As a monthly queer reading series marks its fifth anniversary of spotlighting out authors, the LGBTQ bookstore that hosts it in San Francisco s Castro district is facing an uncertain future due to the COVID pandemic.
Since founders and life partners Wayne Goodman and Rick May launched their Perfectly Queer reading series five years ago this month, they have aimed to connect LGBTQ novelists and poets not only with the reading public but also to locally-owned bookstores in the Bay Area. When the initial host of their event, Books Inc., closed its Castro location in the summer of 2016, the couple ended up relocating it to the newly opened second location of Dog Eared Books.
YouTube Live
Ishmael Reed is the winner of the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship (genius award), the renowned L.A. Times Robert Kirsch Lifetime Achievement Award and the Lila Wallace-Reader s Digest Award. He is the author of more than thirty titles including the acclaimed novel Mumbo Jumbo, as well as non-fiction, plays and poetry. Website | Instagram | Facebook
Staajabu is a poet, activist and member of Straight Out Scribes. Mother to Dr. V.S. Chochezi, she and her daughter are the Straight Out Scribes poetry duo. Born in Philadelphia and raised in Camden, New Jersey, Staajabu is a writer, poet, editor, producer, health advocate, prison rights activist, environmental activist, graphic artist and U.S. Air Force veteran who currently resides in Sacramento. Website | Facebook - Staajabu | Facebook Straight Out Scribes - SOS | email