Panel
11.30 AM – 12.30 PM
Join a powerful conversation about the intersection of storytelling and activism with authors Morgan H. Owen, Abdi Nazemian, and Shanna Alderliesten. These writers use their platforms to challenge injustice, celebrate identity, and empower queer youth. Through their words, they spark change, on the page and beyond. This panel explores how queer stories can be acts of resistance, sources of hope, and tools for building a more inclusive future.
About Abdi Nazemian
Abdi Nazemian is the author of Only This Beautiful Moment (a Stonewall Award Winner), Like a Love Story (a Stonewall Honor book), The Chandler Legacies and The Authentics. His novel The Walk-In Closet won the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Debut Fiction. His screenwriting credits include the films The Artist's Wife and The Quiet, and the television series The Village and Ordinary Joe. He has been an executive producer and associate producer on numerous films, including Call Me by Your Name, Little Woods, and The House of Tomorrow. He lives in Los Angeles with his husband, their two children, and their dog, Disco. Find him online at www.abdinazemian.com
About Kimm Topping
Kimm Topping (they/them) is a an artist-educator and historian dedicated to uncovering and sharing LGBTQIA+ histories. Founder of Lavender Education and author of Generation Queer, Kimm combines creative methods and advocacy to empower people to tell meaningful queer and trans stories.
About Morgan H. Owen
Morgan H. Owen is a former bookseller who buys more books than she could ever possibly read. She lives in Birmingham with two feline voids who defy the laws of physics. She enjoys building elaborate Sims houses, visiting ancient ruins, making coffee and mapping out the nameless city she visits nightly in her dreams.
About Shanna Alderliesten
Shanna Alderliesten is a Dutch author who calls both the Netherlands and the United Kingdom home. Under the Dark Clouds is her first full-length novel. She works in digital marketing and spends her free time with her dog, cat, and horses. When she's not crafting whirlwind love stories, she's chasing literal storms (but in a safe way, because she doesn't have a death wish).
