Released on March 19th, 2019, “Lot: Stories” by current Rice professor Bryan Washington features a collection of short stories on black and brown queer Houstonians navigating through their city. Released to universal acclaim, the book found a slot on Barack Obama’s favorite books of the year.
“Perhaps the most important character in Lot is Houston itself, and Washington does a brilliant job making the city come to life in all its imperfect glory. His book is an instant classic of Texas literature, but it’s more than that — it’s a stunning work of art from a young writer with immense talent and a rare sense of compassion, and one of the strongest literary debuts in several years.” – NPR
Selections from Lot were among the mandatory readings for the Literary Houston class in Spring 2020. These readings inspired much in-class spirited discussions, as well as many of the white papers.
“In this enthralling collection of interconnected short stories, Washington vividly portrays the interior lives of his marginalised fellow citizens, often overlooked in literature save as characters sketched to elicit pity and despair. These are tough yet tender tales of uncertain existences, stalked by the certainty of future violence and the shadow of homelessness.” – The Guardian
To read the white papers on this topic, click on one of the following titles:
Lot: Stories Work by Caleb Dukes
Fueling Houston’s Future: Petro-masculinity and Intersectional Queerness in Bryan Washington’s Lot by Aaron Nguyen
Queer Masculinity in Illicit Spaces by Abby Webb
The Narrator Stays by Kierstin Wilkins
