Dr Tim Stanley wrote an article about Fanny & Stella recently in The Telegraph On April 28, 1870, two young gentlemen turned up to the Strand Theatre, London in evening frocks. Ernest Boulton went by the name of Stella and Frederick Park liked to be called Fanny. The behaviour in their box was outlandish and outrageous, …
Tag Archive: Fanny & Stella
Aug 15
An interview with British Weekly – Southern California’s British Accent
Fanny & Stella are going global! Here is an article based on my interview with Gabrielle Pantera of British Weekly Exclusive interview with author Neil McKenna and a review of his new biography that traces the arrest and spectacular trial of two notorious drag queens in Victorian England “I was struggling to think of a …
Jul 16
Plaque unveiled to Fanny & Stella at 13 Wakefield Street
On 10th July I unveiled the commemorative plaque to Ernest Boulton and Frederick Park, Fanny and Stella, on the site of 13 Wakefield Street, London, their drag dressing rooms. The Mayor of Camden and Councillor Jonathan Simpson were there along with many supporters. Gay’s the Word bookshop also sold copies of Fanny & Stella on …
May 07
A pair of ‘questionable leather trousers’ at the Brighton Festival!
If you have read the previous blog post, you will know that I gave a talk about Fanny & Stella at The Brighton Festival recently, which was reviewed by Duncan Hall in The Brighton Argus. If you have read it, you will also know that he described me as ‘clad in a pair of questionable …
Apr 09
Polari Magazine – An Interview with Christopher Bryant
Christopher Bryant, of Polari Magazine, talks to Neil McKenna about the arrest and trial of Fanny and Stella in 1870, a scandal that rocked Victorian England and revealed a hidden underworld of female impersonators and male prostitutes. Read the whole interview here
Apr 02
‘Fanny & Stella… a keyhole to our Victorian past.’ Another great review
Fanny and Stella is a book that acts as a keyhole to our Victorian past that allows readers to spy on the activities and atrocities that occurred during the time of Fanny and Stella. Activities that may be raucous to overly sensitive minds and atrocities that make us both realise how far we have …
Mar 21
A Word from Neil McKenna – Terry Eagleton and ‘casual homophobia’
A Word from Neil McKenna – Terry Eagleton and ‘casual homophobia’ Several people have asked me to explain the background and circumstances which led me to publish the full, unedited text of my letter to the London Review of Books. In particular, they have asked why I have accused Terry Eagleton of ‘casual homophobia’. So here …
Mar 18
Reviewed: Fanny & Stella – The Young Men in Women’s Clothes by Juliet Jacques, NewStatesman
Neil McKenna’s book revisits one of Victorian Britain’s most explosive trials. The Charge of Personating Women Yesterday afternoon the Bow-street Police-court and its approaches were literally besieged by the public, owing to the re-examination of the two young men, Ernest Boulton aged 22 of 43, Shirland-road, Paddington, and Frederick William Park, aged 23, …
Mar 05
Excellent Review for Fanny & Stella in Lambda Literary by Cheryl Morgan
The following review was posted on 03. Mar, 2013 by Cheryl Morgan, Lambda Literary in Bio/Memoir, Reviews. It is a very thoughtful, well-written and fair review. Cheryl has obviously picked up every nuance of the book. When we think of Victorian England we tend to assume a moral code that was as tightly laced as …
Jan 25
The He-She Ladies – Fanny & Stella Review by Kathryn Hughes, The Guardian
A world of ‘lush longing for embroidered handkerchiefs and soft kisses’ is interrupted by a police campaign to achieve the downfall of the cross-dressing pair. In 1870, two tatty-looking girls were hauled before Bow Street magistrates court and charged with “the abominable crime of buggery”. After a night in the cells, with wigs slipping and stubble …
Jan 24
Great drag queens of their day – A review of Fanny & Stella by John Preston, London Evening Standard
A review appeared in the London Evening Standard today. John Preston says of the Fanny & Stella You would need to be a very dull — or prim — dog indeed not to find this a terrifically entertaining story. Neil McKenna has thrown himself into it with unfettered glee. If the opportunity arises to describe …
