Essays, articles, presentations, and papers published as Alex Henderson.
Academic publications
2025
The Trickster Figure in Queer YA: A Case Study of Margaret Owen’s Little Thieves (GIFCon 2025: Queering the Fantastic)
The Trickster Figure in Queer YA: A Case Study of Margaret Owen’s Little Thieves(Leaf Journal On Writing for Young People)
Coming-of-Age in Nonbinary Young Adult Literature: Expectations, Subversions, and the Possibilities of Genre Fiction (The Palgrave Handbook of Feminist, Queer and Trans* Narrative Studies, ed. Vera Nünning and Corinna Assmann)
2024
Non-Binary Narration: The Potential of Point of View in Young Adult Novels with Genderqueer Characters (Papers: Explorations Into Children’s Literature)
Ace YA 2019 - 2024: The Asexual Coming-of-Age Story Revisited (Young Adult Studies Association biannual conference)
2023
Gender Mischief: Trickster Characters and Non-binary Identity in Young Adult Fiction (doctoral thesis)
Genre-savvy Protagonists in Queer YA Rom-Coms (Journal of Popular Romance Studies)
2022
From Painters to Pirates: A Study of Non-binary Protagonists in Young Adult Fiction (The International Journal of Young Adult Literature)
Nonbinary Narration: The Potential of POV in YA Novels with Genderqueer Characters (Australasian Children’s Literature Association for Research biannual conference)
Otherworldly Bodies: Non-human Non-binary Characters in YA (Young Adult Studies Association biannual conference)
2021
Playing with Genre and Queer Narrative in the Novels of Malinda Lo (The International Journal of Young Adult Literature)
Be Gay, Do Crime: The Revolutionary History of Queer YA Fiction [With Chloe Cannell] (The Great Writing Conference)
“Socio-political Ragnarök”: The Resonance of the Trickster figure in Queer YA Fiction (Fresh From the Fight: Heroes, Villains and Tricksters in Children’s and Young Adult’s Literature and Culture)
Genre-Savvy Protagonists in Queer YA Rom-coms (Concepts in Popular Genres Symposium)
2020
Queer Allegory and Queer Actuality in Every Heart a Doorway(Writing From Below)
2019
Let’s Talk About Love, Tash Hearts Tolstoy, and the Asexual Coming-of-Age Story(RoundTable)
The Butterfly Effect: Player Agency and Trope Subversion in Life is Strange and Until Dawn(c i n d e r)
Queer Allegory and Queer Actuality in Every Heart a Doorway (South Australian Gender, Sex, and Sexuality Conference)
The Trickster in Pop Culture (Australasian Association of Writing Programs annual conference)
2017
Beast: A Hero Tale – Challenging the Gendered Nature of The Hero’s Journey Through Reimagining the Myths of Cuchullain (Honours thesis)
Other professional writing
See also my rolling coverage of new seasonal anime for Anime Feminist (too many reviews to list!)
2026
Love Bullet Volume 1 Manga Review (Yatta-Tachi)
Even a Replica Can Fall in Love Volume 1 Manga Review (Yatta-Tachi)
Please Look After the Dragon Volume 1 Manga Review (Yatta-Tachi)
2025
The Business and Politics of Magic in Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc. (Anime Feminist)
Comedy, Catharsis, and Cooking the Canon in Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family (reprinted in Anime Herald Issue #1)
How Just Like Mona Lisa Uses Speculative Fiction to Explore Gender Norms (Anime Feminist)
Yuri Manga Romance to Read This Pride Month (and All Year!) (Yatta-Tachi)
The Girl That Can’t Get a Girlfriend Manga Review (Yatta-Tachi)
You Can’t Live All On Your Own! Volume 1 Manga Review (Yatta-Tachi)
2024
#IntlYALitMonth Review: Do You Dream of Terra-Two? (Global Literature in Libraries Initiative)
Autonomy, Aliens, and a Study in Female Character Agency with 16bit Sensation (Anime Feminist)
Comedy, Catharsis, and Cooking the Canon in Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family (Anime Herald)
2023
Working Out the Kinks: Deconstructing Gendered Expectations of Sex in Ladies On Top (Anime Feminist)
Queer Time and the Quarter-life Crisis in Contemporary Yuri (Anime Feminist)
