"Upon This Rock" author David Perry: “This festival is not just a ‘nice to have’; it’s a ‘gotta have,’ as the LGBTQ community is under attack. If we don’t tell our own stories, no one else can be trusted to do it.”

When many people think of a pride celebration, one of two things comes to mind: a parade, or a bacchanal of dancing, partying and reveling in the joy of being alive in a community that accepts you for who you are.

But what if a more cerebral celebration is your happy place?

To that end, the Palm Springs Public Library is presenting the first Pride on the Page Book Festival. Organized by Julie Warren, the library’s public services manager, and Corey Roskin, a literary event planner who recently relocated to Palm Springs, the festival will feature more than 40 LGBTQ+ authors participating in a free panel series celebrating works of LGBTQ+ literature, on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 4 and 5, at the Plaza Theatre in downtown Palm Springs. (The panels were originally slated to be held at the Welwood Murray Memorial Library, but were moved due to anticipated demand.)

Additionally, a special event is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 5, at the Plaza Theatre. Television and film star Sharon Gless will speak with her Queer as Folk co-star Peter Paige about her book, Apparently There Were Complaints. Tickets are $40, and the proceeds will benefit the Palm Springs Public Library Foundation.

“This is an official event of Palm Springs Pride,” Warren said. “It was very important to us to be included in Pride events. So many people come into town for Pride, and those people are always looking for something new or different. There are so many great things to do.”

The hope is that Pride on the Page will become a yearly part of Greater Palm Springs Pride.

“This festival will help people reconnect with their favorite authors while also introducing them to authors of which they may be unaware,” Warren said.

Warren hopes that hearing from authors with different points of view will spark meaningful conversations.

“Everyone we spoke to about the festival is very excited and supportive,” Warren said.

Warren and Roskin have organized varying hour-long panels, five each day, by subject matter. The panel “Scintillating Debuts: LGBTQ+ Authors and a Publisher Share Words and Wisdom About Their First Books,” moderated Matthew Lancellotti, will kick things off on Friday.

The Saturday panels start off with “Wondrous Words: New Fiction from LGBTQ+ Voices” at 10 a.m. The panel will be moderated by Alex Espinoza and includes panelists Melissa Chadburn, Rachel M. Harper, Celia Laskey and David Eugene Perry.

Panel participant David Eugene Perry’s debut novel Upon This Rock has won two prestigious awards, and has been hailed by Armistead Maupin and Fenton Johnson, among others.

“I think this event is clearly going to become annual,” Perry said. “Right now is the time that LGBTQ voices need to be heard.”

This year’s Greater Palm Springs Pride theme is “Say Gay,” which references various anti-LGBTQ+ bills being pushed in states around the country, most notably Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

“This festival is not just a ‘nice to have’; it’s a ‘gotta have,’ as the LGBTQ community is under attack,” Perry said. “If we don’t tell our own stories, no one else can be trusted to do it.”

Follett Books will make available copies of each author’s works for purchase, and authors will be in the lobby after their panels for signings.

“Having that interaction with the authors is really what this is all about,” said Warren.

The Pride on the Page Book Festival will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday and Saturday, Nov. 4 and 5, at the Plaza Theatre, 128 S. Palm Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs. Admission to all panel discussions is free. Sharon Gless will speak with Peter Paige about her book, Apparently There Were Complaints, at 5:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 5, at the Plaza Theatre; tickets are $40, with proceeds benefitting the Palm Springs Public Library Foundation. For more information, please visit the www.palmspringsca.gov/government/departments/library.

Kevin Mann is the Independent’s former editorial intern; his internship was funded by the Coachella Valley Journalism Foundation.

Editor’s note: This story was updated on Oct. 29 to fix a photo caption typo, and to add in the information that the festival has been moved to the Plaza Theatre.

Kevin Mann is a former bankruptcy paralegal who's made a U-turn into filmmaking and journalism. He has also written for the College of the Desert’s Chaparral and The Desert Sun. His screenplay, Appetite,...

2 replies on “Meaningful Conversations: The First Pride on the Page Book Festival Brings Together Authors to Discuss LGBTQ+ Literature”

  1. Ahoy! Thanks so much Kevin and Jimmy for talking up “Pride on the Page.” Here’s to making this an annual event! Corey Roskin and Julie Warren are literary lights of our community!

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