Righting my World

A curated collection of writings over the past half-century from the acclaimed professor of politics and gay rights activist.

From the publication of his pivotal first book, Homosexual: Oppression and Liberation, in 1971, Dennis Altman AO has been a leading voice in gay liberation movements in Australia and beyond. Across a career spanning more than 50 years, Altman has written about gay rights alongside other currents in Australian politics and society, identifying cultural shifts and exploring their impacts, as well as US politics, including under Trump. His books, including Homosexual and Queer Wars, are being embraced by a new generation of queer theorists worldwide, with editions in multiple languages.

This collection of his favourite nonfiction has been ordered chronologically to capture the sense of Australia as it was and as it is, charting the course of a conversation about civil rights and cultural change, while at the same time illuminating the persistence of prejudice. Interspersed with personal essays reflecting on Altman’s cultural heritage, grief and ageing, Writing My World is a powerful and illuminating chronicle.

'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


Praise for Unrequited Love by Dennis Altman

‘From Lyndon Johnson to Trump, Altman’s diary takes us from the early days of AIDS to gay liberation against a backdrop of Australia’s strange love for America.’ – Gillian Triggs

‘An ingenious combining of memoir and analysis, personal reflection and social science.’ – Professor Frank Bongiorno