In the Past the Future Was Better is a collection of writing to accompany a live reading event that took place on Zoom during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Streamed directly into living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens or truck cabs, the digital event was the replacement for a three-dimensional evening of queer literature that would have happened as part of the 2020 Fringe! Queer Film and Arts Festival.

This companion chapbook showcases work by some of the boldest and most innovative LGBTQIA+ writers working in the UK today. Queers past, present, and future fizz and collide across time, space, stages, libraries, and public toilets. It’s the direct result of having to change how we absorb live literature, and an experiment in what that means for the future.