Genre Conventions and a Gentle Story of Recovery in My New Boss is Goofy(Anime Feminist)
2022
The Orbital Children‘s Rejection of Ecofascist Ideas (Anime Feminist)
The Unwavering Optimism of The Aquatope on White Sand(Anime Herald)
Queer Resonance and Critiquing Heteronormativity in Spy x Family (Anime Feminist)
Girls Doing Stuff: Agency and Motivation in Girls’ Hobby Shows (Anime Feminist)
2021
Together, Alone: How Laid-Back Camp Shows Companionship Through Technology (Anime Herald)
Genderless Gemstones: The Pros and Cons of Land of the Lustrous as Non-binary Representation (Anime Feminist)
Heaven’s Design Team: A Celestial Celebration of the Creative Process (Anime Herald)
Convenient Monsters: The Problem with Frill and Wonder Egg Priority‘s Take on Trauma (Anime Feminist)
Genre and Gender in Wonder Egg Priority (Otaku Tribune)
2020
The Gloriously Goofy, Geeky Girls of Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!(Anime Feminist)
Queer young adult fiction isn’t all gloomy realism. Here are 5 uplifting books to get you started(The Conversation)
Worldbuilding a Queer Paradise in My Next Life as a Villainess(Anime Feminist)
Night in the Woods: the video game that captures bittersweet millennial life under COVID-19 (The Conversation)
Alice Oseman and the Revolutionary Power of the Platonic Love Story (AZE Journal)
2019
Rewriting the Script: Revue Starlight‘s Rejection of Tragic Queer Tropes(Anime Feminist)
Not “Just a Phase”: How Bloom Into You Challenges Common Yuri Tropes(Anime Feminist)
2018
Pop Team Epic and the Value of Letting Girls Be Absurd(Anime Feminist)
Tash Hearts Tolstoy is the Ace Coming-of-Age Story We Need and Deserve (AZE Journal)
Cozy Campfires, Bitter Broth: Female Relationships in Laid-Back Camp vs Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles(Anime Feminist)
Going Beyond Severance: Metaphorical and Literal Queerness in Yurikuma Arashi(Anime Feminist)
2017
Escapism and Healing in Recovery of an MMO Junkie (Anime Feminist)
Escape from Yuri Hell: FLIP FLAPPERS’ critique of the Class S genre (Anime Feminist)
Asexual Awareness Week: Two YA Novels with Complex, Geeky, Lovable Demi Protagonists (Lady Geek Girl & Friends)
Magical Mondays: A Journey Inside the Mind with Madoka Magica and Flip Flappers (Lady Geek Girl & Friends)
Adding Salt to Sweet Vanilla: The complex women of Toradora! (Anime Feminist)
The Garden of Words: A Masterpiece, But Did It Have to Be a Love Story? (Lady Geek Girl & Friends)
How Telltale Games Plays with Expectations in Their Superhero Series (Lady Geek Girl & Friends)
Magical Mondays: Showing, Not Telling in Princess Principal (Lady Geek Girl & Friends)
Love, Chunibyo, & Other Delusions: A Silly Yet Heartbreaking Story About the Power of Geekdom (Lady Geek Girl & Friends)
Throwback Thursdays: Black Butler’s “Jack the Ripper” Arc (Lady Geek Girl & Friends)
Trailer Tuesdays: Life is Strange: Before the Storm (Lady Geek Girl & Friends)
Sexualized Saturdays: Martyred Moms and Dastardly Dads in the MCU (Lady Geek Girl & Friends)
“This Town Is Full of Ghosts!”: The Power of Atmosphere and Landscape in Night in the Woods (Lady Geek Girl & Friends)
Magical Mondays: Flying Witch and Magical Realism (Lady Geek Girl & Friends)
The Bittersweet Taste of Orange (Lady Geek Girl & Friends)
Web Crush Wednesdays: Trash & Treasures (Lady Geek Girl & Friends)
Sexualized Saturdays: Letting Boys Cry (Lady Geek Girl & Friends)
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: A Cute, Fun, Trashy Domestic Comedy… with Dragons! (Lady Geek Girl & Friends)
Until Dawn and the Indestructible White Guy (Lady Geek Girl & Friends)
Cute Demon Crashers Set to Return with Cute, Comfy and Consensual Queer Content (Lady Geek Girl & Friends)
The Problem with the Dark Magical Girl Genre (Anime Feminist)
Web Crush Wednesdays: Spirits (Lady Geek Girl & Friends)
Sexualized Saturdays: Moana the Mythic Hero-King (Lady Geek Girl & Friends)