This post was written by NQC facilitator, Jordan DuPont
I’ve been an avid reader since I was four years old. In the back of my mom’s Nissan Altima, I’d devour the adventures of Junie B. Jones and regale (read exhaust) my poor mother with my opinions of the character’s hi-jinks and wit. As I got older, I became enthralled with fantasy and dystopian series: Hush Hush, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Hunger Games, and Maximum Ride to name a few—that is until I stumbled upon my first Adult Book™️. It blew my mind. I was titillated and embarrassed, and I had no idea books could make you feel. So. Much. Looking back it wasn’t that good: it was a generic thriller my aunt happened upon at the airport, but there were stakes and “adult situations.” But I had no-one to talk to about it.
In my 7th grade Advisory class, I told a classmate I loved to read. She unknowingly changed the trajectory of my life when she asked, “Have you heard of Wattpad?” I was once again titillated, embarrassed, yet intrigued by the smut and romantasy endemic to the app. The benevolent misogyny was rife and the politics were often rather reactionary, but I felt. So. Much. I encouraged (read lovingly coerced) my friends to have a kind of informal book club based on the stories on the app. In between classes we’d huddle around our lockers to discuss the latest chapter update or analyze the characters as we hurriedly changed into our athletic uniforms. Reading and yapping about what we read was a central activity in my friendships.
My favorite class in college was the Human Event. We read texts for homework—whether the texts were books, essays, songs, or films—and talked about them in class. For a season, I ran a book club between myself, my mother, and my college roommate. In college I dreamed of having a weekly book club, where wine would flow, cheese spreads would abound, and laughter and conversation would ring into the early hours of the morning.
My political-spiritual values have evolved, leaving me a more discerning and critical reader, and my identity has shifted, expanding my literary interests and tastes. However, my desire to both read and discuss books that make me feel. So. Much. Has remained. Queer Book Club is an opportunity to honor my lifelong impulse and desire while enhancing it. I now understand how essential it is to read Queer stories as a practice of bearing witness, critiquing capitalism, and exercising our radical imagination. I understand how essential it is to read Queer stories by the global majority whose Queerness resists and subverts whiteness and individualism.
Reading is the foundation of my creative practice. My writing emerges from the margins of books and spills onto my writer’s notebook. My reformulations and reflections of various texts (and the conversations I have about them) are the basis of many of my essays and poems. My hope is that Queer Book Club, by pairing the reading of Queer literature with generative and fervent discussion, will deepen and sweeten your creative practice. That ideas and images will pour out of the books and into you, your art, and your life. If you, too, love to read and yap, I hope to see you in Queer Book Club. I look forward to it!
Queer Book Club meets via Zoom on the first Sunday of every month from 7-8:30pm UK, starting February 1st 2026, and is facilitated by Jordan DuPont.
Jordan DuPont is a student of transformation, experiential and embodied living, and liberatory politics. She teaches high school English and is certifying to be a Focusing professional. She has facilitated a variety of containers ranging from People’s Assemblies and Tenant 101 trainings, to literary salons and grief circles. Jordan spends her time writing synthesis and research essays, theorizing about fanfiction and smut, and being with her significant others. Jordan also facilitates What is Romance, Really? - starting Feb 15th.
NQC Clubs are ‘practice’ spaces where members of the community meet to engage in particular creative practices, with gentle guidance and invitations from facilitators. These meet monthly throughout the year and can be joined (or left) at any time, via monthly subscription.
Neuroqueer Creative monthly practice clubs include: Queer Book Club, Bad Art Club, Bad Zine Club & Writing Club. Subscribe to one club for £6 a month, two for £11, or all four for £20. Join our Skool Community to access all four clubs at a 10% discount (£18) and receive a 5% discount on all NQC courses.
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