C S Burrough's New Novel:
Or Forever Be Damned
C. S. Burrough, a.k.a. Colin Burrough, is best recognised by his tribe for contributions to queer literature, some archived in Australia's National Library. His first published piece was lesbian love story Box and Cotton in Pascoe's 1989 Australian Short Stories series. Over 25 years his words have adorned Australian gay publications: In Outrage magazine's anthology he documented tales of Sydney's early gay bar, the Rex Hotel, in Just Up The Road. His 1995 autobiographical novel, Keeping the Family Name, reached number three on local gay bestseller lists. Following his Capital Q Weekly column of some years, his 2001 fictional serial, Not Grunting Squealing, was a weekly feature in SX News' first six months. His 2009 story, Parlour, appeared in Gay-Ebooks' Christopher Isherwood inspired I Am A Camera.
But outside this niche he covers various genres, including historical fiction, which is where this novel sits. Or Forever Be Damned, a saga spanning eight decades, follows the lives and families of two very different women who escape the slums of northern England's 'Cottonopolis', Salford. Brought together fatefully in the 1930s Slump, a simmering irrational enmity ignites when the two aspirant showgirls meet in youth, burns steadily until death, then lives on, transported to Australia by their progeny.
Burrough discloses that, while this is no gay novel per se, it features important, if not major, lesbian and gay characters. 'Ultimately for a wider readership, this epic also notes the shape of our queer predecessors. We aren't centre stage but cannot be ignored.' He reveals that the later chapters chart vital historical developments towards Gay Liberation: 'These strands are key to the fate of one protagonist.' He assures it is also richly endowed with elements traditionally satisfying to LGBT readers. 'There are strong theatrical threads and related campery. High drama too. And being about two warring women it gets suitably catty, in a nuanced way.'
At a generous 94,000 words approx, Or Forever Be Damned is published by Australian Silky Oak Press and now available eBook from www.amazon.com. Also paperback released from September/October 2014 also from Amazon.
Print covert art is by Shayne Chester.
Purchase this book via the links below:
No comments:
Post a Comment