LadyMen. A Woman Tells About Transgender Women

Original title: LadyMen. Una donna racconta le trans

By: Marchiolo I.

First published in Italy: Falzea, 2010

Genere: Non-fiction 

Overview: LadyMen is a reconnaissance into the human reality of transgender people, linked to social changes in Italy, but still reduced to settings of degradation and crime news. In this inquiry, the author uses an unusual tone to tell stories not only from the news, but also about humanity, to dispel prejudices and overcome the aseptic nature of statistics. The book helps to put some order into the confused magma of fears, prejudices and ignorance that makes Italy one of the least safe places for transgender people in the West.

Notes: Afterword by Alessandro Cecchi Paone.

LGBT Migrants. Practices, Policies, and Contexts of Reception

Original title: Migranti LGBT. Pratiche, politiche e contesti di accoglienza

By: Martorano N. (Editor), Prearo M. (Editor), Guaraldo O. (Preface)

First published in Italy: Edizioni ETS, 2020

Genere: Non-fiction

Overview: This book is about requests for international protection by subjects persecuted in their countries of origin for their gender identity or sexual orientation. It proposes a sociopolitical analysis of the institutional logics and community dynamics that LGBT migrants face in Italy. The book was born from a meeting of multiple research interests and desires, reflections, and interventions within, and at the intersection of, academia and organizations. It is the culmination of research that does not shy away from the social and political dimension, but takes responsibility for it, taking it on and claiming it. The collected essays aim to show and tell realities often made invisible, and invite a reflection that questions the practices, policies, and contexts of reception in which LGBT migrants are accompanied, inserted, brought to — and often deported from.

Life Upside Down

Original title: La Vita a rovescio

By: Baldelli S.

First published in Italy: Giunti, 2016

Genere: Novel

Overview: Set in the first half of the 18th century, the book is based on the true story of Caterina Vizzani who pretended to be a man to escape her fate. At a time when women had no rights whatsoever, young Caterina thinks she is crazy: the idea of getting married terrifies her, she detests female occupations and would like to be a carpenter, she loves women. But, she can't hide, and openly shows her love for a companion. After being denounced for witchcraft, she escapes in male clothes and becomes Giovanni. The story of the quest for one's own life and sexual identity in the 18^th century.

Little Fish

Original title: Little Fish

By: Plett C.

First published in Italy: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2018

Genere: Novel

Overview: Wendy Reimer, a transgender woman, is in her thirties when she discovers that her late grandfather might have been transgender himself.  As she and her friends struggle to cope with the challenges of their increasingly volatile lives, she is drawn to unraveling the whole truth about her grandfather's life. Little Fish explores the more painful side of a transgender woman's life, where her past and her future are irrevocably intertwined.

Notes: Lambda Award Winner.