Proud Pink Sky (Paperback or Softback)

In this stunning work of speculative urban fiction, Redfern Jon Barrett breaks down the binary between utopia and dystopia—presenting an ambitopian vision of the world’s first gay state.

A glittering gay metropolis of 24 million people, Berlin is a bustling world of pride parades, polyamorous trysts, and even an official gay language. Its distant radio broadcasts are a lifeline for teenagers William and Gareth, who flee toward sanctuary. But is there a place for them in the deeply divided city?

Meanwhile, young mother Cissie loves Berlin’s towering high rises and chaotic multiculturalism, yet she’s never left her heterosexual district—not until she and her family are trapped in a queer riot. With her husband Howard plunging into religious paranoia, she discovers a walled-off slum of perpetual twilight, home to the city’s forbidden trans residents.

Challenging assumptions of sex and gender, Proud Pink Sky questions how much of ourselves we need to sacrifice in order to find identity and community.

Redfern Jon Barrett (they/them) is a writer, community activist, and author of the novels Forget Yourself and The Giddy Death of the Gays & the Strange Demise of Straights, which was a finalist in the Bisexual Book Awards and shortlisted for a Lambda Literary Award. Redfern's short stories have appeared in Booth, The Sun, Passages North, SLEEK, and Flash Fiction Online, were shortlisted for Scotland's HISSAC prize, and longlisted for the Royal Academy/Pin Drop Short Story Award; their other writing has been featured in publications including Guernica and PinkNews, as well as the National Museum of Denmark.

Born in the North of England, Redfern lived in market towns, seaside resorts, and post-industrial cities, before moving to Wales and gaining a Ph.D. in Literature from Swansea University (Prifysgol Abertawe). Their campaign work for LGBTQ and polyamory rights has been referenced in The Mirror, Metro, BBC News, Buzzfeed, and The Independent. Now Redfern lives in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin, with two boyfriends and far too many books.

Learn more about them at www.redjon.com