Litquake

Rabih Alameddine is the author of the novels Koolaids, and I, the Divine, The Hakawati, An Unnecessary Woman, the story collection, The Perv, and most recently, The Angel of History. He divides his time between San Francisco and Beirut.

Winner of the People Before Profits Poetry Prize, Meliza Bañales aka Missy Fuego is the author of Say It With Your Whole Mouth: Poems (Monkey Press) and the Xicana-Punk-Rock-Coming-of-Age novel Life Is Wonderful, People Are Terrific (Ladybox Books) which was a 2016 Lambda Literary Award Finalist in Debut LGBT Fiction. She was a fixture in the San Francisco Bay Area spoken-word and slam communities from 1996-2010, where she became the first... Read More →

Julie Blair is a Lambda, Goldie, and Rainbow award winning author of lesbian romances. A lover of wine, coffee, and gardening, she lives in the Santa Cruz Mountains with her partner and their dogs.

Roberto F. Santiago received his MFA from Rutgers University, and BA from Sarah Lawrence College. He is a 2016 Community of Writers Fellow, 2015 Sarah Lawrence Fellow, 2014 Lambda Literary Fellow, the recipient of the Alfred C. Carey Poetry Prize, and his debut book of poetry was a finalist for the 2016 Lambda Literary Award for Poetry. Roberto writes and produces his own music, and likens himself to Tennessee Williams in a poodle skirt, Gloria... Read More →

James J. Siegel is the author of the poetry collection “How Ghosts Travel,” published earlier this year by Spuyten Duyvil Press. He is also the host and curator of Literary Speakeasy at Martuni’s Piano Bar in San Francisco, which brings together poets, writers, and musicians for a night of performance and martinis. His work has appeared in several journals and anthologies, including Assaracus, The Cortland Review, Borderlands... Read More →

Willy Wilkinson, MPH is an award-winning writer, public health consultant, cultural competency trainer, public speaker, and spoken word performer. He is the author of the Lambda Literary Award-winning book Born on the Edge of Race and Gender: A Voice for Cultural Competency, which illuminates trans experience from a Chinese American and mixed heritage perspective, and transforms the memoir genre into a cultural competency tool. Willy has provided... Read More →