Will I as a queer person be able to live openly, boldly, and out of the shadows?

Today we meet Jake Stepansky and we’re talking about the queer book that saved his life: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green. And David joins us for the conversation!

Jake Stepansky is a culture and care worker based in Brooklyn, NY. He is the co-founder and board president of the QT Library – a 501(c)(3) nonprofit working to bring a brick-and-mortar LGBTQIA+ library and substance-free community space to Boston. Jake is the Producer of Festival Presentations for the Under the Radar Festival, and works with private clients as a professional organizer and decluttering coach. Jake honed his skills as an arts worker and educator at Forklift Danceworks, Marty Pottenger’s Art At Work, Pomegranate Arts, the Office for the Arts at Harvard, and more.

David Levithan is an award-winning and New York Times-bestselling author of many books for teens, including Boy Meets Boy, Wide Awake, Love Is the Higher Law, and (with Rachel Cohn) Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. He also works as an editor and, in his free time, takes way too many pictures.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson is about two teens with the same name, running in two very different circles, suddenly find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, and culminating in epic turns-of-heart and the most fabulous musical ever to grace the high school stage.

Connect with Jake and David

Instagram: @jakebookplantsky
QT Library: qtlibrary.org

David's Facebook: facebook.com/davidlevithan

Our Bookshop
Visit our Bookshop for new releases, current bestsellers, banned books, critically acclaimed LGBTQ books, or peruse the books featured on our podcasts: bookshop.org/shop/thisqueerbook

Buy your copy of Will Grayson, Will Grayson here: https://bookshop.org/a/82376/9780142418475

Become an Associate Producer!
Become an Associate Producer of our podcast through a $20/month sponsorship on Patreon! A professionally recognized credit, you can gain access to Associate Producer meetings to help guide our podcast into the future! Get started today: patreon.com/thisqueerbook

Credits
Host/Founder: John Parker
Executive Producer: Jim Pounds
Associate Producers: Archie Arnold, K Jason Bryan and David Rephan, Bob Bush, Natalie Cruz, Troy Ford, Jonathan Fried, Joe Perazzo, Bill Shay, Sean Smith, and Karsten Vagner
Patreon Subscribers: Stephen D., Terry D., Stephen Flamm, Ida Göteburg, Thomas Michna, Sofia Nerman, and Gary Nygaard.
Creative and Accounting support provided by: Gordy Erickson

Quatrefoil Library
Quatrefoil has created a curated lending library made up of the books featured on our podcast! If you can’t buy these books, then borrow them! Link: https://libbyapp.com/library/quatrefoil/curated-1404336/page-1

Support the show

What happens when the world tells you you're too much and you start shrinking yourself to survive?

Today we meet William Ollayos and we’re talking about the queer book that saved his life: Reverie by Ryan La Sala. And Ryan joins us for the conversation!

William Ollayos is an educator, advocate, and aspiring writer based in Connecticut. He serves as an Area Coordinator in Wesleyan University’s Office of Residential Life, and as a Law & Policy Fellow with Connecticut’s Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity & Opportunity, where he administers the statewide LGBTQ+ Justice & Opportunity Network. Bill is also a J.D. candidate at Quinnipiac University School of Law and holds an M.A. in Comparative Literature from UMass Amherst.

Ryan La Sala is a bestselling and award-winning author known for his genre-defying, queer-centered horror and fantasy, including The Honeys, which is in development to become a major motion picture, and The Dead of Summer duology. He is also the author of Beholder, Reverie, and Be Dazzled. He has been featured in The New York Times Book Review, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, and more. He writes to you from New York, overseen by his cat, Haunted Little Girl.

