Renowned Novelists Speaks at CSUN’s Queer Studies Spring Lecture Series

03.01.10 09:41 AM

Acclaimed writer, John Rechy, author if “City of Night,” will be the featured speaker for the 2nd Annual Queer Studies Spring Lecture Series on Tuesday, March 30, at Cal State University, Northridge

The lecture is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. in the Whitsett Room in Sierra Hall in the west side of campus located at 18111 Nordhoff St. in Northridge.

Rechy is the author of 15 books, including the best-selling and widely acclaimed novel, “City of Night.” He is a pioneer of modern gay literature and a prominent Chicano writer.

English professor Martin Pousson, who is teaching Rechy’s work this semester in his course, “Gay Male Writers,” called Rechy “part poet, part provocateur.

“Rechy writes not just for gay men, but for anyone who’s felt lonely and unloved, anyone lost in the streets of our cities, and anyone who’s heard the high piercing cry of the night,” said Pousson.

The lecture series, inaugurated last year by transgender studies scholar Susan Stryker, brings prominent scholars and artists in the fields of queer studies to the CSUN campus each spring. The lectures celebrate the university’s Queer Studies program and to promote interest, activism and scholarships in queer issues on the CSUN campus.

“The spring lecture series provides an exciting space for our students to engage and dialogue with prominent writers/scholars doing work in Queer Studies,” said gender and women’s studies professor Sheena Malhotra, coordinator of the CSUN Queer Studies program.

Rechy’s presentation will be preceded by a reception at 4 p.m. All are welcome to attend the reception and to meet John Rechy.

http://blogs.csun.edu/news/2010/03/queer-studies/