May 31

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library (DC Public Library)

Brought to you by Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library (DC Public Library)

A celebration of LGBTQ writers from the DMV.

Join the Library for a full day of readings, workshops, and panels from DC’s LGBTQ literary community. Find Your Story will be a day of workshops, presentations, and author talks focused on DC’s writing community. For World Pride the event will have a special focus on LGBTQ writers in the DC area. The day will include panel discussions, informal writing workshops, and a dedicated poetry stage.

First Floor Stage

10:00 AM – 11:00 AM – RAINBOW ARCHIPELIGOS OF QUEER RESISTANCE DURING THESE COLONIZING TIMES: A QUEER FILIPINO PANEL AND WORKSHOP
DC’s Liwanag DC Filipino Book Festival organizers and Queer Poets perform poems of the ever evoloving struggle to come out as queer, bisexual, non-binary and how their lives are impacted during the current administration.

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM – FORGING FRIENDSHIPS, CREATING COMMUNITY: A FIRESIDE WITH RABIH ALAMEDDINE AND MANIL SURI
Join the Library and PEN/Faulkner Foundation. for a special conversation with literary icons Manil Suri and Rabih Allameddine. Moderated by novelist Jeffrey Dale Lofton, the conversation will explore their work as gay novelists and reflections on community and friendship among writers.

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Lunch and Networking

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM – KEYNOTE WITH DENNE MICHELLE NORRIS
Join us for a moderated conversation with Find Your Story’s Signature Speaker, Denne Michele Norris. Norris will discuss her debut novel When the Harvest Comes, a story about a young Black gay man, estranged from his father, must confront his painful past—and his deepest desires around gender, love, and sex.

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM – CRAFTING A QUEER HAPPY ENDING ROMANCE PANEL
Join a panel of LGBTQ romance authors for a discussion on the art of telling LGBTQ+ love stories, new perspectives on romance genre traditions, and writing meaningful “happily ever afters” for queer characters. Afterwards, meet the authors, have your books signed, and collect generative writing prompts for an informal workshop.

3:00 PM – 4:00 PM – LOVE ME QUEERLY, LOVE ME IN LILAC LAND: WRITING THE QUEER LOVE POEM
Dr. Casey Catherine Moore and Regie Cabico, co-curators of DC’s premiere queer comedy and spoken word series, HomoStanzas. share their queer biographical love poems and inspirations such as Sappho and Ishanee Chanda. Participants will also generate their original queer love poem, sharing their work in a nurturing and positive space. Be prepared to craft evocative verses that celebrate queer love, identity, and resilience.

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM – ALLIGATORS, MERMEN, AND LATINE QUEER BOOKWORMS, OH MY
A special World Pride edition of Los Bookis Podcast recorded live in front of an audience, featuring a roundtable discussion with queer Latine writer: Venessa Vida Kelley, author of When the Tides Held the Moon.

Fifth Floor Poetry Stage

10:00 AM – 12:00 PM – A GATHERING OF OUR PRIDE – A MARATHON POETRY READING
Regie Cabico, the Fairy Godmother of Spoken Word, and Kim Roberts, the premier literary historian of DC, curate and host fourteen LGBTQ+ poets from the greater DC region as they share poetry of love and resilience. Join us in the afternoon for a book fair featuring small local presses and an open mic.

1:00 PM – 4:00 PM – OPEN MIC AND LOCAL PRESS FAIR
Celebrate the community of independent presses and publishers in the DC area amplifying the voices of LGBTQ writers with a press fair and open mic featuring their work.