The Country's a Drag

Abstract

This paper examines the queer rural spaces in Julie Murphy’s 2021 young adult novel Pumpkin. In particular, it explores the concepts of rural-urban binaries, rural out-migration, and drag culture as they are related to the LGBTQ+ community. The author argues that Pumpkin creates a portrait of modern rural communities that confutes previous assumptions that queer people don’t exist in rural spaces, and if they do, they must leave in order to find acceptance and community.

Keywords

• rural
• queer
• out-migration
• drag
• rural-urban binary