Gays Reading

Latest Episodes:

Steven Rowley (The Guncle Abroad) May 21, 2024

Show notes

Jason and Brett talk to Steven Rowley (The Guncle Abroad) about sea cave adventures in Capri, Varla Jean Merman's rendition of "Ring Them Bells," the best Wang Chung song, and obviously: Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and Grease 2.
Steven Rowley is the bestselling author of five novels including, Lily and the Octopus, a Washington Post Notable Book; The Editor, an NPR Best Book of the Year; The Guncle, winner of the 22nd Thurber Prize for American Humor and Goodreads Choice Awards finalist for Novel of the Year; and The Celebrants. His fiction has been translated in twenty languages. He resides in Palm Springs, California.
Truffle hunt in Rome: https://matteo-truffles.com/

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Kaliane Bradley (The Ministry of Time) May 14, 2024

Show notes

Jason and Brett talk to Kaliane Bradley (The Ministry of Time) about transforming her once-serious novel about Cambodia and being mixed-race into the latest genre-defying Good Morning America book club pick. They learn how Kaliane was able to experience the 21st century as an adventure, gush over the only photo of a footnote of a historical figure, and debate about chilled red wine.
Kaliane Bradley is a British-Cambodian writer and editor based in London. Her short fiction has appeared in Somesuch Stories, The Willowherb Review, Electric Literature, Catapult, and Extra Teeth, among others. She was the winner of the 2022 Harper’s Bazaar Short Story Prize and the 2022 V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize.

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Great Queer Coffee Table Books feat. Ryan Fitzgibbon, Billie Winter, & Hannah Murphy Winter May 07, 2024

Show notes

Jason and Brett talk to Hannah Murphy Winter and Billie Winter, the couple behind Queer Power Couples, as they delve into the essence of queer power partnerships, offering intimate insights into documenting this untapped element of queer history. They then talk to Ryan Fitzgibbon (A Great Gay Book, on sale May 21) about his curation of a time capsule featuring essays, poems, and photographs, immortalizing layers of queer history and rich tapestry of LGBTQ+ experiences.
Hannah Murphy Winter (she/they) is a journalist who writes about queerness and policies that impact LGBTQ+ lives. Her work frequently appears in Rolling Stone. She lives in Seattle with her wife, Billie Winter, three cats they found in their shed, and their rescue dog, Pippin. The first person she ever recognized as queer was Spinelli from Recess.
Billie Winter (she/her) is a photographer and videographer. She grew up in Queens, NY, and worked at Rolling Stone as a photo editor for fifteen years until she moved to Seattle and became an organic, regenerative farmer. She still has a crush on Cheetara from ThunderCats.
Ryan Fitzgibbon is an artist and publisher. After beginning as a communication designer at IDEO in San Francisco, California, he founded Hello Mr. in 2012. Fitzgibbon self-published the magazine from Brooklyn, New York, before moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma in January of 2020. In addition to organizing to protect LGBTQ+ rights and expanding HIV/AIDS care and prevention in Oklahoma, his work includes supporting the Black Wall Street Times through the production of multiple print publications, and the opening of their newsroom and storefront in Greenwood. Fitzgibbon is a 2021-2023 awardee of the Tulsa Artist Fellowship.

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Rachel Khong (Real Americans) Apr 30, 2024

Show notes

In their 50th episode, Jason and Brett talk to Rachel Khong (Real Americans) about cooking eggs, mugwort baths, growing into the person who could write this book, and how friction allows for change.
Rachel Khong is the author of Goodbye, Vitamin, winner of the California Book Award for First Fiction, and named a Best Book of the Year by NPR; O, The Oprah Magazine; Vogue; and Esquire. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, The Cut, The Guardian, The Paris Review, and Tin House. In 2018, she founded The Ruby, a work and event space for women and nonbinary writers and artists in San Francisco’s Mission District. She lives in California.

