October 19, 2026 |
We hear it constantly: young people aren’t going out anymore. Clubs are struggling to sell tickets, pubs midweek are dead, twentysomethings are picking up weights over pints.
While there’s a sliver of truth to all that, the capital’s youth are finding new ways to get together, even if it doesn’t involve alcopops and sticky dancefloors. Throughout London, there has been a boom in the literary scene, with reading nights popping up across the city. No two are the same. There are poetry slams, pickand-mix variety shows, trans healthcare fundraisers and basement shindigs where you can hear both smutty fanfics and queer theory over a couple of G&Ts. You never know, you might end up even copping off with a fellow words fan? What the following nights have in common is that you’re guaranteed to hear excellent pieces of writing from some of the capital’s most exciting scribes. Wise words all round.
Raymond E. Slacker
G-STRING THEORY
No topic is off limits at G-String Theory, the naughty reading night run out of the basement at East London’s queer pleasure palace, Dalston Superstore. Hosted by Stretch Books, the LGBTQ+ secondhand bookshop and small press founded by talented writer Raymond E. Slacker, previous editions have included everything from tales of sex toy-addicted divorcees to fanfic about crashing Kristen Stewart’s wedding.
Why did you start G-String Theory?
It came out of my graduate program at CSM. I was reading philosophy and queer theory, and selling vintage porn magazines and rare editions of queer canon texts. This became Stretch Books, my bookshop and press. Then the reading series came after. It was a way of animating my research and the themes I was exploring, while building a community around it.
What inspired you when making G-String Theory?
I remember hearing Eileen Myles say that in the ’70s she saw Chris Kraus reading theory in a G-string at The Poetry Project [in New York], that’s where the name came from. Otherwise, it was really the books I was selling, the writers I was reading like Brontez Purnell, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Gary Indiana, Paul B. Preciado. I was also deeply inspired by queercore/homocore. I really fuck with the spirit of queer punk. The Gen Xers were all about DIY, iteration, trial and not selling out. Whereas of course my generation is so deeply concerned with not being cringe. G-String is about taking a swing!
What sort of stories will we hear on the night?
All sorts. Always a bit of theory, always a bit of smut. I’ve read my play before, friends have shown comics. We always do a theme, but it’s a suggestion not a prescription. Life is like a box of chocolates.
What sort of people are coming?
People who like to have fun – I think G-String is really fun. I always want to cultivate an energy first and foremost. Also, I think artistic people in general will be interested in the night. I try to think about how to fuse different disciplines. Fashion is often a big part of it – I wore my friend Albert Kingsley Meek for the first couple and my friend Cat Feliciano wore the most amazing latex gown made by rubber designer Lilac [Emanuel] at the last one. My friend Rex did the most incredible light installation too.
Why should we come to the next one?
Because you want to see people take swings. There’s such a fierce queer lit scene happening, and I’m so honoured to be able to engage with it.
Photography by Lydia Garnett. Taken from 10 Men Issue 64 – FUTURE, LEGACY, HERITAGE – out NOW. Order your copy here.
