Kaya Wilson
As Beautiful As Any Other
“Transformative, sentimental, witty, and wonderfully authoritative. An intimate and stirring account of experiences at once universal and unique, from a perspective that’s crucial to our understanding of ourselves, our relationships and our culture.”
Pan Macmillan Australia, 2021
When Kaya Wilson came out to his parents as transgender, a year after a near-death surfing accident and just weeks before his father's death, he was met with a startling family history of concealed queerness and shame.
This is a trans story.
As Beautiful As Any Other weaves this legacy together with intimate examinations of the forces that have shaped Wilson's life, and his body: vulnerability and power, grief and trauma, science and narrative.
This is also my story.
In this powerful and lyrical memoir, Wilson makes a case for the strength we find when we confront the complexities of our identity with compassion. As Beautiful As Any Other is a trailblazing debut of remarkable beauty, insight and candour.
Shortlisted - ACT Notable Awards Nonfiction Award (Big Press), 2021
About the Author
Kaya Wilson is a writer and tsunami scientist based in Australia. His non-fiction writing blends essay and memoir to explore universal themes of identity, gender and origin. Kaya's work has been published widely including by Pan Macmillan, Brow Books, The Guardian and Overland. He was the winner of the of the 2019 Writing NSW Varuna Fellowship, a runner-up in the 2019 Kill Your Darlings New Critic Award, longlisted for the Kill Your Darlings unpublished manuscript award, and was shortlisted for Penguin Australia's Write It Fellowship.