to express my ambiguous, confusing feelings about my gender through the character of Rutti. Though Rutti is a much rougher edge than I do, and a great deal more cynicism, The Giddy Death of the Gays & the Strange Demise of Straights was instrumental in me coming to terms with… well, myself.

And what a reception it got! Though it received glowing praise from venues including Paste, Kirkus, Out in Print, My Gay Toronto, and the American Library Association, I was especially touched by individual fans of the book who took the time to contact me so they could let me know how much it meant to them. The novel clearly connected with a lot of people who otherwise felt marginalised, and I’ll never stop being proud of that fact.

While The Giddy Death was out of print, I’d frequently get emails from people trying to get hold of a copy of their very own, so I’m incredibly grateful to Bywater Books, and particularly to Salem West, for taking a chance on the re-edition. I’m also truly grateful to MJ Barker for providing the afterword, and I’m very pleased to count them as my friend.

The new edition also features updated pronouns – times change fast, and in the decade since the novel’s release singular ‘they’ replaced the myriad of terms like sie and hir, and the new version reflects that fact… I mean, I now use singular they myself, so it’s more than a little personal.

The second edition of The Giddy Death of the Gays & the Strange Demise of Straights releases tomorrow, and is available most places, from giant mega-corporations to other giant mega-corporations, as well as indie bookstores and from Bywater Books directly.

Give it a go. As Paste said of the digital version: “It is truly impossible to describe this book in a way that does it justice; just download it immediately.”

I promise it’ll be one of the weirder and more heartfelt things you’ve read.

—Redfern

The Giddy Death – Re-Edition Out May 28th!

No jokey intro here – I’m just beyond happy to announce that The Giddy Death of the Gays & the Strange Demise of Straights is getting a re-edition from Amble Press (an imprint of Bywater Books) with the release scheduled for May 28th!

The new edition features an afterword written by the wonderful Dr. Meg-John Barker, and a foreword written by myself. Here’s a brief preview:

It’s hard to convey how damaging it can be to your sense of self when everyone you see is straight, cis, binary, and monogamous—it’s like you don’t exist, or, worse, like you don’t deserve to exist. Without positive representation it’s easy to feel like a freak. Alison Bechdel once remarked on the importance of seeing yourself reflected in the cultural mirror, and for queer people of all kinds, that reflection is the surest antidote to shame and humiliation.

You are not a freak. There are many more of us out there, just like you.

And from MJ’s afterword:

This diversity of representation is deeply refreshing in a world where so few mainstream books include queer characters at all, and those that do often only include them in exoticising or tokenistic ways, while few queer books include characters who are not explicitly queer but who are also grappling with their gender, sexuality, and relationship style. As with masculinity/feminity, gay/straight, cis/trans, and dystopia/utopia, this is yet another binary that Redfern gently but firmly challenges in their novels.

Copies of the novel are already available for preorder from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all major booksellers.

Order one! Order twenty! Build a house from stacks of my books and you shall earn my everlasting gratitude.

– Redfern

A Late Review of 2023

Since we’re all apparently pretending that everything since January 2020 hasn’t been just one long unending year, it’s time for my slightly delayed rundown of everything that’s been going on with me in the past 12 months. I mean, everything that’s appropriate for reading in the workplace, at school, or while riding a stolen e-scooter through the middle of a busy shopping arcade (self-care is important).

Also this year, like every year, is sponsored by the colour pink.

Proud Pink Sky was released!

Surely the biggest news of 2023 came in March, with the release of my latest novel, Proud Pink Sky. I had a lot of support from my publisher (Amble Press, an imprint of Bywater Books) and love everything from the layout to the cover design. I was also extremely fortunate that several writers I know wrote some very kind quotes for the release. Thanks in particular to Meg-John Barker, co-authors Natasha Calder and Emma Szewczak, Gayathri Prabhu, Christian Baines, Brett Josef Grubisic, Paul Gallant, and ‘Nathan Burgoine.

The novel came out to some fantastic reviews from publications including Interzone, Strange Horizons, GScene, My Gay Toronto, Out in Print, and Siegessäule, as well as having been described as ‘gripping’ by Publisher’s Weekly. A particular highlight came in the form of a view review from YouTube channel CloudCuckooCountry, complete with delightful animations.

By the way, I should also mention that the novel came out while I was in the middle of moving to a new apartment, which is a combination of things I really wouldn’t recommend.

Interviews, Readings, and Screaming Rants in Public

The release of Proud Pink Sky also came with a lot of talking! Talking from my mouth! I did some talking here in Berlin, some talking in London, and yet more talking in Brighton. And people were forced to listen!

Special thanks in particular goes to to the Ledward Centre, the Centre for Transforming Gender and Sexuality, Lettretage, the Berlin Book Nook, and Daniel Aldridge at Radio Alex for hosting readings and discussions of the novel. I’m one of those people who finds public speaking both fun and exhilarating as well as completely terrifying, and it was fun to experience all those emotions at once.

