FLORRIE by Anna Trench
A queer, historical graphic novel about love and women’s football. When Florrie’s great-great-niece discovers her aunt was a footballer in the early 20th century, she unearths a secret history both on and off the pitch. In 1921, the FA banned women’s matches. @anna_trench
THE NOISY VALLEY by Myfanwy Tristram
True stories of protest from the Rhondda Valley in South Wales. A response to current-day politics and the erosion of our rights to protest, the author interviews local people and shares their stories – and bears witness to a rich culture of those who don’t take things lying down. @mockduck
OUR SHORTLIST
THE HIRAETH CLUB by Gareth Cowlin
Gerald Preston works at Wattersons Booksellers, and lives with a hole in his chest, a physical manifestation of ‘hiraeth’, a Welsh word for irretrievable loss. Sister Jenny died some 20 years ago, and Gerald recruits customers and colleagues to explore that hole in his life. @garethcowlin
THE INFINITE BENEFITS OF SHAME by Corban Wilkin
‘Most people living with gender incongruence don't transition. Not medically, and not socially. Many never talk to anyone about how they feel, and repress it forever.’ A contemporary graphic novel about the relationship between a young man and his gender-non-conforming lover. @corbanwilkin_illustration
MRS THORWALD by Cathy Brett
What really happened to Mrs Thorwald, the ‘nagging New York housewife’, who apparently murdered and dismembered by her adulterous husband? Here’s the story the neighbours couldn’t see, a 3D illustration picture book inspired by Hitchcock’s ‘Rear Window’. @gingerdoodles
BONE BROTH by Alexander Taylor
A coming-of-age queer thriller, following Ash, a young transmasculine queer person, starting his first job in a ramen shop. As he begins to learn the process of making bone broth ramen, he suddenly finds himself caught up in how to cover up the death of his boss after a staff party. @azbtart
ZAYANI ZAM by Mereida Fajardo
A silent graphic novel about loneliness and connection on the Mongolian coal road. It follows a day in the life of a female truck driver who spends every day driving coal from the mines at Tavan Tolgoi to the Chinese border, yearning for the freedom of a nomadic life that no longer exists. @m.ereida