Meet Me There, Another Time

There’s something uniquely powerful about a book that arrives at exactly the right cultural moment, and Meet Me There, Another Time is shaping up to be one of those essential reads.

Set to release on May 21, 2026, this anthology from Jessica Kingsley Publishers is already generating considerable anticipation among readers who care deeply about LGBTQ+ narratives and authentic representation. What makes this collection stand out isn’t just its premise—it’s the intimate, purposeful approach to storytelling it promises to deliver.

At its heart, Meet Me There, Another Time is a collection of letters to places. But these aren’t ordinary correspondence. They’re letters addressed to the physical and emotional spaces that queer and trans people have had to leave behind. We’re talking about:

• Childhood homes that never felt safe
• Cities where they found community before having to move on
• Countries they had to flee
• Bodies they’ve had to reconcile with or move away from
• Even the people and relationships they’ve left in their wake

It’s a deceptively simple framework that carries profound weight. By framing these reflections as letters, the anthology creates space for vulnerability, nostalgia, anger, grief, and ultimately, transformation.

The genius of this approach lies in what it acknowledges: that leaving—whether forced or chosen—is a defining experience for many in the queer and trans community. This book validates that experience and explores it with nuance.

The author behind this collection, Lexie Bean, is bringing a distinctive voice to conversations about displacement, identity, and belonging. What we know so far suggests this isn’t a book of easy answers or redemptive narratives tied up in neat bows.

Instead, Bean appears committed to honoring the complexity of what it means to be queer or trans and to navigate a world that hasn’t always made space for you. That takes courage, both from the author and from the contributors whose voices will fill these 240 pages.

This anthology arrives into a literary landscape hungry for these conversations. While there’s been growing visibility of LGBTQ+ narratives in publishing, authentic voices exploring transphobia, gender identity, and the specific experience of displacement remain underrepresented.

By the time this book reaches readers in May 2026, it’s anticipated to fill an important gap—offering not just representation, but recognition of experiences often left out of mainstream discourse.

What makes Meet Me There, Another Time particularly anticipated are several key elements:

1. The anthology format allows for diverse voices and perspectives rather than a single narrative
2. The essay structure paired with the letter-writing conceit creates emotional intimacy
3. The focus on place as a character in itself—exploring how geography, belonging, and identity intersect
4. The explicit engagement with transphobia rather than glossing over it—this book isn’t interested in making cisgender readers comfortable

The creative vision here is ambitious in its restraint. Bean could have created a book that’s purely celebratory or purely tragic, but what emerges from available excerpts and descriptions suggests something more textured: a collection that holds multiple truths simultaneously.

These are letters to places we carry within us. Places we’ve mourned. Places we’ve had to abandon for survival. Places we’ve outgrown. And in writing to them, perhaps we reclaim something essential about ourselves.

Readers are particularly looking forward to how this collection might spark important conversations about:

• The refugee experiences of trans and queer people forced to leave their homes
• The relationship between place and identity formation
• How communities are built and left behind
• The emotional archaeology of belonging
• What it means to carry loss while still moving forward

There’s also genuine excitement around the publisher’s choice here. Jessica Kingsley Publishers has built a reputation for centering marginalized voices and publishing works that take LGBTQ+ experiences seriously as worthy of literary attention. Their commitment to this project suggests they see its potential to resonate widely—not just within LGBTQ+ communities, but with anyone who’s ever felt displaced or out of place.

As we wait for the May 2026 release, it’s worth noting that Meet Me There, Another Time is being positioned as the kind of book people will want to own, not just borrow. It’s destined to become a go-to recommendation for anyone seeking authentic LGBTQ+ essays, meaningful writing about gender identity, and stories that honor the complexity of trans and queer experiences.

This is the sort of anthology you’ll find yourself returning to—not just for comfort, but for the permission it grants to feel all your feelings about the places and people you’ve had to leave behind. And honestly? In a world that often asks queer and trans people to move quietly and without complaint, that permission feels revolutionary.