All the Young Queers, Nathan Evans, book review: ‘Deliciously creative’

Author Nathan Evans. Photograph: courtesy Inkandescent

When we remember our youth, it often comes to us in snapshots – places we went, people we knew.

All the Young Queers, the latest book by local author Nathan Evans, is a series of nine short stories in snapshot form, each based on a character at an age that runs from 16 to 24.

Just as the protagonist of each story is a year older, so the setting evolves from the 1980s to the noughties.

Together the tales provide a kaleidoscopic portrait of what it has been to grow up LGBTQ+ in Britain.

Variety is a big theme; the characters range from political activists to chemsex party aficionados, and many of the experiences they have are widely shared by straight people also: going from a modest northern background to Oxford and mixing with privately-educated rich kids; sampling different cultures in passing crazes; discovering London.

Layered on this are experiences specific to LGBTQ+ people grappling with a world that was just beginning to accept them – sort of.

There is an edginess in never knowing who will be tolerant and who will not be; surprises and disappointments abound.

Evans has a background in script writing and poetry, which is evident in clever use of style.

One story is made up of a series of messages sent on a dating app; another consists largely of legal documents. They also vary in genre from the Bildungsroman style to science fiction.

These deliciously creative snippets of invented memory conjure up images of a past many can relate to, and they will surely delight even those whose experience was quite different.

All the Young Queers by Nathan Evans is published by Ikansescent, ISBN: 978-1-912620-31-9; RRP: £9.99.