Reading ​Proud 3

october 5, 2024

event ​programme

schedule

Musih Tedji Xaviere + ​Iqbal Hussain

coming of age fiction

Five leaves ​bookshop

We are a radical bookshop, located in the ​centre of Nottingham. We have had a Black ​Writing/Black Lives section since we ​opened, and have sections on feminism, ​LGBTQ+ writing, disability and ​neurodiversity as well as many others. Our ​children’s books focus on diversity.

Five Leaves Bookshop set up a national ​Feminist Book Fortnight for 2018, which ​included many writers, publishers and ​about fifty independent bookshops in ​Britain, Ireland and Italy.

We have been regional finalists for the ​British Book Awards’ Independent ​Bookshop of the Year nine years in a row. In ​2018, 2019 and 2021 we won the Midlands ​section, in 2018 going forward to win the ​national final as Independent Bookshop of ​the Year.

In 2019 we won a Nottingham Rainbow ​Heritage Award for our support for LGBT+ ​communities in the city.

In 2022 we won a Nottingham Windrush ​Award for our support for Black writers.

Nottingham ​Central ​Library

Reading Proud has be held at a different ​venue every year of its existence, but we’re so ​happy to be working with the new ​Nottingham Central Library this year. ​Allowing us to bring the event into the city ​centre, with lots of space, and working with a ​venue with books at its core, public service as ​its duty and a strong record of platforming ​LGBTQIA+ writers and readers in events.

Olivia douglass

they/them

Olivia Douglass is a British-Nigerian writer, ​poet and artist. They are the winner of The ​Guardian and 4th Estate 4th Write Prize ​2022 with their short story ‘Ink’. They are ​the author of two poetry pamphlets, ​Unruly Blood with Little Betty Press (2024) ​and Slow Tongue, self-published (2018).

Troy jenkinson

he/him

Troy Jenkinson is an Equality, Diversity, ​Inclusion & Belonging Specialist. A former ​headteacher, he wrote his first children’s ​book in response to bullies to give a voice ​to children with same-sex parents. He now ​works with a range of schools, trusts, ​corporate companies and charities to ​empower staff to strengthen their own ​sense of belonging.

sacha coward

he/him

Sacha Coward has worked in museums ​and heritage for over 10 years. For the past ​three years, he has been freelancing as an ​historian, public speaker, tour guide and ​researcher. He has run LGBTQ+ focused ​tours for museums, cemeteries, archives, ​and cities around the world.

Sacha is passionate about queer history, ​mythology, folklore and storytelling in all ​their many forms. 'Queer As Folklore' is his ​first book.

iqbal hussain

he/him

Iqbal Hussain is a writer from Blackburn, ​Lancashire, and he lives in London. He is a ​recipient of the inaugural London Writers’ ​Awards 2018 and he won Gold in the ​Creative Future Writers’ Awards 2019. ​Northern Boy is his first novel.

Musih Tedji Xaviere

she/her

Musih Tedji Xaviere is a Cameroonian ​fiction writer based in the UK. Her debut ​novel, ‘These Letters End in Tears’, won the ​2021 Pontas and JJ Bola Emerging Writers ​Prize. She is represented by the Pontas ​Literary and Film Agency.

LP Mills

he/him

LP Mills is an author, game designer, ​journalist, and beard owner. He currently ​lives in front of a computer screen in ​Nottingham, UK, where he feverishly tells ​stories in an attempt to ignore his day-to-​day responsibilities. His dog, Jack Daniels, ​has yet to compliment him on his writing.

ellie Sharpe

she/her

Ellie Sharpe is a writer, musician and ​comedian. She has performed at venues ​across the country and is the co-host of ​Trash Fic: a night of erotic fanfiction ​readings she subjects the people of ​Nottingham to several times a year. She ​lives in Nottingham with her partner, her ​son, and a cat named Griffin who hates ​her.

gareth peter

he/him

Gareth Peter is an author and stay-at-​home dad, living in Nottingham with his ​partner, two huskies and their two ​adopted children. In 2018 Gareth was ​selected as one of ten exceptional finalists ​onto the Penguin Random House ​WriteNow mentoring scheme, seeking ​new voices from under-represented ​communities.

Lalah-Simone Springer

she/they

Lalah-Simone Springer is a working class ​poet and speculative fiction writer. Lalah’s ​debut poetry collection, An Aviary of ​Common Birds was published by Broken ​Sleep Books in August 2023.