Events

A Whore’s Manifesto Book Reading + Q&A

Sunday, November 10th — 7:30 pm — FREE (with option to pre-order A Whore’s Manifesto at 10% off)

Kay Kassirer

Sex work was once thought to be anathema to women’s liberation. Now, to some, we represent the tenacity of women’s struggles under patriarchy and capitalism — that is, at least the white, straight, cis, able-bodied sex workers who don’t engage in actual sex with clients do. These are the workers who get the glossy media profiles and are touted as feminist icons. But the red umbrella is wide and covers many: escorts, sugar babies, strippers, session wrestlers, cam performers, fetish models, DIY queer porn stars, and the full range of gender, race and ability. Our work and our identities are as vast and variable as the spectrum of sexuality itself.

A Whore’s Manifesto isn’t a collection of sob stories of heartbroken whores. This is a testament of life at ground zero of sexual discourse, the songs of canaries in the coal mines of sex, gender, class, race, and disability. Join contributors Kay Kassirer, Julia Laxer, and Ana Suarez for a reading from the collection.

Choose from two RSVP options:

  • RSVP only (free)
  • RSVP and purchase A Whore’s Manifesto at a 10% discount ($11.70), to be picked up in-store the night of the event*

Books will also be available at a special discounted price the night of the event.

Kay Kassirer (they/them) is a poet, activist, youth advocate, and community organizer. They have been a full-time sex worker since 2015, after being relieved from their previous job for having “too many panic attacks.” They have toured internationally with the chapbooks Confessions of a Queer and Unbandage the Wounds, and have earned their place on several competitive final stages — notably the Capturing Fire International Queer Slam (2016), the Canadian Individual Poetry Slam (2016, 2017, 2019), and the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word, where they placed third nationally (2018). 

Julia Laxer lives for the stories and writes in the afternoons from a messy desk in a rose-lit room in Portland, Oregon. She uses performance art and spiritual practice to explore archetype and ritual in poetry, essays, erotica, and memoir. 

Anna Suarez explores themes of identity, embodiment, and interpersonal relationships through an erotic lens and in the forms of poetry, fiction, and memoir. She holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and French from Portland State University. Her poetry collection, Papi Doesn’t Love Me No More, published with CLASH Books, will be released in 2019.

* If you purchase the book option but do not attend the event, you will be responsible for picking up your book at our Mississippi location.

Limited space available — sign up online!