Pop-Up Reading Room

The Quilted Bananas Radio Collective presents a relaxed day with rainbow literature in cosy old Thistle Hall. We'll be offering our own personal collections of books, magazines, and other material—including a *boutique* (i.e. small) selection of audio books and spoken word recordings. The closure of the Central Library has reduced the amount of space in Wellington for reading time, so we're opening this nook for a day!

Cups of tea ... cushions ... beanbags ... bake sale ... blankies ... maybe some actual bananas ... overhead heaters ... wheelchair access ... and all our lit laid out: from magical realism to crime novels, from short stories to poetry, from activist essays to biography, to experimental non-fiction. Pay $5 at the door, grab a book, stay as long as you want, lounge around, change that book for a different book, put your feet up.

Most of the material will be lent to you but we'll also have a wee sales table where you might be able to get a treasured tome or two to take away. Cash only. This event is both a fundraiser for, and the first public outing of, our radio collective under the new name!

Who we are: The Quilted Bananas Radio Programme provides lively coverage of news, politics, activities, interviews and music for queer women & non-binary folk. It focuses on Wellington region activities, but also covers national and international news. As an acronym our name stands for: Queer, Intersectional, Intersex, Lesbian, Takataapui, Trans, Enby, Diverse ... Bisexual, Asexual, and Nanas (because a lot of us also identify as nanas). As a metaphor, Quilted Bananas is about celebrating all the slippery overlaps these communities can have.

As the Pop-Up Reading Room will bring together our members' personal mini-libraries, you can expect the material on offer will be on theme and/or by queer authors. While this is a family-friendly event, some literature will likely include adult content, and we'll exercise our wisest judgement when lending it. See you there!

Quilted Bananas (the radio show) airs every Sunday at 10am on Wellington Access Radio 106.1FM, and you can catch up with episodes by podcast online.