The 81 best LGBTQ+ books by women

Fun Home is foundational in graphic novel studies, queer memoir, and contemporary comics curricula at the university level. It appears on syllabi in English, gender studies, and art courses across North America, though it does not yet occupy the traditional Western canon. Its inclusion in Time's All-TIME 100 Graphic Novels list marks it as essential reading within its form.

Widely taught in contemporary poetry and classics-reception courses.

Taught widely in UK university literature courses and increasingly present in American women's literature and queer studies syllabi. Considered a landmark of LGBTQ+ fiction and British autofiction, and consistently appears on lists of the best British novels of the 20th century, though it has not achieved the universal curriculum presence of the major Anglophone classics.

The Price of Salt — republished as Carol — is regarded as a foundational text in LGBTQ+ literature and appears regularly on university syllabi in queer studies and 20th-century American literature courses. It was named to multiple 'best novels' lists, including TIME's All-TIME 100 Novels, cementing its place as a culturally essential work.

The story is widely taught in contemporary American literature and LGBTQ+ studies courses, and the 2005 Ang Lee film kept it in the public eye. It is not yet a staple of the broader canon like Gatsby.

The Well of Loneliness is a foundational text in LGBTQ+ literary history and is widely taught in gender studies, queer theory, and English literature courses. Its 1928 obscenity trial in Britain and continued cultural resonance ensures substantial presence in syllabi and scholarship, though it occupies an unusual canonical position — more significant for what it represents historically than for its formal literary achievements.

Widely taught in courses on gender, narrative and the contemporary novel.

Mr Loverman appears on syllabi in postcolonial British literature and diaspora fiction courses, though database signals show limited formal syllabus tracking. Bernardine Evaristo's 2019 Booker Prize win for Girl, Woman, Other significantly raised the novel's academic profile, and it is frequently assigned alongside her other work.

Tipping the Velvet is a fixture in queer studies and Victorian literature courses at universities where such programs exist, but it does not appear on mainstream English literature syllabi with the frequency of canonical 19th-century novels. No syllabus or Wikipedia data was returned by the database, though the BBC television adaptation in 2002 significantly expanded its cultural reach. It occupies a firm place in the queer literary canon without having crossed into general literary curricula.

Qiu is a central figure in Taiwanese and queer Chinese-language literature, and this book is widely read in translation and in courses on world queer writing. Its wider canonical reach is still growing.