Kick off your LGBTQ Pride Month with this reading from three newly published books. Christopher Anstee will read from his memoir Polish the Crown, about growing up queer in a coal-mining town in Wales; Estela González will read from Arribada, about the intersections of family, sexuality, and environmental preservation; and Amy Hoffman will read from Dot & Ralfie, about a lesbian couple facing the physical, emotional, and relationship challenges of aging.

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (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

Safety protocol

In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19:

If you have any symptoms associated with COVID-19 in the days leading up to the event, we ask you to please stay home.

Please note that masks are required at all times inside The LGBT Community Center, where the Bureau is located.

These books are also available for purchase at the Bureau’s physical store.

Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!

Suggested donation $10 to benefit the Bureau’s work.

All are welcome to attend, with or without 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.

Christopher Anstee is an author and poet from Wales, U.K. Christopher is passionate about storytelling and the celebration of ordinary lives in art and literature. The eradication of LGBTQ+ bullying is very close to Christopher’s heart, along with youth empowerment and the healing power of true self expression. Christopher is a fiery, strong, vulnerable, compassionate freedom fighter and a lover of life, art and people. A dreamer, always searching for new adventure and yet hopeful that one day he will be the eccentric old man who lives down the street, with a thousand books, 5 dogs and a million stories.

A binational and bilingual writer from Mexico, Estela González tells stories from both sides of the border in English and Spanish. Her work about race, sexuality, gender, and environmental justice is featured in the Barcelona Review, Best of Solstice, Coal Hill, Flash Frontier, Latino Book Review, LatineLit, Revista de Literatura Mexicana Contemporánea, Sinister Wisdom, Feminine Rising, and Under the Volcano. Arribada was a finalist for Feminist Press’s Louise Meriwether Award. Estela divides her time between Mazatlán, Mexico, and Vermont, where she teaches Latin American literature, culture, and creative writing in Spanish.

Amy Hoffman has published two novels: Dot & Ralfie and The Off Season; and three award-winning memoirs: Hospital Time; An Army of Ex-Lovers: My Life at the Gay Community News; and Lies About My Family. Her articles have appeared in the Boston Review, the Gay & Lesbian Review, and many other journals. She was the longtime editor of Women’s Review of Books, and teaches in the Solstice low-residency MFA program. When she is not writing, she enjoys working for social justice; reading; cooking for her honey, Roberta Stone; biking with friends; and playing the violin.