Book Club - Slapping Leather - Queer Cowfolx at the Gay Rodeo by Elissa Ford and Rebecca Scofield (Austin)
Subculture Lit is a book club with East Austin Writing Project. In February we will be discussing Slapping Leather - Queer Cowfolx at the Gay Rodeo by Elissa Ford and Rebecca Scofield at an in-person gathering in Austin, TX.
Full Description
Join Subculture Lit book club with the East Austin Writing Project for a deep dive into Slapping Leather: Queer Cowfolx at the Gay Rodeo, a book that charts the history of gay rodeo from its inception in the 1970s into the present day.
Gay rodeo was founded as an alternative for folks who were excluded from traditional rodeo activities, changing the form into something campy and raucous, a spectacle of gay masculinity and gendered performance. The book explores how this circuit has changed and evolved from its rise during the country-western heyday in the 70s, through the AIDS crisis of the 80s, to its declining numbers today. We see that, although this space is liberating for many, it has its own boundaries, binaries, and traditional barriers that prevent it from being an open form of competition.
Combining oral histories and deep research archives of the International Gay Rodeo Association, Elyssa Ford and Rebecca Scofield created a book that demonstrates how the LGBTQ+ movement was not just urban and liberal. It is a movement that intersects with suburban, rural, and conservative people and ideologies and has proven to be resilient in the face of a global pandemic, politics, and internal debates.
About Subculture Lit & EAWP
Subculture Lit is a themed book club series from East Austin Writing Project, a literary arts community offering Poetry Club, Craft Intensives, Critique I & II, and more in Austin, TX. We focus on books that challenge form, elevate underrepresented voices, and support small press publishers, inviting conversation across genres and disciplines.
Please read Slapping Leather - Queer Cowfolx at the Gay Rodeo before the event and receive 15% off your book purchase at Alienated Majesty Books by mentioning our book club.
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Austin, Austin, TX, East Austin, Arts & Culture, Literary Arts, Book Club, Subculture, Non-Fiction, Queer, LGBTQ+,