Luke Turner & Paul Flynn

28 March 2019

Luke Turner is joined in conversation by Paul Flynn to discuss masculinity, sexuality, wilderness and religion in Turner’s celebrated new memoir ‘Out of the Woods’ (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2019).

…After the disintegration of the most significant relationship of his life, the demons Turner has been battling since childhood are quick to return – depression and guilt surrounding his identity as a bisexual man, experiences of sexual abuse, and the religious upbringing that was the cause of so much confusion. It is among the trees of London’s Epping Forest where he seeks refuge. But once a place of comfort, it now seems full of unexpected, elusive threats that trigger twisted reactions.

No stranger to compulsion, Turner finds himself drawn again and again to the woods, eager to uncover the strange secrets that may be buried there as he investigates an old family rumour of illicit behaviour. Away from a society that still struggles to cope with the complexities of masculinity and sexuality, Luke seeks to accept the duality that has been the cause of so much unrest in his life – and reconcile the expectations of others with his own way of being...

  1. Luke Turner is a writer, editor and curator based in London. He co-founded and edits the influential online music publication The Quietus and regularly writes on music, culture and place for a variety of magazines, websites and broadcasters including the Guardian, Dazed & Confused, Vice, the BBC, NME, Q, Mojo, Monocle, Nowness and Somesuch Stories. ‘Out of the Woods’ is his first book.

  2. Paul Flynn a journalist and author of ‘Good As You: 30 Years of Gay Britain’. He began writing at City Life magazine in Manchester and is currently the Senior Contributing Editor at Love and Consulting Editor at Fantastic Man. He has previously been a contributing editor and writer at i-D, Pop, Dazed, Fantastic Man, The Gentlewoman and GQ Style. He has written for the Guardian, the Observer, the Sunday Express and the Sunday Timesnewspapers.

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