Thursday 29 October
6:30-9pm
Join us for the launch of Ray Filar's debut novel Choke.
On Thursday October 29th we'll be celebrating the publication of Choke, "the murderous feel-good read of the season" (Frankie Miren). Come and listen to Ray Filar read and talk about the book, and stick around to get your copy signed afterwards.
About the book:
A dyke hooker revenge fantasy novella, in which two sex workers fall in love and go on a ruthless murder spree.
When Leila meets Silvia during a booking with Silvia's longtime client, the infatuation is instant. Silvia is older, glamorous, charming, and has been working for a lot longer than Leila, who is still new to sex work. Later that evening the two run into each other at a hotel bar, and after a messy night of drugs and sex, begin a romantic relationship that takes a turn when they start murdering clients together.
Traversing the spaces of queer East London and the corporate city, Choke is a propulsive and sexy revenge fantasy mash up of black comedy, psychological (un)realism and literary essay that bends tropes and explores the essence of fantasy, from BDSM and kink to wealth and class to bodies and transness. A wild, fun, smart, and pulpy novella that transforms literary traditions and elevates queer writing.
"Ruthless as a hyena's laugh." — Morgan M Page
"Ray takes on sex work, class, transness, violence and desire with wit, rage and exhilarating perversity. Hookers, queers and trans people behave badly — and refuse to be punished for it. The hookers inherit the earth — and, even better, the money!" — Bruce LaBruce
Ray Filar is a writer, theatre-maker and live artist based in London. They write fiction, plays, and creative non-fiction about work, sex, drugs and violence. Choke is their first novella. Their writing has appeared in We Want It All: An Anthology of Trans Poetics (Nightboat Books, 2020), The Guardian, Verso Online, the New Humanist, openDemocracy and Tummyache Magazine. They hosted the left-wing feminist podcast Killjoy FM on Resonance FM (2016-2017), and edited the political essay collection Resist! Against a Precarious Future (Lawrence & Wishart, 2015). They were co-creative director of Homos and Houmous, a queer, Jewish, anti-Zionist theatre company. They have created work for stages including the Royal Court Theatre, Tate Britain and Modern, Glastonbury Festival, and The Yard Theatre, and starred as ‘The Daughter’ in Bruce LaBruce’s feature film The Visitor.