This month WWB presents its second annual queer issue. We’re delighted to again give voice to a literary tradition that examines the world through an unaccustomed lens and with uncommon clarity and vigor. The writers in this issue present a broad and complex perspective on identity, gender, politics and sexuality.

Moroccan writer in exile and 2010 Prix de Flore winner Abdellah Taïa recounts the surge and ebb of power in a lost relationship. Italian writer Marco Di Marco describes a professor’s chance encounter with a memory of days gone by, and Palestinian poet and playwright Raji Bathish sees bad news at the doctor’s office collide with relentless consumerism. Tamil poet Prema Revathi speaks of love under the cover of night, Brazilian writer Caio Fernando Abreu sketches an interlude between an idealistic youth and a military recruiter, German graphic novelist Elke Steiner recounts the story of Catharina Margaretha Linck, executed for having sex with a woman, and Austrian writer Clemens Setz sketches a portrait of a man caught between two worlds. Chinese writer Liao Yiwu rounds out our company with an interview with Ni Dongxue. We hope you’ll enjoy these vibrant examples of an international queer sensibility.