I was a real book worm as a kid. Flashlight under the covers and up until the wee hours of the morning to finish the last chapter because I needed to know what would happen.
And yet, it took me well into my thirties to realize that there were no fat, main characters in my favourite genres of science fiction and fantasy. And if any character was fat, it was linked to a stereotype like greed, evilness, laziness, sloppiness, etc.
Anti-fat bias is alive and well in the publishing world. So, when writers dare to create truly diverse worlds, it’s a really big deal.
Carlie Kuhtz (they/them) has written a six-part queer fantasy series with a fat, non-binary protagonist. The first volume is Sloe Moon: Tall Trees and the second is Sloe Moon: Stoneharp.
The Fat Joy book reviewer, A. Cavouras, read and loved Sloe Moon: Tall Trees. I’ll share the review when it’s done.
In our conversation, Carlie and I talk about what it’s like to use writing to envision the the world they want to live in, how it’s radical to have a fat and ambitious main character, and how in writing these books, they’re choosing themselves in a way that literature didn’t.
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