WELCOME TO

MARGOT WILSON

Author, Researcher, Editor, Publisher

I am an anthropologist now retired after almost 30 years at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. Trained in Cultural, Biological, and Medical Anthropology, I have undertaken anthropological research in South Asia, primarily in Bangladesh. I lived for a year in a bamboo hut with no running water and no electricity in a rural village in northwest Bangladesh, learning how to be a village woman by living as one. After completing my dissertation research and starting my job at the University of Victoria, I initiated new research at the Centre for Training and Rehabilitation of Destitute Women, a shelter for abandoned women and children in Dhaka (the capital city of Bangladesh), and at the Danish-Bangladesh Leprosy Mission in the northwestern part of the country close to the Indian border. I have written a number of academic papers based on this research.

For a list of some of Margot’s academic publications click here

My longstanding research interests in gender, personal narrative, and story telling led me to undertake life history research in collaboration with elders in the Canadian and American transgender communities. Actually, it all began at the Moving Trans History Forward conference held at the University of Victoria in the spring of 2014 when I first heard a group of transgender elders speak about their experiences in the time before the internet and worldwide connectivity.

Click here to see videos from that panel.

Following the Founder’s Panel, I approached three of the speakers and invited them to collaborate with me on writing their life stories. Surprisingly, all three of them immediately agreed, which lead to long, intense research collaborations and friendships, some of which continue up until today.

One of these was with Stephanie Castle, a woman of trans experience who lived in Vancouver and was a prolific writer and publisher in her own right.

On the cusp of publishing Stephanie’s life story , she and I decided to open Castle Carrington Publishing (CCP) as a joint endeavour. Our intent was that CCP would provide an umbrella company under which Stephanie would bring Stephanie Castle Publications (SCP), where Stephanie had already published a number of novels with trans themes/characters, and I would bring TransGender Publishing (TGP), intended as a vehicle for publishing trans life stories and where Stephanie’s life story, “Girl in the Dream” was published in 2018. SCP and TGP became imprints under the CCP umbrella.

Sadly, Stephanie passed away in May 2017 at the age of 92, just as this publishing venture was underway. After careful consideration, I decided to proceed and opened CCP in July 2017 in memoriam of Stephanie.

Following Stephanie’s death, I inherited Stephanie Castle Publications and 50% ownership of Perceptions Press (PP) from Stephanie’s estate. When Roz Shakespeare, the other 50% owner of Perceptions Press retired a few years later, I took on the responsibility for that publishing company as well. Perceptions Press publishes innovative, avant-garde (and occasionally provocative) transgender fiction and non-fiction and some of Stephanie’s earliest books were published there.

Subsequently, I opened All Genders Press (AGP) as a vehicle for publishing LGBTQ+ fiction and non-fiction more generally. Today, PP and AGP are also imprints under the CCP umbrella.

Click on the website logos for more information about the publishing companies as well as current and planned publications.

To date, I have published several co-authored and edited volumes that address trans issues, including Glimmerings and TRANScestors Volumes I and II, which address the experiences of aging trans people. I have also successfully published a number of life stories and fictional works written by trans and LGBTQ+ authors. I enjoy working closely with authors to ensure that the best possible version of their stories are available to the public.

Margot discusses the origins of TransGender Publishing, having an outsider/insider perspective, inclusivity, and current projects on “The Big Question” with Ollie Belisle (2022). CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

I continue to work with authors and collaborators to publish new and engaging trans and LGBTQ+ fiction and non-fiction stories to the world. I love the work and find my collaborations with authors to be an exciting and fulfilling undertaking.

If you have a story to tell or are looking for a researcher, author, editor, and/or publisher who is a strong ally and advocate for the LGBTQ+ community and who understands LGBTQ+ culture and experience, please don’t hesitate to contact me at:

margotwilson@transgenderpublishing.ca.

I look forward to hearing from you.