Jenny Chamarette | Updates

COAST IS QUEER FESTIVAL: Queer Nature, Radical Gardens in conversation with Jenny Chamarette, Zakiya McKenzie, Natasha Carthew and declan wiffen

Jenny Chamarette — Thu, 6 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Coast is Queer Literary Festival, 17 October 2026, 2pm Gardner Tower, Attenborough Arts Centre

Join us for a deep dive into how queerness and nature entwine; the social, the botanical, and how the inheritance of colonial, patriarchal, hetero and cis-normative categorisations have coloured our understanding of natural and horticultural worlds as well as of human ones. What grows when we use writing to explore gardens, forests, mountains and more with awareness of this, through curious, queer, intersectional eyes?

This panel brings together the unique voices of Natasha Carthew (Undercurrent, Rough Edges), Jenny Chamarette (Q is for Garden) and Forestry England writer-in-residence, Zakiya McKenzie. The panel will be hosted by environmental humanities and queer ecology researcher, declan wiffen (indiscriminate lanking).

3-Day Festival and Saturday Pass holders: This event is free to attend with your pass, but advance registration is required as places are limited. Please book a Pass Holder Free Registration ticket to reserve your place. Without a reservation, we cannot guarantee entry.

Jenny Chamarette is an author, educator, artist and curator based in London. An internationally recognised essayist and cultural critic, their writing has featured in Sight & Sound’s poll of the 100 best films of all time, been longlisted and shortlisted for the Nan Shepherd and Fitzcarraldo essay prizes and published in anthologies by Saraband and Elliott & Thompson. Their art writing has been commissioned by Unit and Grand Union galleries and appeared in outlets such as Another Gaze, LUX and Club des Femmes. Jenny is also Commissioning Co-Editor for the MAI Feminism and Visual Culture imprint of Punctum Books. When not writing they are usually in the garden or the allotment. Their latest book (Q is for Garden) is out now with Manchester University Press.

Natasha Carthew is a working class author of ten books that span poetry, fiction and narrative non-fiction. Her greatly acclaimed Nero Award shortlisted Memoir Undercurrent: A Cornish Memoir of Poverty, Nature and Resilience published with Hodder in 2023. Her much anticipated new book Rough Edges: Where Land Meets Water, the Untold Stories of Coastline Communities with Sceptre/Hodder is out now. Natasha is known for writing on many socio economic issues including rural poverty and access to nature for several publications, programmes and organisations including ITV, The Royal Society of Authors Journal, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, The National Trust, The Bookseller, The Guardian, The Quietus, The Observer, The Women’s Prize, Mslexia, ALCS, The Big Issue, Dispatch Media, The Booker Prize, The Campaign to Protect Rural England and The Economist.

Dr. Zakiya McKenzie is a writer and cultural historian based in Bristol, UK. In 2019 she was writer-in-residence for Forestry England and in 2021 artist-in-residence at Studio Voltaire in London. Her 2021 Rough Trade Books historical fiction pamphlet, Testimonies on the History of Jamaica Vol. 1, explores the natural and social history of Jamaica in 1655, the year Britain took the colony from Spain. Dr. McKenzie won the 2023 Olivette Otele Prize in Black British Studies, convened by the Institute of Historical Research, for her paper The Making of the Empire Windrush as a cultural motif, which challenged contemporary ideas of the Empire Windrush as a vessel of hope and dreams for postwar Caribbean people in Britain. She completed a PhD in English at the University of Exeter on the history of Black British newsprint in December 2023. Her essays have appeared in anthologies including Haunting Ashton Court, Radical Landscapes, Reading the Forest, Women on Nature, Gifts of Gravity and Light, and The Wild Isles.

Dr declan wiffen (chair) is a writer and teacher living in Kent. He runs a yearly queer writing retreat for Write Southwest Scotland, is making a short documentary about the writer Kate O’Brien, and his current writing projects are interested in archival desire, queer gardens, gossip as scholarship

This panel is supported by The University of Brighton’s Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics and Ethics (CAPPE)

INFORMATION AND TICKET BOOKING HERE

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QUEER HISTORY CLUB: Q is for Garden in conversation with Jenny Chamarette, The Bookish Type, Leeds, Wednesday 23 September, 7pm

Jenny Chamarette — Thu, 6 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Date: Wednesday 23rd September 2026

Time: 7-9pm

Venue: The Bookish Type, 77a Great George Street, LS1 3BR

INFORMATION AND TICKET BOOKING HERE

As part of Queer History Club we invite you to join Jenny Chamarette in discussing their new title Q is for Garden!

Q is for Garden is a bold, tender exploration of how queerness and nature entwine - and what happens when we step beyond the binaries that fence us in.

