The word of Pride

Literary events with lavender leanings

BY SCOTT STIFFLER | HOT AUGUST NIGHT/1970: THE FORGOTTEN LGBT RIOT | Celebrate LGBT History Month with The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and the LGBT Center team — and learn about that riot in Greenwhich Village that involved flared tempers, queers and cops. Think we’re talking about Stonewall? Think again. “Hot August Night/1970: The Forgotten LGBT Riot” is a book by Steven F. Dansky that sheds some overdue light on an event that the author says was “considered un-newsworthy and, for more than four decades, disappeared from our collective memory.”

In this lecture, Dansky — an original member of the Gay Liberation Front and the founder of Effeminism (Google it!) — will put the riot in its proper historical context and analyze why it happened at that precise moment in history (one year after the Stonewall Rebellion, and one month after the first Pride March). Before that “Hot August Night” was over, hundreds of protesters swarmed Greenwhich Village, and 17 were arrested. If Dansky’s lecture leaves you hungry for more, he’ll wrap things up by taking your questions and signing your book.

Tues., June 19, 6:30-8:00pm, at the LGBT Community Center (208 W. 13th St., btw. 7th & 8th Aves.). Free, but reservations are required. To RSVP, send an email to rsvp@gvshp.org or call 212-465-9585, x35.

the-whip-(2) — Karen Kondazian’s new novel speculates on the life of an enigmatic Old West legend.

READING: “THE WHIP” | “The Whip” is Karen Kondazian’s speculative, fictionalized account of Charlotte “Charley” Parkhurst (1812-1879). During the Old West era, Charley lived most of her life as a man — spending time as a renowned stagecoach driver for Wells Fargo, and living with a housekeeper who fell in love with her while unaware of Charley’s true sex. Kondazian will read from the novel, and if asked politely may even share the tale of how Charley killed a famous outlaw.

Tues., June 19, 7pm, at Bluestockings Bookstore, Fair Trade Cafe and Activist Center (172 Allen St., at Stanton St.). FREE (Bluestockings always passes the hat, but you’ll never be turned away from an event for lack of cash). For more info, visit bluestockings.com.

ALSO AT BLUESTOCKINGS, AT 7PM: On Wed., June 20, Barbara Carrellas (author of “Urban Tantra” and “Luxurious Loving”) celebrates the release of her book: “Ecstasy is Necessary: A Practical Guide.” This unique blend of queer and kink-friendly exercises and philosophies is designed to help you “explore your erotic self and delight in the infinite possibilities of ecstatic expression.” Assuming you have time to leave your apartment after reading that one, head back to Bluestockings on Sat., June 23 — for the Hot Poets Collective’s Writers in Bloom Poetry Salon. They’ll celebrate the release of their debut chapbook: “Of Fire, Of Iron.” On Tues., June 26, Vittoria Repetto (the hardest working guinea butch dyke poet on the Lower East Side) hosts the Women’s/Trans’ Poetry Jam & Open Mic. Come out, sign up and perform up to 8 minutes of your poetry, prose, songs and spoken word. Visit vittoriarepetto.wordpress.com for
more info.

Love-C-Street — On June 27, authors read from “Love, Christopher Street.”

READING: “LOVE, CHRISTOPHER STREET: REFLECTIONS OF NEW YORK CITY” | Edited by Thomas Keith with an introduction by Christopher Bram, the 26 native New Yorkers, American transplants and international writers who contributed to “Love, Christopher Street” represent four decades of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender life that transpired on that famous street and throughout the five boroughs.

At an upcoming event sponsored by Out Professionals, several authors will read from their original essays. Among them: “Dis-membering Stonewall” — the Rev. Irene Monroe’s eyewitness account of that hot night in 1969 when police raided the Stonewall Inn and drag queens fought back. Bob Smith’s “Silence = Death: The Education of a Comedian” recalls life as an out stand-up comedian in the 1980s. You’ll have to pick up the book if you want to hear “An Old Queen’s Tale” — Penny Arcade’s saga of how, as a runaway, she was taken off the street by gay men who introduced her to Warhol’s Factory. Also among the authors featured in the book, but not at the readings: Martin Hyatt (“My Last Big Addiction”), Justine Saracen (“The Opera Singer’s Pants, and How I Got In Them”) and Charles Rice-González (“A 1986 Bronx Story”).

On Wed., June 27, from 6:30-9pm at the LGBT Community Center (208 W. 13th St.). Admission is $10. Author readings from Mark Ameen, Christopher Bram, Martin Hyatt, Fay Jacobs, Michele Karlsberg, Rev. Irene Monroe, Charles Rice-Gonzalez, Bob Smith & Judy Gold and Charlie Vázquez. For more info, visit “Love, Christopher Street” on Facebook or email lovechristopherstreet@gmail.com.