DIVERSITY OF DESIRE: Writing Queer Perspectives

A panel moderated by ERIN JUDGE with Catie Disabato, Dan Lopez, and Martin Pousson brings together Southern California's most exciting emerging LGBT voices in conversation about writing novels that feature LGBT characters in diverse contexts and environments, from Louisiana to Chicago to Boston to Florida. Each of these writers deals with the specificities of individual characters and their circumstances, as well as navigating the overarching politics of our society and the evolution of social perspectives. 

“Erin Judge's Vow of Celibacy is a smart, witty coming-of-age tale starring a complex and courageous heroine…Natalie's bold adventures in self-discovery and desire are sometimes hilarious, sometimes unnerving, but always engrossing.” —Heather Havrilesky, Author/ The Cut's “Ask Polly” 

Erin Judge is a comedian, novelist, culture writer, producer, actor, and traveling nightclub entertainer based in Los Angeles. Her debut novel, Vow of Celibacy, was released by Rare Bird Books in 2016. Her words also appear in VanityFair.com, the Advocate, and Salon. As a stand-up comic, Erin has appeared on NBC and Comedy Central. She's performed throughout North America with the CAKE Comedy Tour and co-hosts Romantic
Comedy, a monthly show at The Ripped Bodice, the country's first romance bookstore, in Culver City, CA. 

Praise for Catie Disabato's The Ghost Network:
“In search of a missing pop star, two young women…use journals and songs to determine what happened and manage to fall in love along the way.” – Library Journal
“A smart and thorny debut novel… The Ghost Network presents the maze of modern culture with all its dead ends and truncations, but reveals treasure to those who walk the path."—New York Times Book Review

Catie Disabato is a columnist for Full Stop. She’s written criticism and commentary for This Recording, The Millions, and The Rumpus, and her short fiction was recently featured on Joyland. After growing up in Chicago and graduating from Oberlin
College, she now lives in L.A.and works in public relations.

Dan Lopez's "The Show House… is a mystery that brings together murder, passion, family, and ideas of what it means to be gay in the face of normative pressures...."
—Theodore Kerr, Lambda Literary

Dan Lopez's work has appeared in The Millions, Storychord, Time Out New York, and Lambda Literary, among others. The Show House is his first novel. He lives in Los Angeles.

Martin Pousson's "Black Sheep Boy frames its fear through tragic misunderstanding, violence, and sexual confusion…it illuminates the terrible aching divide…between family members." – The Millions

Martin Pousson was raised in Louisiana. He is a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship recipient whose short stories have appeared in The Antioch Review, Epoch, Story Quarterly, and elsewhere as well as a finalist for several fiction awards. He now lives in Los Angeles.