Glittership began as a podcast for reprints of short stories with LGBTQ characters and themes. Recently, however, they have begun publishing some original stories as well. As of 2017, Glittership is also available in ebook format in advance of the audio versions of the stories.
The first of these collections, Winter 2017, features four original stories and three reprint stories. There’s a range of speculative fiction encompassed in these stories, including high fantasy, sci-fi, and more, similar to other spec fic publications.
Of the original stories, I particularly loved “Cooking with Closed Mouths” by Kerry Truong. In this story, the protagonist, a gumiho (a nine-tailed fox that appears in the myths and legends of China, Japan, and Korea) learns to cook for another of their kind, even though they don’t need to eat food and derive no pleasure from it. The interaction between this gumiho and their adopted sister and the selflessness they show in learning to cook is touching.
My favorite story out of the reprints was Agatha Tan’s “for she is the stars, and the sun revolves around her,” which first appeared in the Hwa Chong Institution Literary Magazine. A remarkable second-person story, it casts the reader as a super villain trying to maintain her burgeoning romance with a charming woman. Second-person narration can be a tricky thing to do well, and this story excels at it.
As someone who much prefers reading stories in print as opposed to listening to podcasts of stories, I am very pleased that Glittership will continue in ebook format. I look forward to reading more of the fantastic LGBTQ stories that they publish!
You can pick up your own copy of Glittership Winter 2017 here!
The publisher provided us with a free copy of this publication in exchange for an honest review.
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