When Jenny Chamarette faced a devastating health crisis, they found themselves unmoored from the rules of gender, sexuality and productivity. In a small South London garden, Jenny began to imagine another way of living: porous, unruly, rooted in the lessons of soil and plant life. Gardens, like identities, are usually bounded - but what if those limits can be re-drawn?

Blending memoir and cultural criticism, this book asks whether the categories we inherit - colonial, patriarchal, conventions of sexuality and gender - still serve us, or whether they confine us. From illness and recovery to queer love and ecological wonder, Q is for Garden invites readers to reimagine how we inhabit land, culture and each other. An eloquent work of nature writing and queer thought, Q is for Garden digs into the rich history of queer gardeners, botanists, artists and agriculturalists. It offers a hopeful vision of belonging, if we are curious enough to unearth it.

During the event Jenny will be in conversation with our very own Liza Bulgakova, followed by an open Q&A and, of course, book signing!

Jenny Chamarette is an author, educator, artist and curator based in London. An internationally recognised essayist and cultural critic, their writing has featured in Sight & Sound, been longlisted and shortlisted for the Nan Shepherd and Fitzcarraldo essay prizes and published in anthologies by Saraband and Elliott & Thompson. Their art writing has been commissioned by Unit and Grand Union galleries and appeared in outlets such as Another Gaze, LUX and Club des Femmes. Jenny is also Commissioning Co-Editor for the MAI Feminism and Visual Culture imprint of Punctum Books. When not writing they are usually in the garden or the allotment.

As well as being part of The Bookish Type team, Liza Bulgakova is an artist & co-director of The Grief Garden CIC - a community-led project that invites people who are experiencing grief to work together to co-create a garden as a place of acceptance, connection and healing. Liza has a deep interested in and passion for the reciprocal relationship between nature, creativity and wellbeing.

Date: Wednesday 23rd September 2026

Time: 7-9pm

Venue: The Bookish Type, 77a Great George Street, LS1 3BR

INFORMATION AND TICKET BOOKING HERE

Tickets are on a sliding scale (£13 / £8 / £5 / £3 / £0)

Please be honest about your financial situation when selecting what to pay for your ticket. If you purchase a ticket at the lowest end of the scale when you could afford the higher ticket prices, it makes it harder for us to provide financial flexibility to those who most need it.

£13 "I have more than enough to comfortably meet my basic financial needs and can afford to contribute a little extra to support access for others."

£8 "I always comfortably meet my basic needs and have a stable amount of disposable income."

£5 "I am consistently able to meet my basic needs and have some disposable income."

£3 "I have minimal to no disposable income but can regularly meet my basic needs."

£0 "I have no disposable income and regularly cannot afford my basic needs."

Tickets are only refundable up to 7 days before the event starts. Please email to cancel.

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Access Info

The shop has an 8cm step but we have a ramp we can put in place if required.

There is a downstairs bathroom with toilet and hand basin.

There is a range of seating including chairs that are armless with padded seats and backs, armless sofa, bench with cushions.

Face masks are encouraged but not required; an H13 HEPA air purifier will be in use.

On street parking available (charges may apply).

Please email in advance if you have any specific access needs: thebookishtypeleeds@gmail.com

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WEAVING QUEER PERSPECTIVES: Eleanor Medhurst, Alice Hattrick and Jenny Chamarette in conversation, Kemptown Books, Brighton

Jenny Chamarette — Thu, 6 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Wed, 9 Sep, 7pm - 9pm BST at Kemptown Books, 91 St George's Rd Brighton, United Kingdom

INFORMATION AND BOOKING LINK HERE

Join us for an evening where we will be weaving queer perspectives and histories with three authors, all exploring the threads between queerness and creativity in different ways and the power of documenting and archiving queer lives through the arts: embroidery, fashion and gardening.

Eleanor Medhurst is a historian of queer fashion and culture and author of the blog Dressing Dykes. She has worked on Brighton Museum’s exhibitions Queer Looks and Queer the Pier, and is pursuing a PhD in lesbian craft history at the University of Brighton. Unsuitable: A History of Lesbian Fashion is her first book.

Alice Hattrick is a writer and lecturer based in London. Their book Fancy Work, published in June 2026, explores the life of embroidery designer May Morris and MF, May’s gender non-conforming partner of twenty years, alongside others who have found in textiles a means of resistance. Ill Feelings, their non-fiction book on chronic illness, intimacy and mother-daughter relationships, was published by Fitzcarraldo Editions in 2021. Alice’s criticism has been published in Art Review, frieze, The White Review and TANK, among other publications. They are the co-producer of Access Docs for Artists, made in collaboration with Leah Clements and the late Lizzy Rose, and teach at University of the Arts, London.

