For Daniel’s latest essays, visit his Substack site
COMING THIS FALL!
CUTTING EDGE: Hockey as Queer Culture
Conversations around the phenomenal success of the TV series Heated Rivalry have put a spotlight on LGBTQ+ hockey players at a cultural moment when queer and trans folk in sports are being bullied and scapegoated. When author Daniel Gawthrop laced on his first pair of skates as a twelve-year-old Peewee house league player in 1975, he never imagined he would grow up to start a gay men’s hockey club. Nor that his mainstream media musings about the beauty of “Russian Rocket” Pavel Bure would prompt “straight” commentary by everyone from Don Cherry to The Village Voice. These stories and more form the heart of Cutting Edge, a fascinating probe into the role of gender, masculinity, and sexuality in defining—and too often demeaning—Canada’s national sport.
“An incredibly timely and personal examination of hockey at its cultural crossroads. Daniel Gawthrop honours the beauty of the game while confronting the masculinity, gatekeeping, and institutional hesitation that have shaped it while seamlessly highlighting LGBTQ+ milestones in the sport’s history…5 stars.”
—Ren Dawe, Education and Programs Director, You Can Play
“An inspirational and unique perspective on a sport beloved by so many.”
—Betty Baxter, author of Outspoken: A Journey from Olympic Athlete to Activist
“A must-read for queer hockey lovers—in all senses of the phrase.”
—Carellin Brooks, author of One Hundred Days of Rain
“Gawthrop’s enthusiasm is infectious enough to keep me—a lifelong hockey nonfan—wholly engrossed.”
—Brett Josef Grubisic, author of The Age of Cities and My Two-Faced Luck
For more on Cutting Edge, and to pre-order the book via your local independent bookstore, visit its Arsenal Pulp Press page.
In Canada, you can pre-order Cutting Edge from great indie booksellers like Munro’s in Victoria. You can also get it from Indigo/Chapters or Amazon.ca.
In the U.S., you can pre-order it from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Bookshop.org, or BooksAMillion.com.
What’s been said about Daniel’s other books…
Liberation politics, body politics
Book review by Daniel Gawthrop posted on British Columbia Review on February 28, 2026 Liberation and Libido: Masculinity, Sexuality, and the Aesthetics of Gay Liberation in Canada, 1971–1987, by Nicholas A. Hrynyk (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2026), $32.95 / 9781487507077 Back in 1990, when I was fresh out of the closet and eager to learn about Canadian gay politics and culture, Stan Persky ... Read More > |
About Daniel Gawthrop
Daniel Gawthrop is the author of Double Karma, a novel, and five non-fiction titles including The Rice Queen Diaries, which was shortlisted for a ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award and an Independent Publishers Award (best biography/memoir), and The Trial of Pope Benedict: Joseph Ratzinger and the Vatican’s Assault on Reason, Compassion, and Human Dignity. He lives in New Westminster, B.C., traditional Coast Salish territory of the Qayqayt First Nation. |
