Pollination Station: Reading List & Community Resources
As part of the exhibition, Tourmaline: Lives of a Pollinator, and in celebration of the artist's newly published book, Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson, we are excited to share a compiled list of publications and community resources, named the Pollination Station, that exists in the Level 3 gallery and online.
The Pollination Station it acts as a collaboratively created library and gathering space for reading, research, rest, and exchange. Developed in close collaboration with Tourmaline and university’s campus libraries across Harvard, it brings together a selection of texts engaging Black trans liberation, abolitionist thought, queer ecologies, and ecological interdependence. At its heart is Tourmaline’s recently published biography of Marsha P. Johnson, a landmark contribution to queer and trans historical scholarship.
More than a resource, the Pollination Station is an open invitation: a place to pause, read, reflect, and spend time with ideas that nourish both imagination and collective life. The library will also serve as the site for a season of public programs—including reading groups, workshops, and intergenerational gatherings—that extend the ethos of Tourmaline’s practice into a shared space of learning and imagining.
The Pollination Station is organized by Laura Céré, Communications and Administrative Coordinator, and Sophie Pratt, Gallery Assistant, in collaboration with the Harvard Libraries and the Digital Transgender Archive. Special thanks to Alessandra Seiter, Community Engagement Librarian at Harvard Kennedy School Library & Research Services, and Jessica Evans Brady, Research & Collections Librarian at the Fine Arts Library at Harvard University.
Interviews
Reading List
Allen, Jafari S. There’s a Disco Ball between Us: A Theory of Black Gay Life. Durham: Duke University Press, 2022.
Avilez, GerShun. Black Queer Freedom: Spaces of Injury and Paths of Desire. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2020.
Baumann, Jason, Edmund White, and New York Public Library. The Stonewall Reader. New York: Penguin Books, 2019.
Bey, Marquis. Black Trans Feminism. Durham: Duke University Press, 2022.
Clare, Eli. Exile & Pride: Disability, Queerness, and Liberation. Durham: Duke University Press, 2015.
Davis, Angela Y. Abolition. Feminism. Now. Chicago, Illinois: Haymarket Books, 2022.
Feinberg, Leslie. Trans Liberation: Beyond Pink or Blue. Boston: Beacon Press, 1998.
Gilmore, Ruth Wilson. Abolition Geography: Essays towards Liberation. London ; New York: Verso, 2022.
Johnson, E. Patrick, and Mae Henderson. Black Queer Studies: A Critical Anthology. Durham: Duke University Press, 2005.
Keeling, Kara. Queer Times, Black Futures. New York: University Press, 2019.
McAllister, Marvin Edward. White People Do Not Know How to Behave at Entertainments Designed for Ladies & Gentlemen of Colour: William Brown’s African & American Theater. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003.
Reay, Barry. Trans America: A Counter-History. Medford, MA: Polity Press, 2020.
Riemer, Matthew. We Are Everywhere: Protest, Power, and Pride in the History of Queer Liberation. California: Ten Speed Press, 2019.
Rose, Syan. Our Work Is Everywhere: An Illustrated Oral History of Queer & Trans Resistance. Vancouver, BC: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2021.
Ryan, Hugh. The Women’s House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison. New York, NY: Bold Type Books, 2022.
Somerville, Siobhan B. Queering the Color Line: Race and the Invention of Homosexuality in American Culture. Durham: Duke University Press, 2000.
Spade, Dean. Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics, and the Limits of Law. Durham: Duke University Press, 2015.
Stanley, Eric A., and Nat Smith. Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex. Oakland, CA: AK Press, 2015.
Stryker, Susan. Transgender History: The Roots of Today’s Revolution. Seal Studies. Berkeley: Seal Press, 2017
Calling the Shots: A Queer History of Photography / edited by Zorian Clayton; with Lydia Caston and Hana Kaluznick. By Clayton, Zorian. (London: New York: Thames & Hudson Ltd, in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum; 2024.)
Whitney Biennial 2024: Even Better Than the Real Thing. By Whitney Biennial (2024: New York, N.Y.) (New York, NY: Whitney Museum of American Art, [2024])
The Queer Arab Glossary = Almuejam Alearabiu Alkubaraa. / edited by Marwan Kaabour; foreword by Rabih Alameddine; illustrations by Haitham Haddad; glossary edited by Suneela Mubayi. By Kaabour, Marwan. (London: SAQI, 2024.)
Tuck and Roll / J. Houston. By Houston, J. (London: GOST Books, 2023.)
The Other Side / edited with Alex Kwartler and Alex Nelson. By Goldin, Nan. (Göttingen: Steidl, 2023.)
