Description

SHORTLISTED FOR THE POLARI BOOK PRIZE 2020

‘Staggeringly visionary’ ATTITUDE
‘Essential reading’ CHARLIE CRAGGS
‘Not to be missed’ AMELIA ABRAHAM
‘An absolute gem’ FOX FISHER
‘Beautiful’ CHRISTINE BURNS

‘All those layers of expectation that are thrust upon us; boy, masculine, femme, transgender, sexual, woman, real, are such a weight to carry round. I feel transgressive. I feel hybrid. I feel trans.’

In this radical and emotionally raw book, Juno Roche pushes the boundaries of trans representation by redefining ‘trans’ as an identity with its own power and strength, that goes beyond the gender binary.

Through intimate conversations with leading and influential figures in the trans community, such as Kate Bornstein, Travis Alabanza, Josephine Jones, Glamrou and E-J Scott, this book highlights the diversity of trans identities and experiences with regard to love, bodies, sex, race and class, and urges trans people – and the world at large – to embrace a ‘trans’ identity as something that offers empowerment and autonomy.

Powerfully written, and with humour and advice throughout, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in the future of gender and how we identify ourselves.

Publisher Review

An inspiring, empowering book that is very real and staggeringly visionary. - Attitude * Attitude * In Trans Power, Juno Roche shows us the space we already have to be ourselves. Juno Roche's trans superpower is generosity - from the very first pages, I felt a deep sense of kinship, of being welcomed into an intimate conversation about what it can mean to be trans. Trans Power is a respite, a compendium of maps to the new place, a portal for seekers and makers of liberation. -- Andrea Lawlor, author of Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl Juno's writing is brilliantly personal and honest and always funny. Here, as usual in her work, the thought and theory is led by feeling and is so much more powerful for it. Her interviewees are among the most important trans and nonbinary people in the world today. Trans power is not to be missed! -- Amelia Abraham, author of Queer Intentions: A (Personal) Journey Through LGBTQ+ Culture In the beginning trans people described themselves in the terms coined by outside observers. The result was so often a fixed narrative about the quest to assimilate. In Juno's writing it feels as though trans has pupated and emerged, vibrant, beautiful in all our stunning diversity. -- Christine Burns MBE, author and retired trans equality advocate Trans Power really captures the diversity of the trans experience- essential reading for people who want to gain a better understanding of trans people or for trans people trying to better understand themselves. -- Charlie Craggs, activist and author of To My Trans Sisters An absolute gem. Juno weaves her own powerful words into the words of other inspiration trans people and the result is exactly the title: trans power. -- Fox Fisher, artist, film maker and trans campaigner Trans Power certainly lives up to its name: an empowering, bold and ground-breaking book that will embolden generations to come. Absolutely brilliant. -- Owl, writer, film maker and trans campaigner Another decent read from this author who's been there, done it and wears the t-shirt. Refreshing and interesting warts-and-all tale. What this book left me with is that trans voices do need to be heard, and that trans people need to be seen. I think that the UK is a live-and-let-live country for the most, based on the London I know, but these narrative, as well as Stonewall, tell me that it's getting harder to be trans and out in the UK. This book will make you think, will enlighten you, and will make you want to do what you can in support. - NetGalley reviewer * NetGalley reviewer * Trans Power has a raw, unedited quality that makes you feel as if you're in the room for these discussions, and follows on from Queer Sex in Roche's search for answers around the author's own sense of sexual embodiment. Because of this framing, many of the conversations focus on genitals, sex, and the desirability of trans people in a very emotional and honest way, alongside critiques of the gender binary, patriarchy and structural barriers for trans people. At a time when trans people in the UK are so under attack politically, it felt really important that Trans Power provides the space for such nuanced conversations and the opportunity to hear from a diverse group of trans people in their own words. - NetGalley reviewer -- NetGalley reviewer * NetGalley reviewer *