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The Coast Is Queer Festival
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The University of Sussex's Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts is delighted to host this year's The Coast is Queer Festival, Brighton & Hove's annual festival of LGBTQ+ writing, from 16 to 18 October 2026.
The festival will feature four days of lively conversations, panel discussions, workshops, performances and film screenings, celebrating some of the most exciting voices in LGBTQ+ literature. Featured writers include Shon Faye, Susan Stryker, Thomas Glave, Sarah Waters, Julia Armfield, Kirsty Logan, Juno Dawson, Patrick Gale and many more.
The 2026 programme includes a range of events taking place across the University campus. On Friday 16 October, student curators will present a programme of events, including the panel discussion Self-Publishing: The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful.
The Meeting House Chapel will also host an exhibition of 40 individual panels from the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt, which will be on display throughout the festival and free to visit. The UK AIDS Memorial Quilt commemorates more than 550 people who have been lost to HIV and AIDS across the UK. Student Ambassadors from Media, Arts and Humanities will support the exhibition as hosts and invigilators.