Tag Archives: bisexual

Happy Saint Nicholas Day!

Posted on December 6, 2023 by Kevin Allen | 1 comment

{The Calgary Gay History Project is on hiatus until the New Year. Look for new queer history content in 2024!}

December 6th is Saint Nicholas Day, when Santa comes to visit (in some countries).

Kevin as a moderately jolly St. Nick—sans beard!

If you know someone who has been good all year and deserves a present, check out our two award-winning books from our in-house imprint, ASPublishing.

Our Past Matters: Stories of Gay Calgary hit #1 on the Calgary Herald bestseller list in 2019 and has been popular ever since. John Ibbitson, from The Globe and Mail, explains: “You are going to read about some amazing people, places, and times in these pages… There is no one better equipped than Kevin Allen to give us a tour.”

What Narcissus Saw is Gordon Sombrowski’s second book of fiction exploring life in Fernie, BC. It was selected from hundreds of contenders as a finalist in the Whistler Independent Book Awards last October. The awards jury wrote: “Sombrowski’s linked short stories immediately draw in the reader. He deftly breathes life and intrigue into his settings and characters with language to be savoured.”

Books are available in Calgary at Shelf Life Books and Pages.

You can also purchase books and have them shipped from our online store for $24.99 + $6.99 shipping (in Canada).

Happy holidays!

{KA}

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Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged bisexual, Calgary, Christmas, gay, Gay history, history, lesbian, Our Past Matters, Pages on Kensington, queer, Saint Nicholas, saints, santa, Shelf Life, sinterklaas, st-nicholas, transgender, What Narcissus Saw, Xmas

History gives us company

Posted on November 23, 2023 by Kevin Allen | 1 comment

Thanks to everyone who came out to the queer history presentation last night at the Memorial Park Library. Kevin concluded his talk with a quote from Timothy Snyder’s profound book On Tyranny.

History allows us to see patterns and make judgements. It sketches for us the structures within which we can seek freedom. It reveals moments, each one of them different, none entirely unique. To understand one moment is to see the possibility of another. History permits us to be responsible: not for everything, but for something. The Polish poet Czesław Miłosz thought that such a notion of responsibility worked against loneliness and indifference. History gives us the company of those who have done and suffered more than we have.
—Timothy Snyder

To that end, this Sunday at 8:30 PM, see Queendom at CUFF.Docs. The documentary is about Gena Marvin, a contemporary queer artist from a small town in Russia. Gena stages radical public performances—in a nation hostile to queers—that becomes a new form of art and activism.

Let’s give Gena some company in Calgary.

{KA}

1 Comment

Posted in Gay history

Tagged bisexual, CUFF.Docs, Czesław Miłosz, gay, Gena Marvin, lesbian, On Tyranny, Queendom, queer, Russia, Timothy Snyder, transgender

Queer History Nov. 22 @ Memorial Park

Posted on November 16, 2023 by Kevin Allen | 2 comments

We’re excited to share new findings from the Calgary Gay History Project. Reserve your free spot next Wednesday, 6 PM, at the Memorial Park Library here. If you come, you might also win a special edition hard copy of Our Past Matters!

As a sneak peek for next week’s presentation, we were sent a collection of Calgary photos, circa 1980, from Glenn Crawford, who does queer history in Ottawa/Gatineau with the Village Legacy Project. The photos were taken by Capital Xtra! photographer and journalist Philip Hannan, who passed away earlier this year.

*The historic Backlot bar circa 1980. Photo: Philip Hannan, courtesy of the Hannan family and the Village History Project*.

Does the neon sign in this photo look familiar? As the contemporary Backlot bar faces an eviction and the hunt for a new location, it might be comforting to know it has moved before!

{KA}