Through the lenses of literary history and the contemporary legal system, Jack Parlett and Marcus McCann explore the history of queer spaces and who is and isn’t welcome. These authors give us an insight into what we can learn from generations of social renegades and utopian dreamers.

In Fire Island, Jack Parlett investigates the imperfect past and present of Fire Island’s complex and fascinating history, both as an exclusive resort village for rich gay men, and as an artists’ paradise, a safe haven from a puritanical society. In Park Cruising, civil rights lawyer Marcus McCann has compiled a study of sex-positive legal reform and the history of queer organising and socialising in Canada and beyond.

Jack and Marcus will be in conversation with Seán Hewitt.

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Jack Parlett is a poet and scholar, and his writing has appeared in the New Yorker, Granta, Literary Hub, BBC Culture, Poetry London and elsewhere.

Marcus McCann is a lawyer who has been involved in a number of high-profile legal projects in the areas of sexuality and LGBTQ rights.

Seán Hewitt is a poet, lecturer and literary critic; he was awarded the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 2022.