On Picano’s Fire Island memoir

Bookstack posted my meditation on Felice Picano’s Fire Island memoir, A HOUSE ON THE OCEAN, A HOUSE ON THE BAY (Ocean/Bay). This important work has been reissued by The Library of Homosexual Congress, an Imprint of Rebel Satori Press, for Pride Month. Picano also captures the texture of queer communication. He has a genius for… Continue reading On Picano’s Fire Island memoir

Queer SWers on Subverting Class @ CUNY/CLAGS

The Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS) at the City University of New York is the oldest program of its kind in the US. CLAGS convened a conference on the topic of Queer-Class, and a panel discussion I proposed was on the schedule. Burlesque Performer, Educator, and Headmistress Jo Wheldon and I had a free-wheeling discussion… Continue reading Queer SWers on Subverting Class @ CUNY/CLAGS

AWP ’26 Baltimore

Well my press was a no-show but I was adopted by the good folks at Queer Love Project. I had a book signing at their table (sold out my stock!) and took the stage at the QLP Offsite at The Club Car, a queer bar with a fab crowd. I gave them my sex worker… Continue reading AWP ’26 Baltimore

Panel w Columbia Queer Alliance

The blizzard postponed this event, but we eventually convened for some lively discussions. Sadly, recent events 🍉 have resulted in heavy security measure to access the Columbia campus, once a more inviting and porous part of the city fabric. My memoir AFTERLIFE OF A KEPT BOY touches on two diasporas: the southern Italian of the… Continue reading Panel w Columbia Queer Alliance

QLP Live Substack

(It’s 2026, but I’m catching up on 2025 stuff after experiencing the hallucinatory magic of the Réveillon in Rio de Janiero 🇧🇷) Back in September, I had a great talk with Jerry Portwood of the Queer Love Project Substack Live. We discussed the launch of AFTERLIFE OF A KEPT BOY, staying creative and engaged under… Continue reading QLP Live Substack

Miss Manhattan @ Niagara

I joined Vivian Manning-Schaffel (whose riotous essay on Nonnacore excoriates current values around aging), Elena Sheppard, and host Elyssa Maxx Goodman at September’s Miss Manhattan, Elyssa’s long-running monthly series featuring nonfiction. Read from chapter 8 of AFTERLIFE OF A KEPT BOY, “Are U Available?” which covers my friendship with Dean Johnson. About Dean’s core grievance… Continue reading Miss Manhattan @ Niagara

NYRS Launch @ Book Row

Fun times in the rain! From the alley to the store interior of Book Row. Heard some great pieces from Emily Mitchell, Goeff Dembricki, Kevin Gonzalez, and Mani Mekala, who all appear in the inaugural issue of the New York Review of Smut. From the reading: I developed a baseline identity, a bisexual Italian guy… Continue reading NYRS Launch @ Book Row

Queer Discourse Podcast

I had a really enjoyable convo with Lou Barrett of Purple Palm Press, who hosts the Queer Discourse podcast. QD also has stellar episodes with authors Torrey Peters and Jason Yamas, check them out too. Lou & I discussed some major themes of AFTERLIFE OF A KEPT BOY: agency, solitude, the Italian-American condition–and got into… Continue reading Queer Discourse Podcast

Felice Picano’s AMBIDEXTROUS reviewed

A twink-death-forward review of my memoir AFTERLIFE OF A KEPT BOY appears in Issue 005 of The Whitney Review of New Writing. I also appear in the issue as a contributor, reviewing a memoir by the late Felice Picano, whose death in March came while we were actively corresponding. Despite health challenges, Felice was gracious… Continue reading Felice Picano’s AMBIDEXTROUS reviewed