Our Queer Histories
From the aisles of Canadian Tire to the beaches of Hawai’i’s Puna District, experience yearning. Travel not only in distance, but in time to joyfully attend gay bars in the ‘80s, ‘90s, and ‘00s. Feel the weight of losing a good friend, of regret. Watch parents accept neighbours but not their children. Join us in telling a few government officials to shove it where the sun doesn't shine, and in raising your glass to every incredible queer body. Smile at all the first kisses, dances, and choose-yourself-finallys. This collection invites you to witness what it means—what it’s always meant—to be a queer person navigating the world.
All this and more in the Eavesdrop’s first anthology. You can purchase a limited Canadian-made copy, listen to the audio here or on your preferred music fix service, or browse through the handmade digital version.
* Many pieces in our magazine include descriptions of violence, which some readers may find uncomfortable. Be sure to take care as you read and listen.
Welcome new and returning art lovers!
We always strive to be transparent in our work, and want to give you a brief explanation of why things look a little different moving forward. We are a small group of volunteers who are passionate about uplifting queer and other marginalized artists. We do everything ourselves in-house and don’t use AI for editing, email writing, webpage creation, social media, or in the curation process at all. Our capacity is limited, and we want to keep doing cool things! That is why we made the decision to no longer house each artist’s piece in an individual section, but to have one webpage for each issue with the accessible PWYC e-book download. It takes a lot of time to build the webpages, time that is precious and essentially spent elsewhere. We’ve also noticed that folx are not viewing each piece on the website the way they would with a physical copy or e-book. We are committed to fiscal accessibility, but also getting our artists’ work seen, felt, and heard by as many folx as possible. So, we are making our PWYC sliding scale e-book option available starting at $0, but we appreciate anything you can give to help us keep this mission alive.
Each audio performance will be housed on this page as well, so you can continue accessing our audio without utilizing a streaming service. We hope this transition is smooth, and we are always open to suggestions and feedback.
&& • AMBER DAWN • ANGELA • AO-ASEN • ARCA • BISHOP • BODO • BOTEJU • BRIENZA • BRUCE • CHAN • DESMARAIS III • DE VRIES • DUFRESNE • GAREAU • HATCH • HEALING • JOHNSTON • ISSENMAN • KAPLAN • MCFADDEN • MCKENNA • NEAL • PENNER • PERREAULT • RUSSELL •sajanlal • SALLAY-CARRINGTON • SANASSY • SCHULTZ • simpson • SMITH • TANAKA • VILLACA • YILDIZ • WYLDE
Our Queer Histories was created asynchronously from multiple locations in British Columbia, including the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Quw'utsun, Snuneymuxw, Snaw-Naw, Lək̓ʷəŋən, and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples. In our work, the Eavesdrop team strives to honour our commitments and obligations as uninvited guests on these territories. We are committed to the work of peace-building, taking meaningful action, and building equity from a place of gratitude and self- education. Please visit our Reconciliation page to learn more about how we are currently honouring our commitments.
Larissa Piva: Founder, Lead Audio Engineer, Assistant Editor, Typesetting, Fundraising, Media & Marketing
Claire Miller-Harder: Managing Editor, Typesetting and Layout, Media & Marketing
Lena Mutafov: Audio Engineer, First Reader, Proofreader
Cover image: “Our Bodies” by Alma Perreault, modelled by Bisungu Tychique
We would like to gratefully acknowledge the funding from the BC Arts Council’s Arts Impact grant that made this project possible.
Thank you also to our Eavesdrop subscribers who helped bring this Anthology into the world!
Laura Dawson
Sarah Sangster
Michael Lee de Vries
Greta
Terri Gower
M. Gordon
The University of Victoria
Want to become an Eavesdropper? Click here to check out our magazine subscriptions!
Pay what you can digital book
Experience pieces how the artists intended. Read along performances, and help support artists as every donation goes toward our next issue <3
Suggested donation is $10, but anything you can give helps our mission! If you can’t spare anything right now, don’t worry, you can still access the book. We are committed to accessible art. There are many free ways to support our mission, including, but not limited to, asking your local library to stock Eavesdrop, streaming our audio, putting us on your wishlist, subscribing to our RSS feed, following us online, or telling a friend about us!