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Posted On: November 2nd 2026, 06:40 pm
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📚🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️Forest Gate Pride is delighted to be hosting an event as part of Newham Festival of Stories. Join us at 4pm on Saturday 14th November for what promises to be a lively conversation about queer stories in contemporary literary fiction, with authors Arathi Menon and Curtis Garner.
Arathi Menon’s debut work of literary fiction Da was published in June 2026 in the UK by Fly on the Wall Press and Picador in India. Her memoir Leaving Home with Half a Fridge is published by Pan Macmillan India, and her middle-grade mystery novel, A Thud in the Middle of the Night – published in Kerala by DC Books – has also been published by Yali Books in New York with the title A Mystery at Lili Villa. Menon’s awards include the SI Leeds Literary Prize and Novel London. She has also been on numerous shortlists and longlists, including the BPA First Novel Award, Cinnamon Literary Award, Virginia Prize for Fiction, UA 100X100, FAB Prize, Ivan Juritz Prize and the Penguin WriteNow programme. Her instagram is @arathimenonauthor
Curtis Garner is the author of Orange, a Dazed ‘Most Anticipated Novel’ of 2026, and the ‘instant queer classic’ Isaac, which was published in 2024 to critical acclaim. He was born in Cornwall in 1996 and moved to London when he was eighteen to study Creative Writing and English Literature. He graduated in 2017 and has been working in publishing since. In 2020 he also received an MA with Distinction from Manchester Writing School, where much of Isaac was written. In his spare time he reviews novels on Instagram (@queer_novels).
Arathi Menon and Curtis Garner’s books will be available for purchase at the event. This event is organised in collaboration with Forest Gate Pride. The conversation will be chaired by Ekin Oklap, International Booker Prize shortlisted translator, and author of the novel First Summer. https://www.newhamfestivalofstories.org/events/queer-stories-in-contemporary-literature/ Tickets free, book via Newham Festival of Stories website.
Arathi Menon’s debut work of literary fiction Da was published in June 2026 in the UK by Fly on the Wall Press and Picador in India. Her memoir Leaving Home with Half a Fridge is published by Pan Macmillan India, and her middle-grade mystery novel, A Thud in the Middle of the Night – published in Kerala by DC Books – has also been published by Yali Books in New York with the title A Mystery at Lili Villa. Menon’s awards include the SI Leeds Literary Prize and Novel London. She has also been on numerous shortlists and longlists, including the BPA First Novel Award, Cinnamon Literary Award, Virginia Prize for Fiction, UA 100X100, FAB Prize, Ivan Juritz Prize and the Penguin WriteNow programme. Her instagram is @arathimenonauthor
Curtis Garner is the author of Orange, a Dazed ‘Most Anticipated Novel’ of 2026, and the ‘instant queer classic’ Isaac, which was published in 2024 to critical acclaim. He was born in Cornwall in 1996 and moved to London when he was eighteen to study Creative Writing and English Literature. He graduated in 2017 and has been working in publishing since. In 2020 he also received an MA with Distinction from Manchester Writing School, where much of Isaac was written. In his spare time he reviews novels on Instagram (@queer_novels).
Arathi Menon and Curtis Garner’s books will be available for purchase at the event. This event is organised in collaboration with Forest Gate Pride. The conversation will be chaired by Ekin Oklap, International Booker Prize shortlisted translator, and author of the novel First Summer. https://www.newhamfestivalofstories.org/events/queer-stories-in-contemporary-literature/ Tickets free, book via Newham Festival of Stories website.
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