BLOOM is a publication of Arts in Bloom Project, Inc., a non-profit dedicated to queer artists, writers, and audiences. BLOOM was founded to support the work of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender writers and artists and to foster the appreciation of queer literature and creation. BLOOM has published 248 LGBT writers and visual artists to date in its 10 year run.

Celebrate the 10th issue of BLOOM with readings by NYC-area queer writers published in the current issue, as well as those who’ve published in past issues.

Reception at 7 PM

Reading at 7:30 PM

Featuring readings by:

Michael Broder is the author of Drug and Disease Free (Indolent Books, 2016) and This Life Now (A Midsummer Night’s Press, 2014), a finalist for the 2015 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry. His poems have appeared in many journals including American Poetry Review, Columbia Poetry Review, Court Green, and of course BLOOM. He lives in Brooklyn with his husband, the poet Jason Schneiderman, and a backyard colony of stray and feral cats.

 

Max Freeman is a poet and filmmaker living in Brooklyn. He holds an MA in English and American literature from Harvard University. His poems have appeared in Barrow Street and Poetry International. He also makes the web series The 3 Bits.

 

Dean Kostos is a poet. His poetry collections include This Is Not a Skyscraper (recipient of the Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award, selected by Mark Doty, published by Red Hen), Rivering, Last Supper of the Senses, The Sentence That Ends with a Comma, and Celestial Rust. His work has appeared in over 300 journals and his literary criticism has appeared on the Harvard University Press website and in Talisman. A multiple Pushcart-Prize nominee, and a finalist for the Gival Award, he won the Jot Speak Award (UK) for “Amadou Diallo’s Ghost Reminisces.” His poem “Subway Silk” was translated into a film and screened in Tribeca and at San Francisco’s IndieFest.

 

Amanda Krupman is a writer and (semi?) retired performer. Her prose has been published in BLOOM; A Clean, Well-Lighted Place; The Cleveland Review; xoJane; Time Out New York; and Punk Planet. Her literary zine PLUG was featured in the “From A to Zine” exhibition at Columbia College Chicago. She has performed on stages in Cleveland, Chicago, and D.C. She has performed in many NYC venues, with only a few left standing: RiFiFi (RIP), the Producer’s Club, Barrette (RIP), WOW Cafe, the Soho House, House of Yes, Kings County (RIP), Sugarland (RIP), Public Assembly, Coney Island Freak Show Museum, Sin Sin & the Leopard Lounge, and Element (RIP). She has an MFA in fiction from the New School.

 

Tom Léger is an essayist, dramatic writer, and publisher. He lives in New York City. https://www.tomleger.com

 

Susan Ryan was born in Ireland, raised in California and has lived for many years in downtown NYC. Her work has appeared in The New York Observer, The L Magazine and BLOOM. She is currently finishing a novel set in NYC’s Meatpacking District in the early ‘90s and another manuscript about surfing and love and leaving New York for Hawaii. She holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College.

 

Elaine Sexton is a poet, critic, and educator. Her most recent collection of poetry is Prospect/Refuge,published by Sheep Meadow Press in 2015. She teaches poetry and text & image workshops at Sarah Lawrence College and New York University and is a member of the National Book Critics Circle. www.elainesexton.org

 

 

Frankie Thomas is the author of “The Showrunner,” which received special mention in the 2013 Pushcart Prize Anthology, and “Equinox,” which was serialized on The Toast. Her fiction has also been published in H.O.W. Journal, BLOOM, and Volume 1 Brooklyn; her poetry has recently appeared on The Toast, and her essay “The Two Faces of Bisexual OKCupid” appeared last year on The Hairpin. She works as a writing tutor at the City College of New York.

 

Judy Yu writes stories on the 2 and 3 train from Brooklyn (home) to Harlem, where she works for the rights of court involved youth at the Juvenile Justice Project of the Correctional Association of New York. She has an MFA in fiction writing from Sarah Lawrence College. She has taught writing workshops to LGBTQ youth; domestic violence survivors; and at after school programs in New York City. Judy was a featured reader at the performance showcase, WYSIWYG, at the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City and performed with the multi-racial queer writing group Agent 409 in New York City. Her work has been published in Visible: A Femmethology, the chapbook Mamibaile, and issues of the Agent 409 zine.