Queer Eye for the Crime Tale

In 2023, a study of thirty major crime fiction anthologies revealed A disturbing figure: of the 517 stories published, fewer than one percent were written by LGBTQ+ authors. That statistic speaks volumes—not only about ongoing exclusion in publishing, but about whose stories are deemed worthy of telling. Enter Crime Ink: Iconic, a new anthology co-edited by award-winning novelist John Copenhaver and Bywater Books publisher Salem West. A vibrant and unapologetic collection of crime fiction stories inspired by queer icons—James Baldwin, Radclyffe Hall, Candy Darling, Oscar Wilde, Megan Rapinoe, Laverne Cox, and more—Crime Ink offers a necessary course correction for a genre that has historically sidelined queer voices.

The stories in this book are so compelling and so necessary, now more so than ever. We’re up against a regime whose primary and most devastating weapon has been the deliberate and systematic devaluing of empathy. There is a concerted effort underway to censor our voices, to restrict or eliminate access to our books in schools and public libraries and to label stories based on our lived experiences as “woke propaganda,” inherently obscene, or even pornography.

These two things are not separate, but intimately connected. Because nothing builds empathy like reading and sharing stories. You can’t see people as vermin to be eliminated if you’re allowed to see the world through their eyes.

I’m not talking about Manic Pixie Dream Gays who fart rainbow glitter and make “normal” people’s lives more fabulous, either. The characters you’ll find in this book are complicated, flawed, flesh and blood human beings.

So, if you’re queer and hungry for stories that resonate and make you feel seen at a time when it seems like the whole world is conspiring to erase you, this book is for you. But I really hope that people who don’t think they have anything in common with these characters will check it out too.

-- Christa Faust