Queer shelves: LGBTQ literary activists in London cycle tour

Join Open City for a cycling tour in celebration of Pride month exploring the fascinating history of LGBT literary activism from the East End to Bloomsbury

This fun and inspiring cycle tour led by Golden Key Academy graduate Justin Manley celebrates the history of the bookshops, libraries, and archives which have been preserving and sharing queer stories in London for decades.

Bookshops and public libraries have long brought readers and writers from a range of diverse and campaigning backgrounds together. This leisurely three-hour cycle between Mile End and Bloomsbury is a celebration of literary LGBTQ resistance and resilience in London.

See the public library that defied the government to keep LGBTQ stories on its shelves. Visit the bookshop whose inventory of LGBTQ literature was seized by the government, and the booksellers who fought in Central Criminal Court and won back their books and their right (everyone's right!) to keep selling them. Hear about the archives where banners and posters from decades of protests are preserved and more.

Highlights of the route include: Holborn Library, Bishopsgate Institute and The Common Press Shoreditch High Street a key example of queer book activism today.

Key information

Participants must be competent riders and bring their own bicycle.