Righting my World

‘This new book by Dennis Altman explains why he has been a hero most of my life. From university days to AIDS conferences, protests, the arts, national and international politics. Even occasional glimpses of sport, sex and pop culture. America has Gore Vidal. Australia presents – with a drum roll – the still extraordinary Dennis Altman.’

The Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG, former Justice of the High Court of Australia

‘I loved this magnificent, honest collection of Dennis Altman’s writing about discovering his identity and trying to hang onto his humanity in a world where “one is simultaneously an insider and an outsider”. His gay, Jewish life curiously parallels my own; had I met him when I was a green girl, I would surely have “gone straight” for Dennis! His wise, naughty, troubled insistence on being part of the world and making it better is more relevant than ever.’

Miriam Margolyes, actress and author of The Little Book of Miriam

‘Reading Dennis Altman’s marvellous collection reminded me of the excitement I felt when I first encountered his work in the early 1980s. Whether Altman is tackling the snares of cooptation and tribalism or the challenges of global sex and American hegemony, he manages to be both provocative and thoughtful. How wonderful to have a half-century of his work collected here!’

Alice Echols, Professor of History and Barbra Streisand Chair of Contemporary Gender Studies at the University of Southern California

‘Righting My World is a reminder of Dennis Altman’s astonishing range and achievement over the last 60 years – a crash course in queer cultures, lives, politics and emotion, delivered with characteristic acumen, urgency and wit. It is an absorbing, roller-coaster read, and left me, amidst the desperation of our current times, with some renewed hope for the future.’

Matt Cook, Professor and Jonathan Cooper Chair of the History of Sexuality at the University of Oxford

Dennis Altman AO is the author of numerous books on homosexuality, HIV/AIDS and politics, including Homosexual: Oppression & Liberation, which has been described as the first serious analysis to emerge from the gay liberation movement. He is a Vice Chancellor’s Fellow and Professorial Fellow in the Institute for Human Security at La Trobe University in Melbourne. In 2008, Dennis was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia for service to education as an academic, social and political commentator, to the community through raising awareness of human rights issues, and as a contributor to the development of HIV/AIDS policy. He is Patron of the Australian Queer Archives and the Pride Foundation.