THANK YOU FOR CALLING THE LESBIAN LINE WITH ELIZABETH LOVATT

Elizabeth Lovatt discusses her new book Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line, a story of queer identity, imagination and a 1990s helpline

Ring-ring! Elizabeth Lovatt discusses her new book Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line, a celebration of a 1990s queer women's helpline and a personal story of identity.

As gossipy as it is poignant, Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line is a live wire record of the women who called in, and picked up, at The Women's Line, a London-based lesbian switchboard run by volunteers in the 1990s. Inspired by notes found in the archive at Finsbury library, writer Elizabeth Lovatt reimagines the lives of ordinary queer women - the crushes and coming out stories, the sex and marriage, the loneliness and illness - alongside her own personal experiences and a wider exploration of lesbian identity.

Elizabeth Lovatt is a writer of fiction and creative non-fiction currently living in London. Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line is her first book, and has been shortlisted for this year's Gordon Burn Prize. She'll be talking about it in conversation with the excellent Ellen Jones, whose own book Outrage: How to Fight for LGBTQ+ Lives is out (and proud) right now.