ReadOut 2023 and the LGBTQ Resource Center of the Gulfport Public Library presents this panel, featuring six award-winning authors discussing the secrets to writing mystery and suspense stories that keep readers turning the page. Becky Bohan is the author of the 2020 award-winning novel, A Light on Altered Land. Her 2022 novel, The Santorini Setup, won a Royal Palm Literary Award and a Global Book Award. Penny Mickelbury's many books

ReadOut 2023 and the LGBTQ Resource Center of the Gulfport Library presents a panel discussion of how the broad genre of queer romance explorres the transformation of LGBTQ romantic relationships in literature. Melissa Brayden is the multiple award-winning author of twenty-three contemporary romance novels. She is a dedicated storyteller on the page and stage with a Master's Degree in theatrical directing. Sander Santiago is a Queer-Trans BIPOC writer bringing LGBTQ+

ReadOut 2023 and the LGBTQ Resource Center of the Gulfport Library presents an author panel to discuss queer young adult literature. Maria Ingrande Mora is an author whose young adult debut novel, Fragile Remedy, was selected as a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. Her second novel, The Immeasurable Depth of You, will be released in March 2023. Aaron H Aceves is a bisexual, Mexican-American writer born and raised in

ReadOut 2023 and the LGBTQ Resource Center of the Gulfport Public Library present Fiction: Lesbian Imagination at Work. This panel features authors who bring their training as a librarian, journalist, and publisher, as well as their life experiences, to craft divergent stories that engage readers in the lives of lesbian characters, their families, friends, and antagonists. Kristen Arnett is the queer author of With Teeth: A Novel, which was a

ReadOut 2023 and the LGBTQ Resource Center of Gulfport Public Library presents authors Jamison Green and Zader Keig in conversation about Queer Trans men's literature. Jamison and Zader's decades-long involvement in educating and supporting individuals across the transgender community offers unique insight into the challenges and benefits of aligning one's gender identity with their physical presentation. Jamison Green, PhD, is a writer of fiction and nonfiction, best known for his

ReadOut 2023 presents Sunday keynote speaker author Briam Broome, winner of the 2021 Kirkus Prize for nonfiction. Broome's memoir Punch Me Up to the Gods recounts growing up poor, dark-skinned, and gay in rural Ohio. His essays explore the pressures and vulnerabilities confronting black boys and how he used his personal experiences to create the person he has become. Funding for this event is provided in part through a Florida

ReadOut 2023 and the LGBTQ Resource Center of Gulfport Public Library present Memoir: Growing Into My Self. Three award-winning authors describe their personal accounts of growing into their identities as LGBTQ people and how it integrates into their work and life. Robee Berry (she/her) is a writer, adventurer and activist. For decades the story of The Pink Divide protagonist, Lake Myers, lived in her head until the auspicious day when

ReadOut 2023 and the LGBTQ Resource Center at the Gulfport Public Library presents a lecture and discussion with author Sheree L Greer about her experience being an author. . Sheree is a writer, artist, teacher, and publisher living in Tampa, Florida. In 2014, she founded The Kitchen Table Literary Arts Center to showcase and support the work of Black women and women of color writers. She is the author of

In this presentation, Dr. Bireda examines the many contributions enslaved Africans and African Americans have made to American culture. Traditional culture retentions survived the Middle Passage and have influenced present-day American culture. This presentation provides surprising and previously untold facts about the impact of African and African American culture upon American culture as a whole. This presentation focuses on contributions to medicine, health, and wellness. Registration is required to attend,

This presentation introduces audiences to a variety of Florida Seminole portraits from the nineteenth century and how the portraits were used as propaganda to represent the Seminoles as a dying people. "Seminole Portraits: Reflections Across Time" challenges this long-held belief to explore changing perspectives of Native Americans and the Florida Seminole. With a focus on portraiture over time, the rich history and continued vitality of the Florida Seminole will be

The New College of Florida's Humanities Division hosts a lecture with Steven Nolt in coordination with their photographic exhibit Life In Pinecraft on view at the Carlisle Inn through February 24. Often presented as a stubbornly timeless people, the Amish are in fact a remarkably dynamic group. Doubling in population every twenty years, they now number nearly 375,000 and live in 34 states. This illustrated lecture introduces the Amish in

This presentation examines the history and culture of the Florida Maroons and Black Seminoles. Dr. Dixon discusses the origins and lives of both the Maroons and their development into the Black Seminoles from the 16th through 19th centuries. This presentation also includes an examination of the direct relationship between Black Seminoles and the growth of Florida through the Seminole Wars. Dr. Dixon is the President of Archival and Historical Research