Public · Anyone and Everyone !

Join us on 𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝟮𝟱𝘁𝗵 at 𝟳:𝟬𝟬𝗽𝗺 for a candid, intimate, and entertaining conversation on 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗡𝗼𝘄 with authors and professors 𝗔𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗯𝘆 and 𝗝𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 who will be presenting, discussing, and signing their latest books.

What are queer aesthetics? And what do they have to tell us about being queer right now? These and other questions related to queer art and cultural production will be discussed through the lenses of Ashby's and Alexander's respective, and thematically-related, books.

In his remarkably intimate book, 𝙈𝙮 1980𝙨 𝙂𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙤𝙮 𝙋𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩 (punctum books), award-winning music writer Arved Ashby muses over pieces that impacted his sexual and musical awakenings as a troubled gay adolescent—pieces by Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Beethoven, Anton Bruckner, Alban Berg, Prince, Kurt Cobain, and Tom Petty. Jonathan Alexander’s new book, 𝘿𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙚: 𝙉𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙖 𝙌𝙪𝙚𝙚𝙧 𝘼𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙘 (Fordham UP), asks how to look at images marked by queer pain without turning that pain into shock or pretending it isn’t there. Alexander answers by pairing close looking with lived experience. The result is intimate and analytic at once, a book that stays with hard feelings while still making room for possibility.

𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴:

𝗔𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗯𝘆 is Emeritus Professor of Musicology at Ohio State University. Award-winning author of many books, he has moved ever further from restrictive and impersonal norms of thinking and writing, a process that has reached its culmination (so far) in 𝘔𝘺 1980𝘴 𝘎𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵. Following the pandemic and resurgence of fascism and brutal deceits, and picking up on the discussions of shame found in 𝘔𝘺 1980𝘴 𝘎𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵, Ashby has now focused on indignity and intolerance. To that end, he is currently working on a book titled 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘔𝘦: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘖𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯.

𝗝𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 is Chancellor’s Professor of English and Gender & Sexuality Studies at UC Irvine, where he also currently serves as chair of the Department of English. Author of more than twenty books, he blends memoir and criticism in work often described as autotheory. His titles include 𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 & 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦, 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬, and a trilogy—𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘱: 𝘈 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘢 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺; 𝘉𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘦; and 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘧. Honors include a Lambda Literary finalist nod, a gold IPPY, an INDIES finalist citation, and the Lavender Rhetorics Award.

The event is free and open to the public, no tickets or reservations required!