GSCENE 55
FROM THE BARSTOOL
TO THE BOOK SHELF
Former Gscene columnist, Hayley Sherman, on
how to be unhappy then happy again, her Brighton
journey and her debut novel, Diazepam for Sale.
THE NEW ENCYCLOPAEDIA
OF BRIGHTON GOES DIGITAL
The NEW ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF BRIGHTON is
now available in digital format for the first
time. The e-version has been updated with
many new sections and more listings than
before. A vibrant guide to the city’s history
and current scene, the work features people
and places alongside quotes and anecdotes
for a fascinating insight into Brighton.
The e-version makes the encyclopaedia far
more portable than its predecessor. The 2010
print version is A4 size, a coffee table
favourite and weighs almost 1.5kg.
Now the 370 printed pages of A–Z listings
have been transformed into a comprehensive
digital reference source, as heavy to carry as
the e-reader of choice. This new format gives
people the opportunity to easily take a vast
wealth of local information out and about
around the city.
In 2010, local author and historian Rose
Collis was commissioned to write the print
version of New Encyclopaedia of Brighton for
publication by Brighton & Hove City
Libraries. Rose has researched and written
the new 2012 content for the expanded eversion. Updated sections include the AMEX
Community Stadium, Gay Brighton, seafront
and the Old Steine.
Rose said: “I'm delighted with the launch of
the Kindle edition of the New Encyclopaedia
of Brighton. The book will be more accessible
to readers throughout the UK and round the
world, where there are many former
Brightonians who retain a keen interest in
this city and, in particular, to the many
overseas visitors who come here every year.
I’ve also updated a large number of sections,
for instance the opening of the wonderful
Amex stadium, and made corrections to
other sections. I'm particularly thrilled that
the web links included in the 2010 edition
are accessible 'live' on Kindle readers.”
The digital release is suitable for Kindle and
other e-reading devices. The e-version is
available to buy online, providing access to
more information than ever before at a lower
cost than the print version. Amazon is
selling the e-version for £8.04.
In 2004, when I moved to Brighton from a
small town where lesbianism hadn’t been
invented yet, I was quite literally like a kid in a
Candy Bar. I was wide-eyed and full of lofty
ambitions to become more of an activist, get
positively involved in my new community and
have a damn good time into the bargain. I
probably achieved 1½ of those things and
wrote about them every month in my Gscene
column (Leaping off the Barstool). In reality, I
spent most of my column inches taking a pop
at the frustrating and fascinating rituals of the
lesbian breed, of which I had little experience,
but this probably offered light relief and went
down better (I did cunnilingus puns too) than
labouring the inequality that we all know about
anyway. That’s not to say that these things
aren’t important, but I had moved to Toy Town
and was groovy and carefree, cute and
awesome. I found amazing friends to play with
and suddenly felt a lot more equal than it was
healthy for me to feel.
Fast-forward to 2013 and if I was going to
write a column now I might call it Inventing
Lesbianism. You see, I’m back in my small town
and bloody smiley about it too. I was like the
little lad in The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho,
going on the big journey only to find that what
he really wanted existed where he first put on
his walking boots. I had a great time in
Brighton and learnt a lot, but the bosom (I did
boob puns too) of my family was always where
it was really at, and I don’t know how I was
separated from my roots for so long. I’m now
more comfortable in my own skin and have
discovered that I can be a great, gorgeous
homo just about anywhere, so now I’m on a
small-town tour to paint the beige people of
this shithole a wonderful shade of pink.
I should be honest and confess that there were
other factors involved in the move. I got pretty
ill and lost my job. I started working from
home, but was spending more time staring
blankly at a TV screen or the sea or the bottom
of a pint glass than was healthy. I had taken a
six-year journey into and out of a relationship
that had left me gasping for air and I’d stopped
writing, which was a huge sign that things had
to change. I confess, I ran home with my tail
between my legs, but when I got there I
discovered a warmth that I can’t imagine being
without now. This is my home again and
Brighton is now my mistress. I love her every
bit as much as I did when we were together,
but now we have an understanding and when
we’re together it’s better t