Perrin Roosevelt Ireland: Why Does Science Talk About Animal Sex the Way That It Does?
In this interview, author Perrin Roosevelt Ireland discusses making more than 200 illustrations for her nonfiction book, Poking the Squid.
Perrin Roosevelt Ireland is an artist and environmentalist. For a decade, she worked at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), ultimately as deputy to the executive director. Her artwork has been published in Discover, Nature, Scientific American, and The Rumpus. She serves on the board of the Roosevelt Institute, was an inaugural Artist in Residence at the New York Aquarium, and is a Banff Graphic Novel Resident. Perrin lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her cats (and muses) Ursula and Pudge. Follow her on TikTok and Instagram.
In this interview, Perrin discusses making more than 200 illustrations for her nonfiction book, Poking the Squid, her hope for readers, and more.
Name: Perrin Roosevelt Ireland
Literary agent: Sarah Levitt, Aevitas Creative Management
Book title: Poking the Squid
Publisher: Norton
Release date: June 16, 2026
Genre/category: Nonfiction
Elevator pitch: Poking the Squid: What We Can Learn From Animal Sex is a graphic nonfiction informal history of how increased diversity in who makes science means we end up seeing animal sex more clearly. A rated-R Magic School Bus meets Alison Bechdel’s feminist theory in comics with a dash of Isabella Rosselini’s Green Porno irreverence.
What prompted you to write this book?
The pleasurable premise of Poking the Squid: What We Can Learn from Animal Sex was: If I made a goofy comics thirst trap about natural kinkery, would it help people to deepen their investment in animal fates during a sixth mass extinction? I’ve been talking to audiences about the wonders (and oddities!) of animal sex for years, and noticed that all of their questions about each mating ritual added up to one big one: Why does science talk about animal sex the way that it does? And what does that say about us?! Poking the Squid, which features interviews with dozens of scientists and queer and feminist theorists, historians and philosophers, is my 250-page watercolor comic answer.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
It was about three or four years from idea, to developing the book proposal, to selling the book, to making all those hand-drawn watercolor comics and going back and forth with my wonderful editor, to publication. While researching the book, it expanded beyond a romp through how animals bury their boners into an informal history of feminist and queer interventions into knowledge production in biology because I began to see that the word “sex” was being used to many different ends in journal papers. And sleuths that me and my two kitties are, we HAD to get to the bottom of that!
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
It is a lot of work to draw 250 pages of comics by hand, so I got the book Draw Stronger: Self-Care for Cartoonists and Visual Artists by Kriota Willberg and did quite a bit of warming up at studio each day to avoid giving myself a wrist injury. I imagine not a lot of folks picture comics as a physically grueling enterprise, but it is!
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
I knew animals were freaks off the leash, but I did not anticipate mother nature had so many marvelous tricks up her sleeve for how species propagate themselves and conduct their robust love lives. Abundant sexual diversity is a pleasant surprise!
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
I found that how scientists approach animal sex reveals a whole heck of a lot about what we humans think about sex: our hangups, our political agendas, and even our values. Humans are obsessed with finding monogamy in the animal queendom, but feminist ornithologists and genetic evidence indicates feminist economic co-parenting arrangements and ethical non-monogamy are more the animal norm. The word "sex" is used to describe a huge variety of animal traits, behaviors, and physiology in academic journal papers, but we're increasingly seeing the term "biological sex" being used to restrict trans human rights outside of academia. The animal kingdom is full of gender fluidity and sex changes that push back on this oversimplification! And at 1500 species and counting documented as having same-sex sex, animals show us queer behavior is anything but unnatural.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Trust your gut, and when you can’t, have a group of friends around you who will tell you the truth!
