“In an age when gay youths are framed by the media as perennial victims, mine is an alternative story...”KIRK READ is a young, queer, syndicated journalist who is fast-becoming one of the hottest gay-issues speakers on the circuit. An inspirational and entertaining borderline performance artist, Read is dedicated to saving and improving lives and relationships through advocating self-respect, tolerance, and awareness. His syndicated op-ed column, which appears in over 70 print and web outlets, including The Washington Blade, Southern Voice, Frontiers, and Philadelphia Gay News, has won four Vice Versa gay press awards, and as a freelance writer his work has appeared in Out, Genre, Christopher Street, QSF, and a host of alt-weeklies, websites, and LGBT newspapers.
why
Kirk's current 60-city national book tour has brought him face to face with thousands of individuals of all ages across the country—the response has been tremendous. He has spoken at countless colleges and universities, conferences, high schools, bookstores, businesses, and community centers, always drawing enormous, satisfied crowds. His acting and spoken word background have facilitated his evolution into a truly entertaining and audience-holding speaker, and his extensive work and experience with gay youth and adolescents make him a perfect and logical choice. But most of all, Kirk, whether speaking of his experiences as an openly gay high school student or of health issues facing contemporary gay America, of his immense activism and drive to raise awareness or of his latest writing venture, is FUN!
how much
Negotiable—$1500 fee plus expenses is suggested minimum.
contact
If you are interested in having Kirk Read visit your college, university, organization, or company, you may contact him directly at kirkread@aol.com.
the book
How I Learned to Snap is Read's debut memoir about growing up gay in the South and has been named Lambda Literary Book Award and American Library Association Book Award finalist. Equal parts hilarity and inspiration, it has quickly become a bestseller in bookstores across the country and has garnered much praise as a refreshing take on an experience that has been painted negative for far too long.
For more information on the book, please visit: www.hillstreetpress.com/Snap.html
*Deep discounts available on bulk purchases.
more info
For more information about Kirk, his life, and/or his work, please visit: www.kirkread.com.
praise
"Kirk Read kicks ass."—Genre
"Funny, provocative, and sometimes harrowing...If I had read something like this as a teenager, I'd have had a much easier time. Read's story...offers hope and the promise of community."—Marshall Moore, Lambda Book Report
"Provocative, moving, and extremely funny...A smart, sharp début by an accomplished new writer."—Greg Johnson, Sticky Kisses and Pagan Babies
"This book once again reminds us that high school is American glue—we are forever stuck to our classmates."—Rita Mae Brown
"Read navigates his adolescent minefield of snap queens, rednecks, love, sex, family, booze, and punk rock with an astute eye for detail and a stunning capacity for compassion."—D. Travers Scott, Execution, Texas: 1987
"Witty, honest, true to the bone, How I Learned to Snap is an important addition to a new wave of young gay Southern writing.—Patricia Nell Warren
"Read's high octane irony, bluster, brag and brilliance is something only a Southern queer writer could carry off with such winning charm. Read speaks with a contemporary voice-past gender and beyond a narrow regionality while never being disloyal to either." —Jay Quinn, editor, Rebel Yell
"Kirk Read delivers a sly, poignant, comic left-hook to the psyche! How I Learned to Snap is the next best thing to a kiss."—Greg Walloch, star of "Keeping It Real"
"Witty. Irreverent. Poignant. A must-read for queer youth and those who work with them. How I Learned to Snap belongs on the shelves of every school library."—James T. Sears, Journal of Gay and Lesbian Issues in Education
"Poignant, winning, and true, Read's book should be required reading for gay youth the world over."—Simon Sheppard, Hotter Than Hell
"Read is a soulful, queer Huck Finn rafting down that big river of growing-up in America!"—Tim Miller, Shirts & Skin
"Kirk Read is a splendid storyteller, with an enormous heart."—Charles Kaiser, The Gay Metropolis and 1968