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Upcoming / Up & Coming feat. Jiaming Tang, Melissa Mogollon, Yael van der Wouden Apr 23, 2024

Show notes

In the April episode of their debut novelists series UPCOMING / UP & COMING, Jason and Brett talk to three new writers about their soon-to-be released books. Jiaming Tang (Cinema Love, May 7) talks about explaining his "accent" to people in Alabama; Melissa Mogollon (Oye, May 14) expresses her love of Rainforest Cafe; and Yael van der Wouden (The Safekeep, May 28) shares the secrets of erotic writing.
Jiaming Tang is a queer immigrant writer. He holds an MFA from the University of Alabama, and his writing has appeared in such publications as AGNI, Lit Hub, Joyland Magazine, and elsewhere. He is a 2022-23 Center for Fiction Emerging Writer Fellow and lives in Brooklyn, New York. Cinema Love is his first novel.
Melissa Mogollon holds an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a BA from the George Washington University. Originally from Colombia and raised in Florida, she now teaches at a boarding school in Rhode Island, where she lives with her partner and dog. Oye is her first novel.
Yael van der Wouden is a writer and a teacher. She lives in Utrecht, Netherlands, and The Safekeep is her first novel.

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Yulin Kuang (How to End a Love Story) Apr 16, 2024

Show notes

Jason and Brett talk to Yulin Kuang (How to End a Love Story) about Lisa Frank fan fiction, underrated 90s rom coms, the struggles of watching cooking shows on TV, how she came to adapt two Emily Henry novels, and much more.
Yulin Kuang is a screenwriter and director, whose credits include The CW’s I Ship It and Hulu’s Dollface. She was once fired from a Hallmark movie for being ‘too hip for Hallmark’ and is the adapting screenwriter of Emily Henry’s People We Meet On Vacation, as well as the writer/director of the forthcoming Beach Read film for 20th Century Studios. She lives in Pasadena with her husband Zack and their orange cat, Eloise.

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December Book: Like Family by Erin O. White

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Holly Gramazio (The Husbands) Apr 09, 2024

Show notes

Jason and Brett talk to Holly Gramazio (The Husbands) about how her life was changed by a misfiled library book, her strong convictions about jewelry, five finger shoes, and High School Musical 3.

The Husbands is April's Read with Jenna book club pick.
Holly Gramazio is a writer, game designer and curator from Adelaide, currently based in London. She founded the experimental games festival Now Play This, and wrote the script for the award-winning indie video game Dicey Dungeons. Her recent projects include New Rules, a zine collecting essays about play during the pandemic, and a collaboration with artist Lawrence Lek on a game for his exhibition NOX. She’s particularly interested in rules, play, cities, gardens, games that get people acting creatively, stories that buy into a ridiculous premise and then really commit to it, and art that gets people interacting with their surroundings in new ways. The Husbands is her first novel.

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Douglas Westerbeke (A Short Walk Through a Wide World) Apr 02, 2024

Show notes

Jason and Brett talk to Douglas Westerbeke (A Short Walk Through a Wide World) about the research that went into setting up his modern fairy tale, the impact of technology on storytelling, and the importance of staying curious.
Douglas Westerbeke is a librarian who lives in Ohio and works at one of the largest libraries in the US. He has spent the last decade on the local panel of the International Dublin Literary Award, which inspired him to write his own book.

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Garrard Conley (All the World Beside) Mar 26, 2024

Show notes

Jason and Brett talked to Garrard Conley (All the World Beside) about how we reinvent ourselves when we challenge the status quo, the pros and cons of “adulting,” and making our own rules.
Garrard Conley is the New York Timesbestselling author of the memoir Boy Erased, as well as the creator and co-producer of the podcast UnErased: The History of Conversion Therapy in America. His work has been published by The New York Times, Oxford American, Time, and Virginia Quarterly Review, among others. Conley is a graduate of Brooklyn College’s MFA program, where he was a Truman Capote Fellow specializing in fiction. He is an assistant professor of creative writing at Kennesaw State University.

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Tommy Orange (Wandering Stars) Mar 19, 2024

Show notes

Jason and Brett talk to Tommy Orange (Wandering Stars) about dreams and spirituality, learn about sound engineering and roller hockey, and how understanding your history can shape your future. Come for special insider info about a character's playlist, stay for a Moulin Rouge debate.

Tommy Orangeis a graduate of the MFA program at the Institute of American Indian Arts. An enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, he was born and raised in Oakland, California. His first book, There There, was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize and received the 2019 American Book Award. He lives in Oakland, California.

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December Book: Like Family by Erin O. White

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