To Be Seen: Queer Lives 1900–1950 / herausgegeben von = edited by Karolina Kühn und Mirjam Zadoff; essays by Gürsoy Doğtaş, Michaela Dudley, Sander L. Gilman, Dagmar Herzog, Ulrike Klöppel, Ben Miller, Cara Schweitzer, Sébastien Tremblay. By Kühn, Karolina. (München: Hirmer, [2023])
Black American Portraits: From the Los Angeles County Museum of Art / edited by Christine Y. Kim and Myrtle Elizabeth Andrews; texts by Hilton Als, Myrtle Elizabeth Andrews, Bridget R. Cooks, Ilene Susan Fort, Naima J. Keith, Christine Y. Kim, Dhyandra Lawson, Jeffrey C. Stewart; produced by Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in collaboration with Spelman College. By Kim, Christine Y. (Los Angeles, CA: New York, NY: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; 2023.)
Gaëlle Choisne: Temple of Love - To Hide / with an essay by Wong Binghao; editors, Daniela Leykam, Christoph Tannert. By Wong, Binghao. (Dortmund: Verlag Kettler, [2022])
Revolution Is Love: A Year of Black Trans Liberation / featuring images and text by 24 photographers; text contributions by Qween Jean, Joela Rivera, Mikelle Street, and Raquel Willis. By Jean, Qween. (New York, NY: Aperture, 2022.)
Selfie Aesthetics: Seeing Trans Feminist Futures in Self-Representational Art / Nicole Erin Morse. By Morse, Nicole Erin. (Durham: Duke University Press, 2022.)
Outros Corpos Nossos = Other Bodies of Ours / fotografias/photographs: Aghi; editor: Caio Simões de Araújo. By Aghi. (Johannesburg, South Africa: MaThoko's Books, 2021.)
Radicalizing Care: Feminist and Queer Activism in Curating / Elke Krasny, Sophie Lingg, Lena Fritsch, Birgit Bosold, Vera Hofmann (eds.). By Krasny, Elke. ([Berlin]: [Vienna]: Sternberg Press; [2021]
Sex Ecologies / edited by Stefanie Hessler. By Hessler, Stefanie. (Trondheim, Norway: Kunsthall Trondheim, 2021.)
We Are Here: Visionaries of Color Transforming the Art World / Jasmin Hernandez; principal photography by Sunny Leerasanthanah; foreword by Kasseem "Swizz Beatz" Dean. By Hernandez, Jasmin. (New York: Abrams, 2021.)
Transgalactic: Photography, Genre, Transition / texts, Élisabeth Lebovici [and 4 others]; portfolios, Amos Mac [and 22 others]. By Lebovici, Élisabeth. ([Villejuif]: The Eyes Publishing, 2020.)
T* / essays by Paul B. Preciado, Helena Velena, Salvatore Vitale, Wendy Vogel, and Paolo Barbaro; photographs by Giordano Bonora; edited by Ilaria Bombelli. By Preciado, Paul B. (Milan, Italy: Mousse Publishing, [2019])
Sistaaz of the Castle / SistaazHood, trans sex work support group Cape Town; in collaboration with Jan Hoek & Duran Lantink; texts by Gerda van de Glind. By Hoek, Jan. ([Gent]: Art Paper Editions, [2019?])
Kiss My Genders / guest curator, Vincent Honoré; assistant curator, Tarini Malik. By Honoré, Vincent. (London: Hayward Gallery Publishing, 2019.)
Art & Queer Culture / Catherine Lord & Richard Meyer. By Lord, Catherine. (London: Phaidon, 2019.)
American Boys / Soraya Zaman. By Zaman, Soraya. ([Durham, North Carolina]: Daylight Books, [2019])
Art After Stonewall: 1969–1989 / edited by Jonathan Weinberg with Tyler Cann, Anastasia Kinigopoulo, and Drew Sawyer. By Weinberg, Jonathan. (Columbus, Ohio: New York, New York: CMOA, Columbus Museum of Art; 2019.)
The Trans List / Timothy Greenfield-Sanders; curated by Anastasia James. By Greenfield-Sanders, Timothy. (New Paltz, New York: Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, [2018])
A Queer Little History of Art / Alex Pilcher. By Pilcher, Alex. (London: Tate Publishing, 2017.)
Every Breath We Drew / Jess T. Dugan. By Dugan, Jess T. ([Hillsborough, N.C.]: Daylight Books, [2015])
Zanele Muholi: Faces and Phases 2006–2014. By Muholi, Zanele. (Göttingen, Germany: New York: Steidl; 2014.)
View related public programs
Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson
$30.00
Black transgender luminary Tourmaline brings to life the first definitive biography of the revolutionary activist Marsha P. Johnson, one of the most important and remarkable figures in LGBTQIA+ history, revealing her story, her impact, and her legacy. This publication is followed by the artist and author's exhibition, Tourmaline: Lives of a Pollinator at the Carpenter Center.
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