Canadian author transforming traditions of queer literature

By Veronica Newbury

A Montreal author is hoping to break from queer literature traditions and stereotypes through her newly-released novel, Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl’s Confabulous Memoir.

Kai Cheng Thom launched her book in Ottawa at Venus Envy earlier this month, an alternative adult entertainment shop and bookstore on Bank Street.

On Jan. 12, the store opened its doors to the public, after hours, for an intimate reading, discussion and book signing with the author.

The novel, released by the Montreal-based independent publisher Metonymy Press, is Thom’s first full-length work of fiction.

She is a freelance journalist, performer and social worker, and has written several articles for online publications such as xoJane, a women’s lifestyle website, and BuzzFeed.

The book tells the story of a young Asian transgender girl, pathological liar and Kung Fu master who runs away from her home and finds her place within a group of larger-than-life trans women in the mystical City of Smoke and Lights, eventually forming a vigilante gang with them when one of their own is murdered.

The coming-of-age tale is one of adventure and magical surrealism, a departure from what the general public is used to when it comes to queer literature, according to the author.

“Trans people have for a long time been confined to the genre of autobiography,” Thom said. “We’re only considered interesting if we’re writing about our lives or salacious details about our genitals. I wanted to write a trans memoir story that was also an adventure story and that wasn’t necessarily about transitions.”

Thom, who is a transgender woman of colour, is quick to dispel the idea that the story is a representation of her own life. While much of the content was influenced by her experience, she says the surrealist and fantastical elements allow for the novel to go beyond the scope of a traditional memoir.

“I don’t want to be constrained by autobiography, but I also want to have access to autobiography,” Thom explained.

The majority of Fierce Femmes was written one year ago over a two-week period “in a flurry of emotion and rage and self-expression,”

Thom described, at a writing retreat she attended in Halifax. Metonymy Press contacted her shortly after, looking for new material to publish.

Founded in 2014, the publishing house aims to produce fiction and literary non-fiction titles by and for communities striving for social justice.

“We recognized a gap in terms of what was out there for queer and trans writers,” said Ashley Fortier, Metonymy co-founder.“In particular, emerging authors whose realities are existing on the margins and not having their voices heard.”

Fortier said she was familiar with Thom’s work and thought her writing would be a good fit for their mandate.

Fierce Femmes is the second novel the company has published this year and the second to be written by a trans woman of colour.

“The novel really centres around a whole community of predominantly racialized trans women and the feelings that come up because of the way society makes life dangerous and violent for people who exist on the margins,” said Fortier.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, an American advocacy organization, reported that there were 27 homicides of transgender people in the United States in 2016, with the majority of them being transgender women of colour.

That number overtakes 2015 as the deadliest year on record for the trans community. Many of the deaths have been classified as hate crimes.

Despite the novel’s sobering acknowledgement of this kind of violence and discrimination, Agnes Noblet, assistant manager at Venus Envy and the organizer of the launch, said she hopes it fills an area of storytelling “that isn’t centred around tragedy and sadness.”

She added: “I’m just hoping it shows trans teens, and queer teens in general, that you can have these marginalized identities and still have these adventures and still find love as a fully-fledged human being. You don’t have to be Hilary Swank from

Author Kai Cheng Thom showcasing her new book at Venus Envy.

, “ referring to the 1999 film based on the life story of Brandon Teena, an American trans man who was the victim of a brutal hate crime in 1993.

Thom will be releasing a collection of poetry in April. She is also working on a children’s book, expected to appear by the end of this year.