Perfectly Queer East Bay presents Dispatches From Lesbian America

Perfectly Queer East Bay presents readings by Joan Annsfire, Xequina Maria Berber, and Giovanna Capone from the anthology DISPATCHES FROM LESBIAN AMERICA on Wednesday, August 23, 7pm at the Nomadic Press: Uptown performance space, 2301 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Free refreshments and door prizes. A discussion of the anthology and book signing will follow the readings. www.facebook.com/events/137277350195017

INFORMATION ON THE READERS:

JOAN ANNSFIRE is a writer, poet, and retired librarian who lives in Berkeley. Her piece in Dispatches From Lesbian America is non-fiction, based on her experience working at the San Francisco Water Department in the early Eighties.

Joan’s memoir pieces have appeared most recently online in Identity Envy, Read These Lips, Aunt Lute Press, and Uprooted: An Anthology of Gender and Illness. She has also been published in Lavender Review, Sinister Wisdom, The 13th Moon, Bridges, The Evergreen Chronicles, and The Harrington Lesbian Literary Quarterly, among other publications.

Her poetry is in an upcoming anthology, 11/9: The Fall of American Democracy, as well as Older Queer Voices: The Intimacy of Survival, and The Times They Were A- Changing. Headmistress Press published a chapbook of her poems, Distant Music.

In her blog, “Lavenderjoan, somewhere under the rainbow,” the personal and the political meet.

XEQUINA MARIA BERBER is a storyteller, writer, artist, former law librarian, and now elementary school librarian. She came out during early middlessence and makes up for lost Gay time through her creative endeavors: short stories and comic strips celebrating Lesbian personalities and themes. She also rewrites songs to honor Dyke culture, which are then performed for the community with her drag king partner “Johnny Magnolia.”

She is the author of two books, Santora: The Good Daughter, a Latina novel, under the psuedonym Resurrección Cruz, and The Mermaid Girl, a tween and teen book, published under her first name, by Bedazzled Ink. She is also one of the editors of Dispatches From Lesbian America. A collection of her lesbian short stories and memoir, The Only Female Cross-Dresser in Memphis, is due to come out this year. Many of her stories were inspired by her girlfriend’s life.

Xequina is also an artist and paints traditional Mexican retablos (miracle stories) and santos, as well as themes of Mexican Magical Realism. She has degrees in literature, art, Women’s Spirituality, and Library and Information Science. She lives in Oakland with her partner and their two bad cats.

GIOVANNA CAPONE is a poet, fiction writer, and playwright. She was raised in an Italian-American neighborhood in Mt. Vernon, New York, whose strong Neapolitan influence still resonates in her life.

Her work has appeared widely in various publications, including Curaggia: Writing by Women of Italian Descent; Bless Me Father: Stories of Catholic Childhood; Unsettling America: An Anthology of Contemporary Multicultural Poetry; Avanti Opolo: Italian-American Writers Sail Beyond Columbus; Queer View Mirror 2, Lesbian & Gay Short Fiction; What I Want From You: An Anthology of East Bay Lesbian Poets; and Fuori: Essays by Italian/American Lesbians and Gays.

Most recently Giovanna edited the collection Words on Fire! An Anthology of Teen Voices as part of her master’s degree in Library and Information Science at San Jose State University.

Giovanna’s first play, “Her Kiss,” was produced and performed to sold-out audiences in San Francisco by Luna See Women’s Performance Project, in their first Dyke Drama Festival. She is also a mixed media collage artist and has exhibited her visual art in venues throughout the Bay Area.
She lives in Oakland, where for many years she has taught poetry writing workshops to children and teens through California Poets in the Schools. Find out more at www.giovannacapone.com.