Gay in the 1960s: Autofiction by Jeffrey Buchanan

4 Sept 2025 First published RNZ

Jeffrey Buchanan's fifth novel, The Birds Began to Sing, won the final Michael Gifkins Prize for an Unpublished Manuscript in 2024. As autofiction, it's set in an environment familiar to the author: a pub in New Plymouth in the 1960s, where a teenage boy takes it upon himself to investigate the disappearance of a gay barman.

Jeffrey joins Emile Donovan to talk about his journey with the book.

Author Image Credit: Stuart Watson