This last month has been stressful with a break up and a friend’s suicide attempt a week before three major assessments were due. Needless to say, I crumbled. But I’m out of that state now and my pencil is pointed up (this is not a euphemism).
I’m looking forward to smashing something out for ZineWriMo, and will be holding/attending events in Brisbane in November and December, so if you’re working on something right now then I’d like to hear about it (literally nothing cheers me up more than listening to someone geek out about queer stuff).
I’ll also be reading Nevo Zisin’s Finding Nevo, Rainbow Rowell’s Carry On (with the fabulous @kevinwada cover), and Yoon Ha Lee’s Ninefox Gambit (a kind gift from @coraltum). If you’ve read these titles, or want to read along, just send me a message.
Don’t forget you can also find me on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
- Wolfram-J VK
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
âś“ Live Streamingâś“ Interactive Chatâś“ Private Showsâś“ HD Qualityâś“ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Quick Review: Finding Nevo by Nevo Zisin
Rating: 5/5
This is an exquisite memoir examining the author's journey with their Jewishness, gender and sexuality growing up in Australia in the 2000s/2010s. Zisin talks about their struggles and experiences with such openness and with such simple language that it's easy to lose yourself in the world they grew up in.
I also just really enjoyed reading about an Australian queer person for a change, getting to read about moments in our recent queer history that I remember, that struck me just as hard. Cultural shifts that I lived through, have scars from too. It was comforting to read about, really, but still eye-opening in lots of ways.
I'd recommend this to anyone wanting to expand their queer nonfiction horizons.
The quote: I have only ever been me. Sometimes, I have been more authentically myself, but I have only ever transitioned from me to a better version of me. I don't identify with the words "female" or "male". They are not my words. The space in which I have felt gendered female and transitioned to gendered male has been in the ways people have treated me. — Nevo Zisin
This is a book that I think needs to be available to all young adults in public libraries and school libraries. For people who are questioning their gender or sexual preference, or allies of them. It is so readable, so confident. Nevo reminds people that it is okay to be yourself, that it is okay to take time finding yourself. Nevo is a personal and intriguing mix Jewish, trans, queer, polyamorous, Australian. It is the journey this is fantastic.
There are a few wonderful pieces of writing in Finding Nevo. After their chest surgery Nevo wrote a letter to their breasts, it is incredible. The afterword is brilliant. The whole book is so quotable too, Nevo has a wonderful style. Nevo has in a way seen the world from both sides of the gender divide that makes this a brilliant book for that. With the whole book feeling like it could have been either extremely cathartic or extremely stressful to write. I’m glad they wrote it; young people need something written in a young perspective for all things but especially development topics.
Nevo wrote their autobiography at 20, while that sounds very young they have lived a story that needs to be told. One that in a time of LGBTQIA+ discussion is especially relevant. They provide a perspective on life as an LGBTQIA+ person, finding themselves and meeting of the communities we all belong to. Family plays a big role both positive and negative. They challenge us all as readers and people to be more than amazed and touched, they challenge us to become activists and make the world a safer, less scary place for people like them. That challenge is firmly accepted.
Finding Nevo is probably a 4.5-star book. I liked it and the glossary, the resources and the suggested readings are so valuable. I just felt something was missing, not sure what I can’t put my finger on it but I can’t find it in me to give it 5 straight.
Goodreads
I have been fortunate enough to see Nevo speak on a panel with Alison Evans. Both are wonderful, inspirational people. If you ever have the opportunity don’t turn it down. And yes, Nevo’s sense of humour does translate from written form to performance and visa versa.
Meet Nevo: girl, boy, he, she, him, her, they, them, daughter, son, teacher, student, friend, gay, bi, lesbian, trans, homo, Jew, dyke, masculine, feminine, androgynous, queer. Nevo was not born in the wrong body. Nevo just wants everyone to catch up with all that Nevo is. Personal, political and passionate, Finding Nevo is an autobiography about gender and everything that comes with it.
Although this is a short simple read, it brings a lot to the table that no other trans YA memoir I've read has. That Nevo is, like me, Jewish and living in Melbourne is just the cherry on top.
There’s not really spoilers for this one, but a longer review can be found under the cut anyway!
This is by far my favourite of the trans memoirs I've read so far. These books tend to explore a lot of the same ideas and similar experiences, and although there's nothing wrong with them individually, I loved what new things Finding Nevo brought to the table. It explores more complicated feelings towards the body than most trans books do, whether autobiography or fiction, in a way that really resonated with me, and discusses other rarely explored topics such as loss of identity while passing. Anyone who wants to learn about the trans experience, whether trans themselves or not, would do well to read this book.
The quality of the prose was a very bare bones, recounting style. However, this doesn't impact the overall quality too much and did make it a very quick and easy read.Â
On a personal level, I loved that this was written by a Jewish Melburnian. Nevo's Jewishness is an important part of their life, and it was wonderful to receive that affirmation that one can integrate being both trans and Jewish into their lives as I become increasingly involved in the Melbourne Jewish community myself.Â
The Melbourne background was also a lot of fun, although sometimes borderline surreal, with Nevo seeing, for example, the same psychiatrist as me to get approval for hormones. This isn't just a fun background, however, as the book also talks at length about the Safe Schools Coalition, a prominent recent issue for Australia's queer community. As a young person who was positively affected by it and campaigned on its behalf, Nevo's voice is an important one and I'm glad the book will help it be more widely heard.
Hey guys. I recently got to go to a launch of an amazing Australian auto biography called Finding Nevo by Nevo Zisin, who is a Jewish, transmasculine non binary person. And it's just essentially about their journey to discovering their current identity. They're in their early 20s and it's just so amazingly and beautifully written and I'm just telling everyone to go read it. To badly quote something Nevo said at the launch, it's not going to be a road map for every person going through a similar experience but there are resources and places mentioned where one can go to find their own road map. Basically go find a copy at your local bookshop, library or even online. I really hope that's articulate enough.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
âś“ Live Streamingâś“ Interactive Chatâś“ Private Showsâś“ HD Qualityâś“ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Meet Nevo: girl, boy, he, she, him, her, they, them, daughter, son, teacher, student, friend, gay, bi, lesbian, trans, homo, Jew, dyke, masculine, feminine, androgynous, queer. Nevo was not born in the wrong body. Nevo just wants everyone to catch up with all that Nevo is. Personal, political and passionate, Finding Nevo is an autobiography about gender and everything that comes with it.
   Nevo identifies as queer, transmasculine and non-binary. Nevo works with children as a youth leader, and runs programs and workshops in schools about gender and sexuality.
    “A gorgeous coming of age story about one person’s journey to discover themselves. Zisin is a compelling storyteller with a delightful and exciting new voice.” Clementine Ford
     This is a timely book and important book. The controversy over the Safe Schools program has reinforced the need for issues surrounding gender and sexuality to be discussed openly.