Then there were the online interviews! I had lots of fun speaking with Alex Iantaffi, Christian Baines, Wayne Goodman, and J. Scott Coatsworth, all of which can be found on my interviews page here.

I Wrote Some Things!

Yes, sometimes I write! Some things in particular stand out in 2023, and I’m going to start with my article on ambitopia. I really believe this is a genre with a huge amount of potential, and I’m very pleased that the British Science Fiction Association published it in their magazine, Vector.

“I started writing ambitopia before even coming up with a term because it felt natural to me. I need optimism like a drowning person needs driftwood – it might not fix all my problems, but it keeps me from going under. Yet singular optimism feels hollow, akin to an offhand You’ll be all right or Things will get better, well-meaning and patronising at the same time. I want – need – hope for a better world, but for many of us the current world contains plenty of dystopia, and waving it away does us no good. Speculation needs darkness to be relatable.”

Among other pieces, I also wrote an article on ‘punching down’ and Proud Pink Sky called ‘The Nesting Dolls of Hate’ for D.C.-based LGBTQ publication Letters from Camp Rehobeth, alongside reviews and other pieces you can check out on my nonfiction page.

I was also delighted that my fairy tale-style story about age treatment technologies and fascism — ‘The Very Many Princes’ — was published in Andromeda Spaceways! It’s a heartfelt and twisted tale, and I especially recommend picking up a copy of Issue 29 and reading it over and over until your sense of reality is warped beyond any ability to function as a socially-responsible human being.

Also, not only did I get to write a list of my three favourite books of the year for the fantastic book recommendation site Shepherd.com, but Proud Pink Sky was listed as one of the three favourite books of the year for author Kevin Klehr! Thanks, Kevin!

Finally, I want to mention something that I wrote at the very start of 2023: a tribute to Maureen Kincaid Speller, author and head of reviews at Strange Horizons. Maureen passed away far too early, and I miss our email exchanges and complaining about politics together.

More Stuff is Coming!

I promise! For a start I’ve been working on a brand new novel, one I’m extremely excited about but will only tease for now because I’m just cruel like that. There will also be some more upcoming news and links next week, so stay tuned!

(By which I mean don’t leave this webpage. Don’t turn off your monitor. Don’t move. Just wait here until the update comes. I mean it.)

Until then, fellow 2024ians!

- Redfern

A Reading in Brighton, an Ambitopia Article in Vector, and a Review From Strange Horizons!

I didn’t go back to the UK for years due to COVID, and then in the past year I’ve been there so often I may as well be a visiting dignitary (we all have dreams!). This July I was invited for a reading and Q&A at Brighton’s Ledward Centre, hosted by the wonderful Eric Page. The questions were some of the best I’ve had so far (I’ve been waiting for someone to ask me about architecture in Proud Pink Sky, I spent so much time on it!) while the audience was lovely and supportive.

But that’s not all! I was delighted to find that fellow Amble Press author Orlando Ortega-Medina had travelled from London for the event! I was very pleased to meet Orlando and his partner, especially as I’ve just finished his wonderful new book The Fitful Sleep of Immigrants. It was an honour to meet in person.

Ambitopia Article in Vector!

I’m absolutely delighted to announce that my article ‘Ambitopia: Futures Beyond the Binary’ has been published in Vector, the British Science Fiction Association’s long-running journal! There’s been a very positive response so far, and the concept of ambitopia seems to be sparking people’s imaginations.

"Ambitopias form a careful balancing act, forming a cohesive and believable society that cannot be categorised as either good or bad, yet one which is still dramatically speculative.

In short, an ambitopia presents a world both distinctly better and worse than our own."

You can read the article for yourself at this link here.

Review in Strange Horizons!

Finally we have some great news: Proud Pink Sky was reviewed by the renowned science fiction magazine, Strange Horizons! I’ve written reviews for SH for several years now, so was thrilled that fellow reviewer Catherine Baker took on the novel, going into incredible depth.

“Every move in Barrett’s social and political worldbuilding is engineered to draw pointed illustrations of homonormativity, complicity with state power, and the roots of these flaws in internalised homophobia.”

The review is available to read here.

That’s it for now! Don’t forget that all true fans will immediately order 10,000 copies of my novel, and individually mail them to the offices of right-wing newspapers. How else will I see your devotion?

Until next time!

– Redfern

The Many Things of the Past Month: Readings, Interviews, and Reviews!

Has it really been six weeks since I last posted here? Time certainly flies when you’re desperately trying to work while fighting off allergens using mountains of ineffective pills and sprays. However, the outside being poison certainly does wonders for productivity, which is surely the only true measure of human worth – so let’s take a look at the past month and a half, while the incessant bleeping of a smoke alarm whose battery I’ve not yet changed endlessly shrieks in the background.