Jenny Chamarette is a writer, curator and cultural critic shortlisted for the Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay and Nature Chronicles Prizes and longlisted for the Nan Shepherd Prize. Their book Q is for Garden (Manchester University Press) is a genre-bending work of creative non-fiction that traces queerness, nature and transformation beyond our inherited binaries. Jen’s essays have appeared in This Allotment (Elliot & Thompson) and Queerphoria (Verve), and they regularly collaborate with artists and galleries on interpretive and critical writing. Jen is also Commissioning Co-Editor for the MAI Feminism and Visual Culture imprint of Punctum Books. When not writing they are usually in the garden or the allotment.

NB: We apologise for the inconvenience but our bookshop is currently not wheelchair accessible.

The toilets are located on the ground floor.

The event space/bookroom café is located at the top of a staircase (17 steps).

Please do get in touch if you’d like to know more details to plan your visit ahead.

Email is: salomee@kemptownbookshop.co.uk

INFORMATION AND BOOKING LINK HERE

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A conversation and sunset ritual at Queer Bloomsbury, Charleston, near Lewes, East Sussex

Jenny Chamarette — Sat, 8 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

**STOP PRESS** QUEER BLOOMSBURY 2026 AT CHARLESTON

INFORMATION AND TICKET BOOKING LINKS HERE

At the Queer Fayre (7pm-8pm), from 8-8:45pm, Jenny Chamarette will lead a gentle, drop in conversation around their book Q is for Garden: Tending the Histories of Queer Cultivation, reading and making space for a shared conversation about queer futures and radical gardening.

Then from 8:45pm, Jenny will create a sunset ritual for all, involving a procession around the site, followed by a silent gathering until 9pm.

INFORMATION AND TICKET BOOKING LINKS HERE

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Daunt Books Notting Hill: An event with Jenny Chamarette in conversation with Diarmuid Hester: Q is for Garden

Jenny Chamarette — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

TICKET LINK HERE

We look forward to welcoming Queer author and radical gardener Jenny Chamarette to Notting Hill to discuss their book, Q is for Garden, a bold yet intimate exploration of queerness and gardening.

Jenny will be joined in conversation with queer cultural historian Dr Diarmuid Hester, author of Nothing Ever Just Disappears, for a conversation about hidden queer histories and queerness in relation to place – both urban and wild.

‘A generous and profoundly creative study of how all forms of life can learn to flourish in hostile climates, this book is an important work of queer scholarship and a beautiful companion through difficult times.’ – Octavia Bright, author of This Ragged Grace

Ticket price includes a glass of wine or a soft drink.

TICKET LINK HERE

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Book Launch - Q is for Garden, Category Is Books, Glasgow

Jenny Chamarette — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Join us for a reading and Q&A with visiting writer Jenny Chamarette to learn about a queer history of gardens! Friday 17 July 2026. 7pm. Tickets are free and available via Outsavvy: https://www.outsavvy.com/event/35298/book-launch-q-is-for-garden

Q is for garden combines queer history, personal narrative and a love of gardening. An eloquent work of nature writing and queer thought, Q is for Garden digs into the rich history of queer gardeners, botanists, artists and agriculturalists.

Blending memoir and cultural criticism, this book asks whether the categories we inherit – colonial, patriarchal, conventions of sexuality and gender – still serve us, or whether they confine us. From illness and recovery to queer love and ecological wonder, Q is for garden invites readers to reimagine how we inhabit land, culture and each other.

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Q IS FOR GARDEN: ON NATURE'S RADICAL QUEERNESS, Lighthouse Books, Edinburgh

Jenny Chamarette — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Join us in the garden of Lighthouse Books for an evening with Jenny Chamarette.

Online recording available here: https://lighthousebookshop.com/events/q-is-for-garden-jenny-chamarette-on-tending-the-histories-of-queer-cultivation

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Q IS FOR GARDEN LAUNCH // QUEER NATURE EXTRAVAGANZA

Jenny Chamarette — Fri, 3 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Kirkdale Books and Grow Mayow Community Garden proudly present:

Q is for Garden Queer Nature Extravaganza!

A celebration of queer nature, community and the launch of Q is for Garden, a new book tending the histories of queer cultivation by Jenny Chamarette.

* WITH SPECIAL GUESTS SO MAYER, MIRA MATTAR, ELLA PHILLIPS & DARRYL GADZEKPO AKA ELECTRIC FUTURE FOODS, AND DECLAN WIFFEN*

Join us for joyful evening of queer nature, storytelling, gardening, creativity, performance and community in the heart of South East London.

Readings, poetry, music, workshops, storytelling, conversation, seed planting, shared food, rituals and more...

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