Queer as Hell

Alice Musgrove (they/them) is a queer writer, editor, and general mischief-maker based in the South-West of England. They previously studied English Literature (BA Hons) at Bath Spa University.


In "All the (good) Queers burn in Hell" Alice associates Dante's nine layers of hell with self-pleasure, the process of discovering nonbinary identities in a heteronormative world (governed by institutions like the Church) and their first queer playground-crush. The text is part of the anthology "Queer Responses to Dante's Inferno", released by James Sunderland via Carrion Press.


Trigger Warning: The text deals with depictions of sex, religion, queerphobia and institutional malpractice. Please take care of yourself and your mental health!

Harper Walton is a writer based in London. They were born in Bath and grew up in the West Country. They studied English Literature at Queen Mary University and have a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing from the Paris School of Arts and Culture. Their work takes form in personal essays, poetry, short stories, novellas and novels, which they have released in a poetry collection entitled "Common Only in Name" as well as the fiction compilation "Midnight Movies". Harpers subsequent collection of poetry called "The Ballad of a Bloodless Hangnail" releases on July 21st and features, among others, the poem "Throwing Figs at God".


"Throwing Figs at God" is a trans*person's journey through the nine concentric circles of british society and was first released as a part of the anthology "Queer Responses to Dante's Inferno" by Carrion Press. We hope you enjoy listening!


Trigger Warning: The poem discusses sex, self-harm, institutional malpractice and violence. Please mind your mental health when engaging with these topics!

Queer as Hell goes English! As this podcast develops, you will find episodes in German as well as in English. Furthermore, you will see that we try not only to talk amongst ourselves, but also with experts and artists from different areas to broaden our (and your) perspectives on Queerness and Hell. In this interview, host Tom (they/them) ventures through the 9 circles of Hell as envisioned by italian poet Dante Alighieri. They are joined in this dangerous endeavour by authors Harper Walton (they/them) and Alice Musgrove (they/them) who's texts "Throwing Figs at God" and "All the (good) Queers go to Hell" have been featured in the anthology "Queer Responses to Dante's Inferno", released by Carrion Press in 2023.


As we figure out why and how you have to formulate a queer answer to Inferno, we discuss the correlation of identity and sin; The pet-roleplay-to-nonbinary-pipeline; Dancing to techno in the 7th circle; Christian morality and the Church of England; Self-Exploration through lustful writing and the queer relationship to Hell. Lasciate ogne pregiudizi, voi ch'intrate!


Trigger Warning: This episode features topics that might be distressing to you, such as sex, queerphobia, institutionalized violence and oppression, religion and self harm. Please take care of yourself and your mental health!