On the Shelf for December 2025
The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode # with Heather Rose Jones

Your monthly roundup of history, news, and the field of sapphic historical fiction.

In this episode we talk about:

• Accomplishments and upcoming milestones


• A podcast that listeners may be interested in: Our Dyke Histories


• Recent publications covered on the blog
  
  
  • Levin-Richardson, Sarah. 2013. “Fututa Sum Hic: Female Subjectivity and Agency in Pompeian Sexual Graffiti” in The Classical Journal, 1083. pp.319-45.
  
  
  • Walker, J. 2006. “Before the Name: Ovid’s Deformulated Lesbianism” in Comparative Literature 58.3, pp.205-222.
  
  
  • Castle, T. 1983-4. “Eros and Liberty at the English Masquerade, 1710-90” in Eighteenth-Century Studies, XVII, 2: 156-76.
  
  
  • Friedman-Rommell, Beth. 1995. “Breaking the Code: Towards a Reception Theory of Theatrical Cross-Dressing in Eighteenth-Century London” in Theatre Journal 47, no.4: 459-79.
  
  
  • Howard, Jean E. 1988. “Cross-Dressing, the Theatre and Gender Struggle in Early Modern England” in Shakespeare Quarterly 39: 418-40. (Also appears in: Howard, Jean E. 1993. “Cross-Dressing, the Theater, and Gender Struggle in Early Modern England” in Crossing the Stage: Controversies in Cross-Dressing, ed. Ferris, Leslie. Routledge, London.)
  
  
  • Andreadis, Harriette. 2006. “Re-Configuring Early Modern Friendship: Katherine Philips and Homoerotic Desire.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 523–42.
  
  
  • Kramer, Rene. 2015. That Mysterious, Remisse Knot: Katherine Philips’s Unincorporated Fraternity. Honors Thesis.
  
  
  • Stevenson, Mark & Wu Cuncun (eds. and trans.). 2013. Homoeroticism in Imperial China: A sourcebook. Routledge, New York. ISBN 978-0-415-55144-1
  
  
  
  



• Recent Lesbian/Sapphic Historical Fiction
  
  
  • Souvienne by Aldwin Beckett
  
  
  • Without Apology (Jane Smith #3) by Charlotte Taft
  
  
  • Inverts in a Violet Room by Peter Forrester
  
  
  • Whispers of the Heart: Lady Eleanor's Secret by Rhia Kampus
  
  
  • Hiding the Flame by Angela M. Sims
  
  
  • On the Edge of Uncertainty by E.V. Bancroft
  
  
  • Brought to Heel by Ella Witts & Serah Messenger
  
  
  • Pearl Bound by Natalie Bergman
  
  
  
  



• What I’ve been consuming
  
  
  • Network Effect by Martha Wells
  
  
  • System Collapse by Martha Wells
  
  
  • The Witch Roads by Kate Elliott
  
  
  • A Mouthful of Dust by Nghi Vo
  
  
  • Raised for the Sword by Aimée
  
  
  
  



• Call for submissions for the 2026 LHMP audio short story series. See here for details.


• This month we interview Maya Dworsky-Rocha and talk about:
  
  
  • The historic context and terminology of anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews
  
  
  • Cultural clashes and conflicts around ideas of gender
  
  
  • The historic work of Daniel Boyarin and Jewish gender stereotypes
  
  
  • Maya’s use of non-binary characters to reflect these ideas
  
  
  • The symbolic uses of eating, temptation, and impurity in the story
  
  
  • ”Authorizing” queer desire via projection
  
  
  • Maya’s writing partnership as Sylvia Barry
  
  
  • The Devil and the Jews by Joshua Trachtenberg
  
  
  
  

A transcript of this podcast is available here. (Interview transcripts added when available.)

Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online

• Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp


• Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog


• RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/


• Twitter: @LesbianMotif


• Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server


• The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon

Links to Heather Online

• Website: http://alpennia.com


• Email: Heather Rose Jones


• Mastodon: @heatherrosejones@Wandering.Shop


• Bluesky: @heatherrosejones


• Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)

Links to Maya Dworsky-Rocha Online

• Website: https://www.sylviabarrybooks.com/


• Bluesky: @mayadrocha.bsky.social


• TikTok: @mayadrocha