Speaking OUT With Queer Writers

As part of SpeakOUT Boston’s 50th anniversary celebration, All She Wrote Books is featuring an evening with three of their speakers, who are also published writers, to share their varied perspectives of being queer writers. Lisa Bunker will discuss her inspiration for her Middle Grade novels, and Joseph Alcantara and Connelly Akstens will describe their journey involved with writing their memoirs.

About the Authors

Lisa Bunker's first novel, Felix Yz, about a boy fused with an alien, was published by Viking in June 2017. Her second novel, Zenobia July, about a trans girl getting to live as a girl for the first time in a new family and school and investigating a cyber crime, came out, also from Viking, in Spring 2019. Over the years Lisa has made homes in New Mexico, southern California, Seattle, the Florida panhandle, and Maine. She currently lives in Exeter, New Hampshire with her wife. Between them they have three grown children. Since 2018 Lisa has served her town in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. She is also an online entrepreneur: in July 2021 she founded Crucinova, an indie subscription service dedicated to championing innovation in crossword puzzle construction. In her leisure time she plays chess, plays the bass, and studies languages.

Joseph Alcantara (he/him/his) is a 'late bloomer' gay man who breaks new ground as an author with his book 'Rainbows & Unicorns Came' which chronicles his journey from setting himself free by coming out through email on his 36th birthday to proving that love can truly win by getting engaged at the monumental 50th NYC World Pride with the help of Netflix and Fab 5. A proud LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC advocate, he aspires to promote leading a holistic life built around life goals, career development, wellness, travel, spiritual maturity, and meaningful relationships. 

Connelly Akstens’ (she/her) memoir, Without Shame: Learning to Be Me, has been called “intimate, bold, relevant to our time and funny as hell.” Connelly is motivated by her conviction that, for the health of society, transgender people need to be known, need to be seen and need to be heard. The motto of her memoir is taken from the Tao: “If you would know me, look in your own heart.” She chose it in the hope that the book would be a bridge to help readers of all gender identities discover themselves in the story. Connelly teaches Shakespeare and the History of Ideas at SUNY. She has been a concert performer and recording artist, a fly fishing guide and an award-winning contributor to Adirondack Life magazine. She is an avid gardener and lives near Narragansett Bay with her spouse.