Connect with William and Ryan

William's Instagram: @willbruwrites
The Hartford Times: hartfordtimes.com/author/william-ollayos/

Ryan's website: ryanlasala.com
Tiktok: @theryanlasala
Threads: @theryanlasala

Our Bookshop
Visit our Bookshop for new releases, current bestsellers, banned books, critically acclaimed LGBTQ books, or peruse the books featured on our podcasts: bookshop.org/shop/thisqueerbook

Buy your copy of Reverie here: https://bookshop.org/a/82376/9781728255835

Become an Associate Producer!
Become an Associate Producer of our podcast through a $20/month sponsorship on Patreon! A professionally recognized credit, you can gain access to Associate Producer meetings to help guide our podcast into the future! Get started today: patreon.com/thisqueerbook

Credits
Host/Founder: John Parker
Executive Producer: Jim Pounds
Associate Producers: Archie Arnold, K Jason Bryan and David Rephan, Bob Bush, Natalie Cruz, Troy Ford, Jonathan Fried, Joe Perazzo, Bill Shay, Sean Smith, and Karsten Vagner
Patreon Subscribers: Stephen D., Terry D., Stephen Flamm, Ida Göteburg, Thomas Michna, Sofia Nerman, and Gary Nygaard.
Creative and Accounting support provided by: Gordy Erickson
Quatrefoil Library
Quatrefoil has created a curated lending library made up of the books featured on our podcast! If you can’t buy these books, then borrow them! Link: https://libbyapp.com/library/quatrefoil/curated-1404336/page-1

Support the show

This question has followed me around my whole life: where do I come from?

Today we meet Karsten Vagner and we’re talking about the queer book that saved his life: The Prince of Los Cocuyos by Richard Blanco. And Richard joins us for the conversation!

Karsten Vagner was born in Bogotá, Colombia and grew up outside of New York City. He has worked in tech startups for the past 20 years, and has been awarded for his leadership, including for being a notable LGBTQ executive in New York. He has worked on community building projects with the New York City Council, was one of the first organizers with Swing Left after the 2016 election, and has been a volunteer at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in New York City. Karsten lives with his husband and daughter in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he has held elected office and is an organizer of the town's annual Pride celebration.

Richard Blanco was the youngest and first Latinx, immigrant, and gay poet to serve as the fifth Presidential Inaugural Poet in US History as awarded by President Barrack Obama. Originally born in Madrid, to Cuban Exile parents, Richard was raised in Miami in a working-class family. His writing explores cultural identity, place, and belonging. He is the author of several poetry collections, including his most recent Homeland of My Body. He has written two memoirs, including The Prince of Los Cocuyos. He serves as Education Ambassador for The Academy of American Poets and is an Associate Professor at Florida International University. He has received numerous awards, including a Lambda Literary Award, and in 2023, President Biden awarded him the National Humanities Medal.

Connect with Karsten and Richard

Karsten's instagram: @gaysingreenwich

Richards's website: richard-blanco.com

Our Bookshop
Visit our Bookshop for new releases, current bestsellers, banned books, critically acclaimed LGBTQ books, or peruse the books featured on our podcasts: bookshop.org/shop/thisqueerbook

Buy your copy of The Prince of Los Cocuyos here: https://bookshop.org/a/82376/9780062313775

Become an Associate Producer!
Become an Associate Producer of our podcast through a $20/month sponsorship on Patreon! A professionally recognized credit, you can gain access to Associate Producer meetings to help guide our podcast into the future! Get started today: patreon.com/thisqueerbook

Credits
Host/Founder: John Parker
Executive Producer: Jim Pounds
Associate Producers: Archie Arnold, K Jason Bryan and David Rephan, Bob Bush, Natalie Cruz, Troy Ford, Jonathan Fried, Joe Perazzo, Bill Shay, Sean Smith, and Karsten Vagner
Patreon Subscribers: Stephen D., Terry D., Stephen Flamm, Ida Göteburg, Thomas Michna, Sofia Nerman, and Gary Nygaard.
Creative and Accounting support provided by: Gordy Erickson

Quatrefoil Library
Quatrefoil has created a curated lending library made up of the books featured on our podcast! If you can’t buy these books, then borrow them! Link: https://libbyapp.com/library/quatrefoil/curated-1404336/page-1

Support the show