Book programs abound at trans conference

Lovers of literature will find plenty to hold their attention during the Philadelphia Trans-Health Conference, which runs June 13-15.

In addition to numerous seminars, workshops and keynote speeches, the three-day event also offers four programs specifically designed to appeal to devotees of the written word.

And just as the entire conference celebrates the diversity of the transgender experience, its book-related programming is similarly wide-ranging, including authors and readers, fiction and nonfiction, veteran scribes and writers making their literary debuts.

One attractive aspect of the PTHC’s literary events is that they encourage attendees to venture outside of the Pennsylvania Convention Center, where the majority of the conference takes place, and visit two of Philadelphia’s independent bookstores, Giovanni’s Room, a venerable LGBT institution at 345 S. 12th St., and Wooden Shoe Books, an outpost of alternative ideas at 704 South St.

The fun begins at 7 p.m. June 13 at Giovanni’s Room with a reading showcasing the variety of transgender writing. Among the four authors featured are Brett Axel, whose children’s book “Goblinheart” employs elements of allegory and fairy tales to discuss issues of gender identity, as well as Jala Mckenzie-Burns, whose “Climbing Life’s Mountains: Overcoming Challenges of Biracial Birth, Adoption, Gender Identity and Depression” takes readers through Mckenzie-Burns’ storied history. Dr. Michele Angello, a local therapist whose new book “On the Couch with Dr. Angello” offers guidance and support to gender-variant individuals and their families, will also participate.

The event promises to be just as special for the authors as it is for attendees. Elliott DeLine, author of the novella “I Know Very Well How I Got My Name,” responded enthusiastically when asked if he was looking forward to the conference.

“This is my first time attending the Philadelphia Trans-Health Conference and I’m very excited,” he said. “I’m grateful that Giovanni’s Room has set up this reading at the convention. I can’t imagine a better opportunity to share my writing with other transgender people and allies.”

In addition to Thursday evening’s author event, DeLine, a regular blogger for the popular FTM magazine “Original Plumbing,” will be manning his own vendor booth throughout the conference.

Also on Thursday evening, Ceyenne Doroshow will be reading and signing her new book, “Cooking in Heels: A Memoir Cookbook” at the Wooden Shoe. Doroshow, who is making her first visit to the PTHC, published her book in conjunction with the Red Umbrella Project, an organization that advocates on behalf of sex workers, particularly those who are queer or transgendered.

The cookbook reflects Doroshow’s lifelong belief that food can bring people together. As a child, she learned to cook from her paternal grandfather, a chef at New York City’s Copacabana, and from watching Julia Child. Confused by gender issues and seeking protection from an abusive father, she found comfort and refuge in the kitchen. Later, while serving a brief prison sentence for escorting, the feisty survivor calmed her fellow inmates by improving their daily rations and reminiscing about home-cooked meals, an experience that inspired her to collect these recipes and share them with readers.

At 6 p.m. June 14, writers of all sorts will gather for the Trans Literary Salon. Hosted by local poet and activist Nico Amador, this wordy soiree will provide authors the opportunity to share their work, whether fiction, memoir, poetry or spoken word. The only limit is one’s imagination. And, like Thursday’s events, it will get attendees out and about, taking place at the Leeway Foundation, 1315 Walnut St. Finally, at 10:20 a.m. June 15, early risers can catch a panel discussion entitled Writing Trans. Three established authors, including Laura Antoniou, who is well known for a series of lesbian-themed BDSM novels known as the “Marketplace,” will discuss their experiences as published authors and also take questions from the audience. Attendees should expect a mixture of practical advice about the craft of writing, as well as more philosophical ruminations on the nature and purpose of writing literature within and for the transgender community.

Novelist DeLine expressed the current situation well when he unequivocally stated: “We need art just like all people need art, and our mental health has suffered from a lack of it. Our experiences are medicalized, memoir-ized, theorized and trivialized, but rarely treated seriously as something artistic. Fiction, and all art for that matter, gives the soul something that pragmatic things cannot, and nourishing the soul is an important part of being healthy.”

For more information about the PTHC and a complete schedule, visit www.trans-health.org/.

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