Queer Mycology is an extension of queer theory that uses the study of mushrooms as a proxy for understanding marginalization. Patricia Kaishian’s “Queer Mycology” lecture, the transcript of which constitutes the main text of A Field Guide to Queer Mycology, explores this concept. It is paired here with the Missouri Department of Conservation’s “Missouri Mushrooms,” creating a functional field guide that gives viewers a new perspective with which to understand the fungi around them.
Beyond typographic and formatting distinctions, the two texts are differentiated primarily by their position on the page. The book is formatted with a split page in order to create a conceptual distinction between the theoretical “Queer Mycology” text on the top pages and the more grounded field guide text on the bottom pages.
The images associated with the field guide occupy the upper halves of the pages. Along the page split are small indicators that align when a mushroom image on the top page corresponds with a field guide entry on the bottom page. This adds a level of interactivity to the book that prompts the viewer to continuously flip back and forth through the pages, forcing them to engage with both texts.