Pleasure is the Antidote to Shame: feminist non-fiction with Beth Ashley and Prishita Maheshwari-Aplin

We've long wanted to include a non-fiction event as part of our First Date festival line-up and this year, and these books, are the perfect way for us to do that!

Also, the two books share a book birthday (they're both published on 8th May!), so it was clearly meant to be...

We are excited to get to bring together two books that look at a topic so central to the politics of romance fiction - pleasure - and that unpack the shame that too often goes hand-in-hand with it.

Sluts : The truth about sex shame and what we can do to fight it by Beth Ashley is a vital read about the persistent attitude of slutshaming, tracing its history and bringing suggestions for how to fight it. Ruby Rare called it a "must-read for anyone whose sexual expression has been used as a weapon against them."

Roses for Hedone : On Queer Hedonism and World-Making Through Pleasure by Prishita Maheshwari explores queer hedonism not as a momentary phenomenon or indulgence, but rather a transformational power – whether via euphoric raves, inspired art, marching side by side in protest, or sharing simple delights...

About our speakers:

Beth Ashley is an investigative journalist who specialises in sex, relationships and social class. Her work ranges from light-hearted features on sex to deep investigations into inequality. She writes for The Guardian, Refinery29, Vice, i-D, Dazed, Glamour, The Face, The Independent, Cosmopolitan, Stylist, Women’s Health, Mashable, The Metro and more. She was previously a sex and relationships columnist at The Face and sex and relationships editor at Cosmo UK. Published last year, her book Sluts explores where sex shame comes from, why its still sticking around, the effect it has on different marginalised communities and what we can do to fight it.

Prishita Maheshwari-Aplin (they/them) is interested in the historical, personal, and political stories of the queer community, and has written extensively on these matters while drawing on their experiences as an LGBTQ+ rights campaigner and community organiser. Previously Politics Editor at BRICKS Magazine, they have by-lines in Gay Times, gal-dem, Dazed, Metal, and Cosmopolitan, among others. Prishita has also written for a range of scientific publications, including Triple Helix Cambridge, and is a coauthor on a paper on the second plague pandemic published in Nature Communications.