Five LGBTQIA+ writers from the greater Puget Sound region share their words on stage in this intimate reading.

Featuring Susan Brittain (Port Townsend), Adele Donovan (Seattle), Zinnia Hansen (Seattle), Eve Palay (Bainbridge Island), Warren Read (Kingston) and introduced by Anika Tabachnick, BIMA’s Creative Aging Program Associate.

Featured Guests

Eve Palay is a tall, stylish Transwoman of a certain age, a writer, a mediator and trainer at the Kitsap Dispute Resolution Center, on the board of the Washington Mediation Association, part of a number of Trans and Pride groups on this side of the water, including Rainbow Crew NW, a local LGBTQ+ resource guide, and she leads the Transgender Day of Remembrance Faith Project, a connection with churches and temples. Eve has two adult daughters, who are fine with her saying that any woman of a certain age–Trans or not–gets to call herself stylish. She does Trans trainings for organizations and businesses, and believes we are all in Transition. She will speak on, “What does my very public Transition say about your perhaps quieter one? Let’s talk!”

Susan Brittain has lived on two continents, sailed on two oceans, and lived in two genders. They have spent their life working as a tall ship captain on various schooners in addition to working as a shipwright on the building and restoration of several ships. In 2021 they were the recipient of Tall Ships America’s – LifeTime Achievement award. Susan now works for a maritime non-profit in Port Townsend, WA. Susan has had short stories published in Poetry and Prose from the Chestertown Writers Group, Tidepools Magazine, A Word with You Press, and has read and spoken many times on issues related to Gender Diversity. Susan lives on Marrowstone Island with their soulmate of 40 years, Cindy.

Warren Read is a (soon to be retired) associate principal on Bainbridge Island and is the author of the 2008 memoir, The Lyncher in Me (Borealis Books), and the novels One Simple Thing (2021, Ig Publishing) and Ash Falls (2017, Ig Publishing). His short fiction has been published in Hot Metal Bridge, Mud Season Review, Sliver of Stone, Inklette, Switchback and The Drowning Gull.  In 2015 he received his MFA from the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University. He and his husband Shayne are the fathers of three grown sons and currently live in Kingston, WA.

Zinnia Hansen is a poet and essayist from the Pacific Northwest, studying at the University of Washington. She is the 2021-2022 Seattle Youth Poet Laureate and the author of Spikenard, 2022, Poetry NW Editions. Her work has been published in various magazines and online publications, including Rattle Magazine. She was a finalist in The New York Times Personal Narrative Contest and part of the Hugo House Young Poet’s Cohort.

Adele Donovan (she/her) is a Seattle-based youth writer. She is a graduate of the University of Iowa’s Between the Lines program. She is the author of the chapbooks Ballads of Summer (2020) and Awaiting Great Fires (2021), and her work has appeared in Hiatus magazine. She is a host of the Intersecting Lines podcast.