LGBTQ History Month Virtual Poetluck

The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow (WCDH) proudly presents a special edition virtual Poetluck in celebration of LGBTQ History Month. It will take place on Thursday, October 15, at 6:30 p.m. CST and will celebrate the literary accomplishments of LGBTQ alumni and friends of WCDH. Readers include Joss Barton, William Jack Sibley, Kai Coggin, Debbie Browne, Patricia Evans Cox, Jonathan Harper, and Stephen Chan.

Joss Barton is a writer, journalist, and spoken word performance artist exploring and documenting queer and trans* life, love, and liberation. Her work blends femme-fever dreams over the soundtrack of the American nightmare. Joss examines the myriad states of queer trans womanhood from historical, political, and pop-cultural identities of death, desires, dreams, and always disco. She currently writes and resides in Saint Louis, Missouri. Joss Barton will read excerpts from her latest long-form poem “The Summer I Got Bit,” an epic transsexual breakup poem that charts the death of America’s dreams of death and the disco revival rites found amongst the rubble.

William Jack Sibley is the winner of the National Indie Excellence Award for Fiction and the USA Best Book Award for Fiction, twice Finalist for the Lambda Fiction Awards, twice Finalist Foreword Reviews Book of the Year, Finalist Balcones Fiction Prize, Runner-up Texas Institute of Letters “John Bloom Humor Award” and Insightout Book of the Month Club, Bestseller. In addition to being a novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and journalist Bill is a native Texan - with extended intervals in New York, Hollywood, and Santa Fe (and other places where they don’t say “y’all”). He is currently Secretary of the invitational-only Texas Institute of letters. Bill will be reading from his just-completed new novel, Here We Go Loop De Loop, the story of a her loving a him, who's in love with another him, and that other "him" enduring unrequited love for the original "her."  The madness of always wanting what you seemingly can't have - and getting precisely what you seemingly warrant.  www.williamjacksibley.com

Kai Coggin is a widely published poet and author of three full-length collections Periscope Hart, Wingspan, and Incandescent. She is a queer woman of color who thinks Black lives matter, a teaching artist in poetry with the Arkansas Arts Council, and host of the longest-running consecutive weekly open mic series in the country—Wednesday Night Poetry. Recently named “Best Poet in Arkansas” by the Arkansas Times, her fierce and powerful poetry has been nominated three times for The Pushcart Prize, as well as Bettering American Poetry 2015, and Best of the Net 2016 and 2018. Kai is Associate Editor at The Rise Up Review. She lives with her wife and their two adorable dogs in Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas.  Kai will read her poem “Her” which is about the first time she kissed a girl, from her latest collection Incandescent, and a new poem she wrote for her wife. kaicoggin.com

Debbie Browne is joining us from the UK. She spent two weeks at the WCDH in August 2017 and has since published three books on Amazon. The first is a children’s fantasy adventure. The Girl the Owl & the Temple was written at the WCDH and references Eureka Springs. The second, An American Girl, tells her daughter’s story growing up with a dad who is transgender. The third, I Hope They Sell Panties in Heaven, is a collection of short stories and poems based on her experiences and feelings living as a female. Debbie will read a short story and poem from her latest book, ‘I Hope They Sell Panties in Heaven.

Patricia Evans Cox has been slinging ink and falling in love with her own characters since her boarding school days. She writes in her hometown of Eureka Springs, surrounded by the forest that inspires her. Patricia prioritizes experiences over things, loves to travel, and has lived in Ireland and England. She returns there frequently to write, as well as to a much-loved tiny island off the coast of Glasgow, where the owner of the local pub saves her the red velvet chair by the fire. Patricia will be reading from a work in progress, Laying of Hands, which will be her sixth novel. More of her writing can be seen on Instagram, @tomboyinkslinger, and at her website, tomboyinkslinger.com.

Jonathan Harper is the author of the short story collection, Daydreamers, which was listed as a Kirkus Review's Indie Book of the Year for 2015. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from American University in 2010 and has received residencies from The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and The Writer’s Colony at Dairy Hollow. Jonathan is joining us from his home in Northern Virginia. He’ll be reading new material. jonathan-harper.com

Stephen Carrey-Chan is a playwright, technologist, and diversity advocate based in Brooklyn, NY. The Writers' Colony holds a special place in Stephen's heart as his first writer's residency, and he's thrilled to be joining tonight's reading alongside some very accomplished artists. In recent years, much of his writing centers around his personal experiences as a gay Asian-American millennial, hoping to offer meaningful messages through playful humor through works like "Super-Powered Shrimp Dumpling" (HB Studio), "Order No. 68" (Arts on Site NYC), and "Et tu, Padre?" (Manhattan Repertory Theatre). When not playwriting, Stephen works as a product manager for Teachable, building digital products to help creators share and monetize their knowledge. He's also the co-founder of North Star, a script incubation and workshopping platform for writers, and a digital corps member with Out In Tech, a non-profit uniting the LGBTQ+ tech community. Stephen will be presenting a staged reading. www.stephenchan.me

To learn more about LGBT History Month, please visit lgbthistorymonth.com.

Spectators may join a moderated watch party on Facebook Live at the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow page: https://www.facebook.com/writerscolonyatdairyhollow.

Since opening its doors to writers in 2000, the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow has made a lasting impact on the arts and literary communities providing uninterrupted residency time for writers of all genres, including culinary, composers, and artists, without discrimination. The WCDH has hosted over 1,500 writers from 48 states and 13 countries. To learn more, please visit www.writerscolony.org or call Michelle Hannon at (479)253-7444.