Conchita Wurst will be in London on Wednesday 15th April to launch her official autobiography at London Book Fair, Kensington Olympia.
A muse for both Karl Lagerfeld and Jean Paul Gaultier, giver of TED talks, and world ambassador of peace, love and tolerance, this is the story of how Thomas Neuwirth became Conchita, in her own words
Conchita Wurst exploded onto our screens as the Austrian winner of The Eurovision Song Contest in 2014. Since then the bearded drag queen has taken the world by storm. A mouthpiece for the international LBGT community, Conchita has become an inspiration to millions of people.
Conchita has been clear that she comprises a private person and a fictional character but that these male and female counterparts both stand against intolerance. Conchita owes her existence to the fact that Tom has been dealing with discrimination his whole life. Therefore he created a woman with a beard – who would defy the categories of ‘different’ and ‘normal’ – and challenge gender stereotypes.
The bearded drag queen’s winning words, ‘we are unity and we are unstoppable’, were a pointed riposte to overt Russian hostility and a watershed moment for LGBT campaigners in Europe. The seismic reaction prompted Graham Norton to later comment: ‘it seems like Eurovision has done something that matters just a little bit’.
Being
CONCHITA
We Are Unstoppable
By Conchita Wurst
Introduction by Jean Paul Gaultier
John Blake Publishing Ltd
11th May 2015 HB £9.99
