Pride Reads: Selections from the Violet Hour Book Club

To celebrate Pride Month in Quebec, we’re showcasing thirteen books by Quebec authors selected by the Violet Hour, a reading series and monthly book club discussing classic and contemporary works of LGBTQ literature.

“The Violet Hour Book Club started as a companion piece to the reading series. I wanted the people in the audience to have more opportunities to connect with one another over their shared love of LGBTQ+ lit. I also wanted to encourage people to read more often and dive deep into both new releases and queer classics (I’m a big fan of honouring the backlist). So far, we’ve read 79 titles in five years. In addition to making sure we span different genders, genres, and experiences, I also put multiple Quebec books on the list, including some French-language works in translation. We are lucky to be living in a time when so many of our writers are getting published and honoured for their work. These books speak to a wealth of queer experience, from falling in love and creating connection, to losing it all and wanting to burn everything to the ground. There are moments of joy and wonder, anguish and strife, and confusion and contemplation in these pages. Some books will challenge you, others you might see yourself reflected in, and some might help deepen your understanding of how other people live. Quebec’s queer canon keeps on growing, so expect to see many more titles on this list.”

—Chris DiRaddo, founder of the Violet Hour Book Club

Christopher DiRaddo is the author of The Family Way (2021), shortlisted for the F.G. Bressani Literary Prize, and The Geography of Pluto (2014). His work has appeared in First Person Queer, Here & Now: An Anthology of Queer Italian-Canadian Writing, and The Globe and Mail, among others. He has written for publications like Elle Canada, Xtra, and enRoute, which won him a National Magazine Award in 2019. In 2014, he founded the Violet Hour Literary Series & Book Club, which has supported the work of over 300 LGBTQ+ writers in Canada. In 2024, he received QWF’s 2024 Judy Mappin Community Award for his career contributions to the English-language literary community in Quebec.