A Day In The Life - Leonidas Liolios

Every August is business as usual for The Boy Is Beautiful. Each new issue marks the beginning of summer and is followed by a series of launch events across steamy urban centres and sun-drenched islands. For Issue #5, Heterotopias, our first stop was Tenderbooks in London, followed by a Dionysian symposium on the island of Tinos. For our third stop, we head to the remote Cycladic island of Anafi, where queers from around the world exile themselves for days on end, surrendering to the calm of the sea, the hedonism of its pilgrims and the peach-red light of the sun at dawn, hitting their faces as bodies and mouths intertwine on the terrace of Madres – Greek 90s pop and techno blasting. This is a (not so) typical day in the life of our editorial team, but definitely one to remember.

[8:10] A Man To Pick Up

Our last stop (of the previous day) is the port, where we pick up legendary East London drag icon A Man To Pet, extensively featured in our fifth issue (including a stunning portrait by Nick Knight!), before grabbing something to eat from the island’s only bakery and finally heading to bed. He has been travelling all day to perform at tonight’s launch party at Arsenale, the island’s only library and bookshop, which operates through a rotating programme of artist and publisher takeovers and activations throughout the summer.

[10:10] “Everyone can c*m”

Before heading back to our lodge for a much-needed nap, we put up our event posters around town. Featuring lino-printed ostraca, fragments of ceramic once used to inscribe the names of citizens Athenians wished to ostracise, the visuals pay homage to Anafi’s long history as a place of political exile, from the Roman period through to Greece’s 20th-century interwar years, largely because of its remote location. Just before bed, I respond to messages on the magazine’s Grindr profile about the launch (e.g. ‘Can everyone come???’), catch up on emails and schedule meetings with contributors to the next issue, which is already in the works.

[16:13] Work-life balance

Shortly after waking in the afternoon, we head to Roukounas for a swim with photographer and artist René Habermacher and Antoine Asseraf, also featured in our latest issue, who have taken over Arsenale for the week and will be our co-hosts for the evening. We iron out the final details for the event over hibiscus kombuchas from The Mule and The Pig. A Man To Pet will be reading out original poetry – or so we thought.

[20:24] Sold out!

Our combined word-of-mouth and Grindr-hijack marketing strategy has worked. The queers have skipped sunset on the beach and sacrificed their hard-to-come-by dinner reservations to make it to the launch. Everyone is hyped for A Man To Pet’s performance later, drinking wine chilled in a boat we’ve repurposed as an ice bucket. A boy named Dimitris grabs a bunch of grapes from our fruit crate and starts feeding them to guests. Sometimes two or three mouths reach for the same grape. The rest is history.

[4ish to 11ish] Top of the flock

We close shop at 11 and have a debrief dinner with the boys before heading to Chora to capitalise on our “Anafame” (Anafi + fame), as René coined it. There’s a post-launch buzz in the air and by midnight the square is packed. Soon the procession begins: Monolithos to Mylos, then Madres until sunrise. Paul Soulellis once told me that a book is an opportunity for a conversation. Tonight serves as a reminder of that. Surrounded by collaborators, friends and strangers from all over the world, on this tiny, godforsaken island, feels both very odd, and serendipitous. And while this maybe isn’t ‘a typical day’ in the life of The Boy Is Beautiful, by the time the sun comes up, I can’t help but feel that perhaps it could be.