2026 Reading Challenge: June LGBTQIA+ Authors

As we launch into June, we celebrate Pride Month! A month to share the experiences, stories, challenges and happinesses associated with all the ways to love and be loved, to identify and be identified. This month, our reading challenge encourages you to seek out stories by members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Maybe you already have some writers in mind, but below are a selection of fabulous writers we love, and the books both new and old that you might want to spend time with this month.

A Flash in the Dust by Meg Caddy

1899, Fremantle Asylum, Western Australia. For three years now, Gilberta Brady has kept quiet and stayed out of trouble, hoping to soon be released. But when Norah Devaney screams into the ward with revenge in her heart and a story no-one believes, Brady's carefully guarded peace is shattered.

On the run and out of options, they collide with Kedalak and Malkar, Nyungar brothers on their own journey home. They form an unlikely gang of bushrangers and embark on a dangerous mission- track down the man who killed Norah's mum. But little do they know that the Whistling Man is hunting them too.

Eros by Zoe Terakes

A sexy modern take on ancient Greek myths that embraces the history and endurance of queer love, from an exciting Australian writer.

Eros is a stunning collection of short stories, grounded in truth and coloured with dazzling imagination and alluring unpredictable mystery. Revealing how queerness, nature and myth have been intertwined for eternity, these are stories of gods and goddesses: of Zeus, of Aphrodite, of Hermaphroditus, of Icarus before he flew into the sun. Stories of queer life, lust, revenge, wrath, passion and sex. Of yearning, love, loss. Some stories span across a life, and others, an evening. Perspectives will shift. Houses will burn. Lovers will learn their fate. Zoe Terakes has skilfully blended myth and modernity to illuminate the complex and enduring truth of trans lives, resisting a history of erasure and delivering a sexy, soul-touching book to read to your lover . . . or yourself.

To The Moon and Back by Eliana Ramage

Steph Harper is on the run. When she was five, her mother ran - with Steph and her younger sister in tow - from an abusive husband into the arms of a small Cherokee community, where she hoped they might finally belong. But Steph soon sets her sights as far away as she can get, vowing that she will let nothing interfere with her dream to become an astronaut, and ultimately, to go to the moon.

In Steph's certainty that only her ambition can save her, she will stretch her bonds with the three women who know and love her most dearly - her younger sister Kayla, an artist whose determination to appear good takes her life to unexpected places; her college girlfriend Della, who strives to reclaim her identity as an adult after being removed from her family as a young girl through a challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act; and her mother Hannah, who has held up her family's history as a beacon of inspiration to her kids, all the while keeping the truth about her own past a secret.

Yeah the Boys by Holden Sheppard

Seven years after escaping their rural hometown, the boys – Charlie, Zeke and Hammer – are back, though not as we left them. Charlie's fighting spirit has faded as he's struggled to make it as a punk musician in Perth. The opening of a new gay bar by Curtis and Ahmed, an older gay couple who have become Charlie's mentors, offers him a different way to make his mark – but the bar's opponents have other ideas.

Zeke is lost. He knows what he stands against – the closeted life and conventional success his strict Italian parents demanded of him – but doesn't know what he stands for. He surprises himself by joining a gay footy team: is it the mistake his friends think it is, or will playing footy finally give him what he's always wanted?

Hammer has it all – fame and fortune as a star football player – or so he thinks. He's still closeted, and can't stand the AFL stuffing diversity initiatives like Pride Round down everyone's throats, especially his. But when he opens his mouth, he ignites a furore that throws all the boys' lives into chaos. Unapologetic and unforgettable, this is the story of three boys finding their way back to each other, and finding their own ways to become men.

We Call Them Witches by India-Rose Bower

Britian, two years after they came . . . Most people have been devoured by the eldritch creatures. Sara and her family have been fighting for survival. And the only thing that works against these monsters - these Witches - is their knowledge of folklore and pagan rituals.

When a girl named Parsley suddenly appears in the garden of their current camp, she cannot remember where she came from or why she's there. As Sara and Parsley begin to develop feelings for each other, disaster strikes, and Sara's younger brother Noah is snatched by the Witches. They must find him and set out across desolate moors full of merciless terror, to hunt the very creatures they've been hiding from. Can they succeed in saving Noah? Will Parsley and Sara's burgeoning love survive these bloodthirsty Witches? and, who can Sara trust in a world void of humanity?

Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend

Morrigan Crow is cursed. Born on an unlucky day, she is blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks - and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on Eventide.

But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters on horseback, he whisks her away into the safety of a secret, magical city called Nevermoor.

It's there that Morrigan discovers Jupiter has chosen her to contend for a place in the city's most prestigious organisation: the Wundrous Society. In order to join, she must compete in four difficult and dangerous trials against hundreds of other children, each boasting an extraordinary talent that sets them apart. Except for Morrigan, who doesn't seem to have any special talent at all.

To stay in the safety of Nevermoor for good, Morrigan will need to find a way to pass the tests - or she'll have to leave the city to confront her deadly fate.

Devotion by Hannah Kent

Hanne and Thea's friendship is a miracle. Before, Hanne always felt apart from the local girls, but with Thea it all came easy. Suddenly she could imagine a future for herself, a happy one, by Thea's side. But when their tight-knit community embarks on a long and brutal journey to Australia, in search of new freedoms on old land, Hanne and Thea's bond must find a way to survive the most impossible devastation. Will their love prove too strong for even Nature to break?

The In-Between by Christos Tsiolkas

Two middle-aged men meet on an internet date. Each has been scarred by a previous relationship; each has his own compelling reasons for giving up on the idea of finding love. But still they both turn up for the dinner, feel the spark and the possibility of something more. How can they take the risk of falling in love again. How can they not? 

A tender, affecting novel of love, of hope, of forgiveness by one of today's most fearless and truthful interpreters of the human heart, the acclaimed bestselling author of The Slap and Damascus. 

Letters to my Younger Queer Self edited by Daniel Harding

If you could write a letter to your younger queer self, what would you say? What advice would you share? And what would you have really wanted, or needed, to hear?

This heartfelt collection of letters written by eminent queer people across music, television, activism, comedy and politics, is a celebration of self-acceptance and an inspiring resource for anyone who has ever struggled with ‘growing up different’. Each letter is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and a powerful reminder that love transcends all. Contributors include comedian Suzi Ruffell, concert pianist Cyrill Ibrahim, Nadia Whittome MP, Olympic gymnast Andrew Stamp, star of RuPaul’s Drag Race Alaska, HIV activist Philip Baldwin, TV personality Ella Morgan and gallery director Robert Diament, to name a few.