Join novelists Mala Kumar, author of What It Meant to Survive, and JD Glass, author of Fire Fall, for a conversation about intersectionality, queer resilience, and the art of sapphic literary fiction. Moderated by mental health expert and the author of Toxic Productivity (forthcoming), Israa Nasir. Hear select readings from Mala and JD. Books will be available for purchase and signing.

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, room 210 of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.

Registration is not required. Seating is first come, first served.

Also live-streaming on the Bureau’s YouTube channel:

youtube.com/@bgsqd

Suggested donation to benefit the Bureau: $10.

All are welcome to attend, with or without a donation.

We will pass a bag for donations at the start of the event, but we can also take credit card donations at the register or on Venmo @BGSQD

Mala Kumar is the author of the 2014 novel, The Paths of Marriage. What it Meant to Survive is her second novel. Her op-eds, interviews, and essays have appeared in The Guardian, The Advocate, TechCrunch, USA Today, India Abroad, The Aerogram, and Brown Girl Magazine. In her professional life, Mala is a global leader in tech for social good, having worked extensively for the United Nations and at GitHub, a Microsoft-owned software company. She is currently the Director of Program Management, AI Safety at MLCommons. Mala lives in New York City with her wife Cybel. Visit https://malakumar.com for more information about her writing and work.

Former Managing Editor for The Advocate, artist, musician, and author JD Glass is an American Library Association-Stonewall Finalist & Lambda Literary-Literature Finalist forher novel Punk Like Me, Lambda Literary Finalist for Red Light, with that and other titles earning Ben Franklin Literary Finalist, Rainbow Reads Award, and Golden Crown Literary Finalist and Award. A recipient of Columbia College Chicago’s Faculty Recognition Award, and Columbia Scholar Award, Glass’s visual work was selected for Chicago Manifest Art Showcase, InArt Gallery Virtual Exhibit, ISee Pixels exhibit, and OnBigDrawingsII Virtual Exhibit. Glass is also the writer and executive producer for the short film rom-com Her Curve, which has been earning laurels, as well as the upcoming feature, and for the series Punk Like Me–the B Sides,
currently in production.

Israa Nasir, MHC-LP, is a New York City based psychotherapist, author of Toxic Productivity, and the founder of WellGuide—a digital community for mental health awareness. Her work is centered on transforming the way we talk about mental health, taking it from a place of shame to a place of empowerment. A Pakistani-Canadian child of immigrants, she has a specific focus on mental health, identity formation, and healing for the AAPI immigrant (first and second generation) community. Israa has been featured in NBC, Vox, Huffpost, Teen Vogue, and other major publications and been invited to speak at corporations such as Google, Meta, and Yale.