When Michael Hobbes’ longform piece “The Epidemic of Gay Loneliness” came out last year, it took the queer community by surprise. It wasn’t the subject matter that felt fresh–being queer and lonely is as old as time–but the comprehensive look at how the confluence of Internet culture, hook-up culture, and generalized anxiety disorders has created a time-specific portrait of queer Sturm und Drang in the 21st century.
Even though the link between being queer and being lonely might seem an obvious one, its roots are less commonly explored. Instead of seeing gay loneliness as a modern problem, artist Richard Dodwell has compiled an anthology of queer loneliness, “Not Here: a queer anthology of loneliness” that traces the roots of the problem back to earlier days, when finding a community was, for many artists and thinkers, a lifelong challenge. With pieces from Olivia Laing (“The Trip to Echo Spring”) and Sarah Schulman (“People in Trouble”) among other contributors, the anthology is set to redefine the way we think about the queer loneliness epidemic in the years to come.
Although the book, released in October, is only available at a few bookstores currently, we’re hoping we’ll see it carried in Skylight and Stories soon enough.
