Author Night at Latter Library: Local Pride

Readings by Local LGBTQIA+ Authors

Celebrate LGBTQIA+ Pride with readings of poetry and prose from local authors Nikki Ummel, Daniel W.K. Lee, T.Q. Sims, Kirsten Reneau, and Rickey Laurentiis.

Daniel W.K. Lee (李華強) is a third-generation refugee, queer, Cantonese American born in Kuching, Malaysia. He earned his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at The New School, and his debut collection of poetry, Anatomy of Want, was published by QueerMojo/Rebel Satori Press in 2019. When not ticking items off his bucket list, Daniel might be found working on his next two poetry manuscripts in his home in New Orleans with his head-turning whippet Camden. Find out more about him at danielwklee.com, join his Patreon at patreon.com/danielwklee or follow him: @strongplum on Instagram. 
 
TQ Sims writes stories that center Queer characters in extraordinary situations. In their first novel Godspeed, Lovers, two men fall in love while using their psychic powers to battle sentient storms and an evil corporation that wishes to control them. It is a story about mental health, post-traumatic growth, and found family. TQ’s story “The Ritual” was a finalist in competition at the Tennessee Williams and New Orleans Literary Festival in 2022. Their work has appeared in Louisiana Words, Beyond Queer Words, and The Queer and Trans Guide to Storms. They live in New Orleans with their partner and a growing number of cats. 
 
Rickey Laurentiis was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, as a New Creole. Her debut book, Boy with Thorn, won the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, the Levis Reading Prize, and finalized for the Kate Tufts Discovery Award. They’ve partnered with the Carnegie Museum of Art and lead a conversation at the Museum of Modern Art. Fellowships from the Lannan Literary Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Poetry Foundation, Cave Canem and the Whiting Foundation have honored her, and she was an inaugural fellow at Center for African American Poetry and Poetics at the University of Pittsburgh. Some will call her Riis, whose anticipated, second collection, Death of the First Idea, is forthcoming from Knopf (2025). 
 
Kirsten Reneau received her MFA from the University of New Orleans. She is a multi-pushcart prize nominated writer, with work appearing The Threepenny Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, Hippocampus Magazine, and others. She is the author of two chapbooks and Sensitive Creatures, her debut essay collection, which is out now with Belle Point Press. 
 
Nikki Ummel is a queer artist, editor, and educator in New Orleans. Nikki has been published or has work forthcoming with Gulf Coast, The Georgia Review, Black Lawrence Press, and others. She is the 2022 recipient of the Leslie McGrath Poetry Prize and 2023 recipient of the Juxtaprose Poetry Award for her manuscript, Bloom. Nikki is the co-founder of LMNL, an arts organization focused on readings, workshops, and residencies. She has two poetry chapbooks, Hush (Belle Point Press, 2022) and Bayou Sonata (NOLA DNA, 2023), funded by the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation. You can find her on the web at www.nikkiummel.com 
 

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