Trans Embodiment: Tran Mag's TGNC Literary Guide 2026
For our first themed reading list we’re focused on trans and gender-non-conforming embodiment; this contains such diverse topics as medical transition, sex work, critical theory on the trans body, cross-dressing, trans tattooing, intersex variations, and more.
First on our list is a recent publication which has already become a classic for us at Tran Mag, SO WHAT IF I’M A PUTA: DIARES OF TRANSNESS, SEX WORK, DESIRE by Amara Moira, translated from the Portuguese by Bruna Dantas Lobato and Amanda De Lisio, and published by Feminist Press. SO WHAT IF I’M A PUTA is a definitive translation of Amara Moira’s popular blog of the same name, where she posts her insightful (sometimes sorrowful, sometimes joyful, sometimes both) reflections of being a “travesti putafeminista”. https://feministpress.org/cdn/shop/files/9781558613485.jpg?v=1752203743&width=1080
Next is Le Lin’s T4TOO Volume 1: A trans guide to hand-poking published by Hand Saw Press in Japan. A beautiful risograph zine, T4TOO is a trans-focused and forward how-to guide on stick and poke tattooing. Starting with a history of tattooing as an indigenous practice, T4TOO teaches an art form of bodily self-making akin to transition in many ways.https://cdn.myportfolio.com/ffe31769-2b4c-428f-97e2-687f8ff3bcd3/35a2f4d8-7574-42f6-ba48-5798afa097aa_rw_3840.jpg?h=26df9376882e5ef307b8c2a6f7dc09f5
A truly unique piece, ATLAS OF QUEER ANATOMY is a collaboration between artist and graphic designer Kuang-Yi Ku and doctor and anatomist Henry de Vries, published by Limestone Books. Sitting between an art book and a medical textbook, ATLAS OF QUEER ANATOMY is both beautiful and enlightening, looking at intersex variants, gender affirming surgeries, and more. https://limestonebooks.org/cdn/shop/files/s.jpg?v=1748013909
A classic in queer theory, DISIDENTIFICATIONS: QUEERS OF COLOR AND THE PERFORMANCE OF POLITICS by Jose Esteban Munoz, published by University of Minnesota Press is still as impactful as ever, over 25 years after its first publication. Most well-known for his monograph CRUISING UTOPIAS, DISIDENTIFICATIONS is an equally enlightening look at how those on the fringes of mainstream sexual cultures and identities construct themselves and their unique identities through remixing mainstream cultures, rather than identifying with or against them. Included are some of our favorite reflections on one of our favorite artists- Vaginal Davis! https://covers.libro.fm/9798855557787_1120.jpg
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Pedagogies of Travesti Liberation by Maria Clara Araújo dos Passos pub. Haus der Kulturen der Welt in German and English
Short History of Trans Misogyny by Jules Gill-Peterson, general co-editor of the journal Transgender Studies Quarterly, pub. Verso Books
The Club Kids by Walt Paper
Who’s Afraid of Gender by Judith Butler
author of the seminal Gender Trouble
Archivo de la Memoria Trans Argentina
Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity by C. Riley Snorton
author also co-wrote A Black Queer History of the United States pub. Beacon Press with Darius Bost
Lotus by Max Pinckers and Quinten de Bruyn
My Face for the World to See by Candy Darling
We Both Laughed in Pleasure: The Selected Diaries of Lou Sullivan 1961-1991 edited by Ellis Martin and Zach Ozma, introduction by Susan Stryker pub. Nightboat
Females by Andrea Long Chu
fan of Andrea’s? Check out her new book Authority!
Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love, and So Much More by Janet Mock and the follow-up memoir Surpassing Certainty: What My Twenties Taught Me
Testo Junkie: Sex, Drugs, and Biopolitics in the Pharmacopornographic Era by Paul B. Preciado translated from the Spanish and pub. by Feminist Press
Want more of Paul? His most recent monograph Dysphoria Mundi was translated into English this year.
Rose of Versailles by Riyoko Ikeda translated from the Japanese
We Are All Non-Binary by Kadji Amin. Amin is currently working on his second monograph Transmaterialism without Gender Identity which is previewed in this paper. His first monograph Disturbing Attachments is a fascinating and thoughtful mediation on Jean Genet’s place in queer history.
