‘Small Things’ tackles weighty topics
Collection of “anti-essays” by Hamiltonian Sky Gilbert pulls no punches
Sky Gilbert has never been the type to colour inside the lines.
The Hamiltonian, playwright, actor, academic, director and drag queen extraordinaire has spent his life blurring the boundaries of gender and genre.
Perhaps, then, it’s no surprise that his new book, “Small Things,” is a post-structuralist collection of what he calls “anti-essays.” Part memoir, part short story, part stream-of-consciousness narrative, each offering gives readers a glimpse into Gilbert’s life and mind.
The pieces in “Small Things” tackle a variety of topics: there are stories of intergenerational politics and tension within the LGBTQ+ community, observations about family (Gilbert’s relationship with his mother looms large), musings on literature and reflections on sexuality.
Like much of Gilbert’s previous works, some selections are deliberately provocative, graphic or hard to digest. Some contain statements that many readers will find themselves disagreeing with. (A piece on Gilbert’s take on the AIDS epidemic hits all of these notes).
But whether it’s a few sentences or several pages long, Gilbert, 65, says each piece is written in a very specific voice.
“I found a voice that I felt really comfortable with,” he said. “It’s not like anything else — I don’t even think it’s me ... but nothing is actually completely fiction — it all comes from my opinions or my life.”
Born in Connecticut, Gilbert grew up in New England and Buffalo before moving to Toronto at age 12. His childhood in the U.S. shaped his life, particularly his tendency toward individualism and outspokenness. (He even admits to having a teenage obsession with Ayn Rand.)
“I was this weird top student in junior high. I used to carry a briefcase, I was the class nerd, and I was always speaking from an unpopular position about politics, and I was kind of an outsider. That, to me, is very American — I was outspoken in a certain way that was very unpopular.”
Gilbert is also the founder of Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Canada’s first LGBTQ+ theatre house. His background on the stage peeks through many of the pieces in “Small Things,” in the monologue-style feel of many of the essays — as do his questions about where he fits into the current landscape of what he calls “queer politics.”
Gilbert says he feels some tension about being a white, cisgendered gay man, which comes through in one of the most memorable pieces in “Small Things,” titled “The Oppression Olympics.” In that piece, Gilbert describes his experiences at a queer performance conference in Vancouver, when he was barred from a panel discussion he had been invited to attend after making comments deemed offensive by conference organizers.
That piece speaks to Gilbert’s struggles to connect with younger LGBTQ+ individuals and his tendency to rub many in the community the wrong way. (He has described himself as “hated by the gay community.”)
“My main problem is that gay men have been lumped in with straight men as ‘men.’ And I’ve never identified as a man — inside I’ve always been a girl or a little boy,” he said.
“I don’t have the privilege that a straight man does ... I do understand and have to deal with that, as does everyone who is not a white male and a heterosexual. But we get lumped in. It’s like, ‘You’re a white male, so you’ve got it all.’ But no. I’m actually a white male who a lot of people find scary and disgusting.”
Some of the new queer politics, he says, vilify many of the things he holds dear (like drag queens and what he calls “nasty humour”). He also feels like much of the history of queer politics — Judith Butler and Foucault — is being left behind.
In “Small Things,” Gilbert isn’t afraid to tackle these issues headon.
“I don’t want to alienate people too much, but it’s important for me to express what I think,” he said.