Reading the Game: Queerness in Sports Literature and Culture

You don’t have to be an athlete to join this roster.

Queer sports stories are having a moment. Whether it’s the Heated Rivalry phenomenon, the Cleat Cute adaptation we’ve all been waiting for, or the IRL narratives from leagues like the WNBA, the prevailing notion that sports belong to the straights has finally been unseated.

Memoirs, journalism, romance, literary fiction, fandom, and internet culture are proving that there is a space for queer people to see themselves in this classic storytelling structure, and this discussion will get into it all.

We’ll explore how sports have become a powerful platform for storytelling, identity, community, and joy—and why queer audiences are gravitating to this space right now.

We’ll talk favorite books, sports narratives we love (or could leave), the explosive fandom around leagues like the WNBA and the art its inspired, and what happens when readers, athletes, and internet communities start playing for the same teams. You don’t have to be an athlete to join this roster.

Stef Ferrari is a three-time Emmy Award–winning and James Beard Award–nominated producer on the PBS docuseries The Migrant Kitchen. She served as senior editor at Life & Thyme and is the author of the young adult novel Pining for You and cookbooks Stuzzichini and Ice Cream Adventures, as well as the coauthor of Aarón Sánchez’s memoir Where I Come From and the nonfiction A Woman’s Place, with Deepi Ahluwalia.