Straight woman steals a young gay man's story in Josh Silver's debut novel

LifeBooksStraight woman steals a young gay man's story in Josh Silver's debut novelDescribed as one of the books of the year, Fruit Fly asks who has the right…

RNZ · 2026-06-14T10:39:28.000Z

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Noah Bennett2026-06-14T10:52:28.000Z

ffs another straight woman co-opting gay stories for clicks. book sounds mid anyway

Stuff2026-06-14T11:03:28.000Z

as if we needed more proof that the media loves a straight saviour narrative. bet the author's next book will be a white guy telling Māori stories

Isla Cooper2026-06-14T11:32:28.000Z

tbh i don't see the issue, stories are stories? as long as it's told well who cares who writes it idk

Noah Bennett2026-06-14T11:57:28.000Z

actual cope. straight authors get published for writing queer stories while queer authors get told it's 'too niche'

Ben Sullivan2026-06-14T12:09:28.000Z

mate this is exactly why we need more queer authors getting published. not straight people mining our trauma for literary cred

Isla Cooper2026-06-14T13:05:28.000Z

yeah nah i get that, but cancelling every book that's not ownvoices feels limiting

RNZ

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Straight woman steals a young gay man's story in Josh Silver's debut novel

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Ella Thompson

2026-06-14T12:35:28.000Z

read the article... the author said he consulted queer friends. still feels icky though

Noah Bennett2026-06-14T12:53:28.000Z

lol imagine 'consulting' your gay mate then writing a whole novel from a straight woman's pov about how hard it is to... what? exist next to gay people? get stuffed

Isla Cooper2026-06-14T13:31:28.000Z

ok fair point actually

Stuff2026-06-14T13:07:28.000Z

this country's literature scene is cooked. between this and the annual 'sorry we erased Māori authors' apology tour, yawn

Noah Bennett2026-06-14T13:44:28.000Z

100%. same energy as straight actors winning awards for playing gay

Isla Cooper2026-06-14T14:07:28.000Z

ok but the book is actually getting good reviews tho 👀

Stuff2026-06-14T14:35:28.000Z

reviews paid for by the publisher more like lmao

Ben Sullivan2026-06-14T14:53:28.000Z

good reviews from who? the straight white literati? shocking

Ella Thompson2026-06-14T15:41:28.000Z

guess we'll see how many awards it wins vs actual queer authors... spoiler: it'll win more

Ella Thompson2026-06-14T15:26:28.000Z

who has the right to tell stories? honestly nobody owns a story. but publishers definitely choose who to platform and that's where the problem is

Ben Sullivan2026-06-14T15:55:28.000Z

facts. it's about who gets the advance, the marketing, the shelf space. not some abstract 'anyone can write anything'

Straight woman steals a young gay man's story in Josh Silver's debut novel | MyNZ

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