In conversation with Jeffrey Dale Lofton, including readings by the author from his award-winning debut novel RED CLAY SUZIE, a fictionalized memoir of growing up gay and physically misshapen in a deeply conservative family and community in the Deep South.

Jeffrey will be joined in conversation by author Ryan La Sala

Copies of Red Clay Suzie (Post Hill Press, 2023, hardcover, $28) are available for purchase at the Bureau and can be purchased at the event or on our online store:

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

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 at YouTube.com/@bgsqd

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 or on Venmo @bgsqd.

Jeffrey Lofton hails from Warm Springs, Georgia, best known as the home of Roosevelt’s Little White House. He calls the nation’s capital home now and has for over three decades. During those early years he spent many a night trodding the boards of the DC’s theaters and performing arts centers, including the Kennedy Center, Signature Theatre, Woolly Mammoth, and Studio Theatre. He even scored a few television screen appearances, including a residuals-rich Super Bowl halftime commercial, which his accountant quipped “is the finest work of your career.”

Ultimately he stepped away from acting for other pursuits, including helping war veterans tell their stories to add richness and nuance to historical accounts. At the same time, he focused on pursuing post-graduate work, ultimately being awarded Master’s degrees in both Public Administration and Library and Information Science. Today, he is a senior advisor at the Library of Congress, surrounded by books and people who love books—in short, paradise.

Ryan La Sala writes about surreal things happening to queer people. He is the author behind the luminous and terrifying horror The Honeys. His previous titles include the riotously imaginative Reverie, and the brilliantly constructed Be Dazzled, both of which made the Kids’ Indie Next List. He has been featured in Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Tor.com. Ryan is the host of the infamous Bad Author Book Club Podcast, and a frequent speaker at events/conferences. When not writing, Ryan does arts & crafts, and rollerblades around Central Park. His next book, BEHOLDER, will be published in October 2023 with Scholastic Press.