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Brighton & Hove’s festival of LGBTQ+ writing, The Coast is Queer, returns on 9 October 2025 for its seventh year with four days of conversations, panels, workshops, performances and films at the Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, on the University of Sussex’s Falmer campus.

Bringing together queer readers, writers and allies in a grassroots celebration of the written word, the festival showcases some of the best and brightest LGBTQ+ voices. This year promises to be the biggest yet, with new venues joining the programme and a vibrant Queer Heritage Hub opening at the University of Sussex Library.

The University of Sussex is delighted to have worked with four student curators who, alongside students from the University of Brighton, have curated the following panels:

Graphic Sexuality – The Novel Art of Being Queer, 10 October 2025, at 11:30am: exploring how graphic novels, zines, and illustration can tell queer stories that words alone cannot. Chaired by Sina Shamsavari, with Joe Glass, Alex Taylor (azbt), and Meg-John Barker, the event dives into the power of visuals to reveal hidden truths, identities, and futures.

Re:Search – Breathing New Life into Queer History, 10 October 2025, at 1:30pm: Reimagining queer histories to shape queer futures. Featuring Sacha Coward, Eleanor Medhurst, and DJ Ritu MBE, the discussion will spotlight the inventive ways researchers and artists are bringing hidden LGBTQ+ stories into the light.

The festival opens with a can’t-miss event: Archive Beyond Words with Topher Campbell on 9 October 2025, at 6:30pm. A Sussex alumnus, Topher will give a performance lecture which delves into his life and work on a journey through childhood, nightlife, archive and the Black Queer Body. The event is co-presented with Black at Sussex and will be followed by a conversation with writer and broadcaster, Harold Offeh.

Topher’s open event will be followed by The Coast is Queer’s annual Open Mic Event at 8:00pm, where AFLO. the poet, Sea Sharp, Kae, Erin James and Rick Dove will all perform, alongside any budding poets at the festival who would like the chance to perform in front of a live audience. If you are interested in taking part, please arrive early to register your interest!

Honorary Sussex graduate and four times shortlister for the Booker Prize,  Ali Smith will be in conversation with Jackie Kay on 12 October 2025, at 4:30pm. This is event will be an unforgettable conversation between two of the greatest living queer writers, and a meeting of Scottish literary giants in front of a live audience.

Author and Professor of Creative Practice and Visual Cultures, Piotr Cieplak is taking part in a panel titled  Not That Innocent on 11 October 2025, at 3:30pm,exploring the world of queer crime and thriller writing. Answering the question: How can more queer writers get their thrilling, criminal ideas onto the page and out into the world?

Dr. Samuel Solomon, Associate Professor in Creative and Critical Writing, at the University of Sussex and member of the steering committee for The Coast is Queer, said: “It's been a real pleasure to work with the student curators as they develop a pair of panels that build both on their passions and on their extensive and varied knowledge of contemporary queer writing. This is the third year of the student curators programme, which always brings new things to the festival and provides the students with hands-on experience in producing events and enhances their knowledge of contemporary literary culture.”

Dr. Samuel Solomon will also be chairing the panel Truth and Daring on 11 October 2025, at 1:30pm, which, in company with Roxy Bourdillon and Jeremy Atherton Lin, explores alternative approaches to writing memoirs, and understanding memory as a process of reimagining our truth.

The Coast is Queer runs from 9 - 12 October 2025 and tickets are available here

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