Reading at the CTSG

The 26th of April saw a reading of Proud Pink Sky at the University of Brighton’s Centre for Transforming Gender and Sexuality. The event was hosted by the wonderful Dr. Olu Jensen, and featured a fascinating and emotional discussion of both the book and issues faced by trans and nonbinary people. Sadly I don’t have any pictures of the event itself, but I did take a hotel room selfie of my makeup beforehand, which is surely all you wanted anyway.

Interviews!

It’s been quite a few weeks for lovers of my sultry voice, with a few different interviews coming out. First there was a lovely interview with radio host Daniel Aldridge for Berlin’s Radio Alex, complete with a fantastic sci-fi playlist Daniel put together specially. The interview aired April 21st, and I’ll post a link when it’s available online!

I was likewise thrilled to be interviewed by J. Scott Coatsworth, where I even got to talk about my absurdly colourful bedroom (which has now been relocated to another absurdly colourful bedroom due to all the excitement of moving apartments). The interview can be read here, but here’s a snippet:

Being a huge fan of dystopian fiction, I’ve thought a lot about utopia and dystopia, and I was very keen to explore the middle ground between the two. What can we learn from a society with very real extremes of both good and evil? The world always gets both better and worse, constantly shifting in different directions, and I wanted to represent that dramatic, ambiguous change. This is my first ambitopian novel, and I hope to write more.

But it doesn’t end there! I also had the opportunity to be interviewed by Christian Baines, a fantastic author whose dark yet innovative stories have really stuck with me (I recently read his new novel My Cat’s Guide to Online Dating and I still don’t don’t feel entirely comfortable around the animals…). Anyway, we talk more about Proud Pink Sky, and writing fiction in general:

I love reading nonfiction, only it's something very straightforward and linear: the writer has a message they want to convey, and they do so. Now, I'm an opinionated person with strong beliefs, but what I love about writing fiction that you're not doling out a single answer to the reader – you're presenting a whole multitude of possibilities, a lot of which you never intended, and letting the reader draw their own conclusions. You're presenting your worldview in a softer way, one which, I believe, engages with the reader on a deeper level. You work together to find the message.

The full interview is available here.

Finally, I was honoured to be interviewed by the lovely Alex Iantaffi for the Gender Stories podcast. We had a really great time talking about Proud Pink Sky (of course) and also connecting over nonbinary experiences. It’s very much worth a listen, and the episode is available on several channels which can be accessed here.

But for the full experience including my exciting purple eyeshadow, you can also watch the interview on YouTube! Simply click here.

To Be Reviewed…

Proud Pink Sky has been gathering several highly positive reviews, particularly on Goodreads, which surely warms my allergy-ridden heart. I was especially pleased with this review from author Kevin Klehr:

… important plot points are introduced slowly, skilfully, drip fed into scenes so the reader knows there is a more menacing side to this city. This, and the points I made in the previous paragraph, is why I admired Redfern’s storytelling style.

A great dystopian tale. Five stars.

For the full review click here.

Well that’s it for now! Join me next time for more sneezing, spluttering, and cursing the cruelties of nature with their filthy, poisonous pollen. Until then!

- Sneezefern

Reading at Lettretage Berlin, Review in Siegessäule, and an Interview on Radio Alex Tomorrow!

You know what you really want to do when you have a book launching? Move house! Or in this case, that most precious and rare of commodities, Berlin apartments. Who needs free time or taking care of yourself when you can have a never-ending list of things to accomplish all while forgetting to eat or sleep? And there’s been so much to do!

Reading at Lettretage Berlin

At the start of the month I was very kindly given a platform at Lettretage Berlin for a reading and Q&A on Proud Pink Sky – moderated by my handsome partner and literary host, Ismar Hačam. The audience was fantastic, and really kept me on my oversize toes when it came to questions. It was also the first time Ismar and I have done an event together!

Review in Siegessäule

I was absolutely thrilled to find that Proud Pink Sky received a wonderful review in Berlin’s biggest LGBTQ+ magazine, Siegessäule! Best of all is this fantastic quote:

“The ferocity of Barrett’s imagination gives the middle finger to regressive authors like JK Rowling with colourful characters and impressive world-building.”

The magazine is available in print, and the PDF can be read online here (review on page 37).

Interview with Daniel Aldridge for Radio Alex!

I had the delightful opportunity to be interviewed once again by my favourite radio host, Daniel Aldridge. We talked about the novel, punching down in LGBTQ+ communities, and coming out nonbinary – all interspersed with appropriately atmospheric sci-fi music. The interview will be aired tomorrow at 4pm Central European Time, and you can stream along here.

That’s all for now – but if you happen to be in the south of England next week, I have an event at Brighton University next Wednesday! Entry is free, but you need to register for a ticket before attending. More details are available here.

– Redfern