The Small Queer Press Book Club is a continuous 2026 book club at The Pond aiming to uplift queer published works from smaller -mostly indie and micro- presses focusing on diverse stories of LGBTQIA+ life and people.
The book club will run in 2-3 month cycles, each cycle focusing on a different press.
In November and December we are exploring the works from Metonymy Press. For November we are reading “Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian)” by Hazel Jane Plante:
This playful and poignant novel sifts through a queer trans woman's unrequited love for her straight trans friend who died. A queer love letter steeped in desire, grief, and delight, the story is interspersed with encyclopedia entries about a fictional TV show set on an isolated island. The experimental form functions at once as a manual for how pop culture can help soothe and mend us and as an exploration of oft-overlooked sources of pleasure, including karaoke, birding, and butt toys. Ultimately, Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian) reveals with glorious detail and emotional nuance the woman the narrator loved, why she loved her, and the depths of what she has lost.
Born out of an underground queer event in Montreal, Metonymy Press, publish one to four books a year since 2015. They work slow, community-based, and largely diy, with a focus on queer, feminist literary fiction and nonfiction, featuring unconventional genres with authors and books that reframe power and affirm life. They seek work that transgresses boundaries, undermines the status quo, and sustains those on the margins.
Read more about them here: https://metonymypress.com/about-us/
*no reader commitment!*
- read the book, or start reading it
- show up to the discussion
- no sign ups needed
- you can go to one, or some, or all
- book club is held monthly
- 2-3 month cycles highlighting a different queer press
- the books are available at The Pond
- the books are in english, mostly fiction
There are copies of the book available at The Pond for a 10% discount!
If you want to join the bookclub remotely, or track your reading for these books, you can joining the Storygraph challenge for funsies.