As we move swiftly towards the end of Summer 2013, the Summer That Was Barely There (in all, hardly a fortnight of our typical heat and humidity), I’m looking forward to a Fall and Winter of new and exciting writing challenges.
Writers tend to be a canny and superstitious lot, and we don’t really like to talk about upcoming work in detail for fear of jinxing things, but trust me when I tell you that some of the pieces I’m working on are…intriguing, to say the least. I’ve made great strides in my work, with a book abstract nearly ready to go, and I’m looking for an agent to aid in the process.
I’m slowly but steadily also increasing the range of subjects and publications I write about and for; as a writer who lives to write, I’m ecstatic about challenging myself and being challenged by publishing opportunities (and the hard-working editors who make that possible).
Just a few highlights: I was recently named one of Chicago’s most inspiring women, an entirely unexpected honour, and my writing portfolio is looking better, more diverse, and even more prolific. I’ve written reviews like this one on Orange Is the New Black, which have been widely circulated, my work on sex offender registries continues to draw praise, as do my reports like this one on the use of “Queer.”
I’m also scheduled to speak at various events, including a groundbreaking immigration conference put together by the people at Moratoriums on Deportation Campaign. I’m hugely honoured to be on a panel with Mariame Kaba, founder of Project NIA and a trusted friend and comrade. We’re on at 11 a.m. on the 7th of September at Northeastern Illinois University.
In September, the Critical Ethnic Studies conference will be in Chicago this year, and I’m especially thrilled that so many of my dear friends will be in town for that.
I’ll be on a panel as well.
In October, I’ll be skyping in to the “Queer Dreams and Nonprofit Blues” conference at Columbia Law School. In November, I’ll be at the “Sexual Citizenship and Human Rights” conference at the University of Texas. That same week, on the 29th, I’ll appear, via astral projection, at the Decolonising Sexualities conference in the UK, along with Karma Chavez and Ryan Conrad, fellow Against Equality members (they’ll be there in real life)
There are more events to come, with details being hammered out. If you’d like to bring me to your campus or community organisation, drop me a line using the contact form here. Because of caretaking responsibilities in Chicago, I can’t always make it to events physically but I’ve successfully skyped or podcasted into quite a few by now, and they’ve all been very vibrant discussions.
In the meantime, while the writing is going well and to more venues, it’s still a struggle to make ends meet – I’m getting there, but any help in the meantime is welcome. So please make a donation via paypal, if possible.
Image: Bathers, Frederic Bazille, 1869.