Upon the Midnight Queer by ‘Nathan Burgoine – A Book Review

There are all kinds of things I look forward to during the holiday season: ugly holiday sweaters, hot chocolate, baking more than usual, time with family and friends and the new holiday story by ‘Nathan Burgoine.

Every year, he takes a classic holiday tale or carol and reimagines it in a beautifully queer way. I was thrilled that this year, he chose to release another book of short stories. Of Echoes Born, ‘Nathan Burgoine’s first book of short stories, is one of my favourite books of all time and I was so looking forward to a new collection.

Upon the Midnight Queer collects Burgoine’s holiday tales from the past ten years, as well as an all-new novella. I was overjoyed to be able to have all these tales together in one collection. It’s been a while since I’ve read some of the stories, so it was wonderful to be reacquainted with the tales and the characters within. At first, I tried to see if I could tell which tale was being retold. Some of the retellings were obvious (Dolph or Frost). Others were a little harder to place (A Day or Two Ago). Eventually, I gave up trying to guess or to see how Burgoine unspun the tale so that he could retell it again in a way made space for people like me.

Growing up gay and disabled, there isn’t often a place to be found for me within the stories that are normally told around the holidays. Even though I know the stories well, there is no spark of recognition that I get when I meet a character that resembles me in some way, nothing for me to relate to except the need for kindness and generosity towards others around the holidays.

Usually, people such as myself are included in the miracle portion of the tale. Even the very story behind Christmas is not inclusive to people who identify as part of the GLBTQIA++ community. What ‘Nathan Burgoine has done is to tell the stories of Christmas that I know and love, but he has made room for me within the words as well as space for everyone else who has felt othered during the holiday season.

I connected to each of the stories contained in this beautiful collection, and not just because there were queer and disabled people that filled the stories of Upon the Midnight Queer. I connected to the stories because of the people that Burgoine writes about. His strength has always been in the creation of such real people. Each and every time, Burgoine has pulled me into the story because of the characters that he has created and the emotions that each of them carry. They are all so real to me and I have had so many of the same thoughts and emotions that he has put onto the page.

I have some favourites of course. I loved Five Shillings and Sixpence, Not the Marrying Kind and A Day (Or Two) Ago. The story that stands out for me as my favourite and filled me with all the feels was The Future in Flame. It moved me so much and the story was so beautiful that I had to just sit there for a moment reflecting on the beautiful story that I had just read.

‘Nathan Burgoine has created magic in Upon the Midnight Queer. Each story is like a diamond with many facets that drew me in until I was left enchanted. I urge you all to go out and buy a copy so that your world can be filled with the bright light that the stories in this collection contain.