Belo Miguel Cipriani w/Caitlin Hernandez & David-Elijah Nahmod / Firsts: Coming of Age Stories by People with Disabilities

Booksmith hosts editor Belo Miguel Cipriani (Blind: A Memoir) for Firsts: Coming of Age Stories by People with Disabilities, alongn with contributors Caitlin Hernandez andDavid-Elijah Nahmod. Please join us!

Take a step back in time with some of the best writers with disabilities as they recount their first adventure, their first heartbreak, and the first time the unexpected treaded into their life. From body transformations to societal setbacks, to love a airs and family trauma, Firsts collects the most thought-provoking and exciting stories of our time by people with disabilities. Contributors include Nigel David Kelly, Kimberly Gerry-Tucker, Caitlin Hernandez, Andrew Gurza, and David-Elijah Nahmod.

Belo Miguel Cipriani is an award-winning author, prize-winning syndicated columnist, and the CEO of Oleb Media and Oleb Books. His writing has appeared in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, Connecticut Post,HuffPost and elsewhere. Cipriani has lectured at Yale University, University of Wisconsin at Whitewater, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, and is currently Community Faculty in the creative writing program at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, MN. Learn more at www.belocipriani.com.

Caitlin Hernandez‘s writing focuses largely on queerness, disability, and the intersection thereof. A two-time Lambda Literary fellow in young adult fiction, Hernandez has been mentored by renowned authors Emily Danforth, Stephanie Kuehn, Sara Ryan, and Kiersten White. Her fiction has been published in Lambda Literary’s 2015 and 2018 Emerge anthologies, while her nonfiction appears in the disability studies textbook Barriers and Belonging, and the second Behind Our Eyes anthology. Caitlin lives in San Francisco where she’s a full-time resource specialist for third and fourth graders with reading and learning disabilities. In her minimal non-teaching, non-writing time, she may be found singing karaoke with friends, seeking chocolate ice cream (especially with Oreo pieces, chocolate chips, M&Ms, and/or hot fudge), flaunting her fantabulous rainbow cane, and over-sharing about her “blind flails” and “blawkward moments” on Facebook.

David-Elijah Nahmod is an American/Israeli dual national of Syrian descent who has lived in New York City and Tel Aviv. In San Francisco since 2003, his eclectic writing career includes LGBTQ and Jewish publications, and monster magazines. He is dedicated to raising disability and mental health awareness, and to forwarding the cause of disability rights.

This event is free and all ages.

RSVP appreciated but not required.

As with all of our events, seating may be limited; you can guarantee a seat by pre-purchasing the book below — when checking out, just be sure to include a note that you’d like to attend the event. If you cannot attend the event but would like to request a signed copy of Firsts: Coming of Age Stories by People with Disabilities, order below and put your request in the comments field; for Belo’s book, order here and be sure to do the same.