Queer Author Salon

oin us for an evening of readings by queer authors from across the DMV for an intimate gathering of voices and stories.

Writers will share selections from their work, followed by time for conversation and connection. Work spans across a wide variety of genres, including poetry, graphic novel, memoir, and fiction. Authors will be available for book signings after the readings. Light snacks and drinks will be available

Registration is required to attend.

Featured authors include:

Sunu P. Chandy (she/her) is a social justice activist, including through her work as a poet and a civil rights attorney. She is the daughter of immigrants from Kerala, India, and currently lives in DC with her family. Her award-winning collection of poems, MY DEAR COMRADES, was published by Regal House, and she is a Pushcart Prize nominated poet.

Dominique Dickey (they/them) is a speculative fiction writer and game designer. As the creative director of Sly Robot Games, they’ve created Plant Girl Game and Tomorrow on Revelation III. Their short fiction has appeared in venues including Fantasy Magazine, Lightspeed Magazine, and Nightmare Magazine. Their novella Redundancies & Potentials is now available from Neon Hemlock Press. They have stories included in Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity and This Side of the Divide: New Lore of the American West. They live in the DC area, where they’re always on the hunt for their next idea. You can find them most places as @DomSDickey.

CK Gormally (they/them) is a cartoonist, researcher, and professor. Their comics have appeared in The Washington Post, Mutha Magazine, Spiralbound, and other places. CK is the recipient of grants, fellowships, and residencies from the National Science Foundation, the American Association of University Women, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They earned a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia and are a professor at Gallaudet University. CK lives in the DC metro area. EVERYTHING IS FINE, I'LL JUST WORK HARDER is their first book.

Jonathan Harper (he/him) is the author of the short story collection DAYDREAMERS and the novel YOU DON'T BELONG HERE. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from American University. His writing has been featured in numerous publications and anthologies including The Rumpus, The Rappahannock Review, Chelsea Station, East Jasmine Review, Big Lucks, and others. He has received residencies from The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and The Writer’s Colony at Dairy Hollow.

Sarah Robinson / SC Nealy (they/she) is a Top 10 Barnes & Noble and Amazon Bestseller with over 250,000 books sold, and SC Nealy (also writes as Sarah Robinson, pronouns: they/she) has two Masters Degrees in criminal and clinical psychology and works as a mental health therapist by day, novelist and writer by night. They've written over 30+ romance and fiction novels and their first non-fiction book, a healing guide for those with religious trauma backgrounds, comes out August 2026. In their personal life, they identify as queer, gender fluid, and have three gorgeous kiddos with their wife in Arlington, Virginia.

Beka Wueste (she/her/ella) is an award-winning artist and illustrator, as well as the author of the newly released collection, MY SIDE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER TALES OF DEATH. Born in Texas and raised in Virginia, she earned a B.A. in art history from the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA, and an M.A. in art history from George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. Her previous books include THE UNSENT LETTERS OF LUCY PRIOR and FIREFLIES IN A JAR.