Avik the Beloved

Abstract

"Avik the Beloved" is an exploration of the shame surrounding queer pleasure in Christian circles.The story is a character study on the protoganoist, Avik, who struggles with his devotion to Christianity in the wake of an intimate queer experience. The story is heavily influenced by my own experiences growing up queer in a Christian environment that was not only homophobic but stigmatized the idea of experiencing pleasure as something inherently sinful. I channelled those emotions and experiences into a narrative that explores Avik's relationship to his queerness and desire to experience pleasure despite that stigma. The characters in the story are ones me and my long time friend Rowan Reddy, a third year English and Sexual Studies major at UFT, have been developing since we were sixteen for a project we have temporarily dubbed "Hospice". "Hospice" is a collection of our various creative works that center five characters, their tumultuous relationships, and how these people and their dynamics irreparably change in the wake of the hospitalization of their mutual connection, Sylvia. "Avik the Beloved" takes place years before these events, exploring the root of Avik's complicated relationship with his queerness, his connection to Will, and his hedonistic impulses.