We are thrilled to welcome back Emma Copley Eisenberg to celebrate the release of Housemates! For this event, Emma will be joined in conversation by Jessamine Chan.
Please note: This event is free to attend, but registration is required! By registering, you agree to wear a face mask throughout the duration of the event, per W&CF's Covid-19 policies.
Two young housemates embark on a road trip to discover themselves in this sparkling novel of love, friendship, and chosen family in a fractured America, by the award-winning author of The Third Rainbow Girl
“A wise, beautiful, and gorgeously gay exploration of America, art, and the rugged, vast country that is love itself.”—Sarah Thankam Mathews, author of All This Could Be Different
A Most Anticipated Book of 2024: Lit Hub, Debutiful, LGBTQ Reads, The Rumpus, Lilith, Hey Alma, Them
What does it feel like, standing in the moments that will mark your life?
When Bernie replies to Leah’s ad for a new housemate in Philadelphia, the two begin an intense and defiantly uncategorizable friendship based on a mutual belief in their art, and one another. Both aspire to capture the world around them: Leah through her writing; Bernie through her photography.
After Bernie’s former photography professor, the renowned yet tarnished Daniel Dunn, dies and leaves her a complicated inheritance, Leah volunteers to accompany Bernie to his home in rural Pennsylvania, turning the jaunt into a road trip with an ambitious mission: to document America through words and photographs.
What ensues is a journey into the heart of the nation, bringing the housemates into conversation with people from all walks of life—“the absurd dreamers and failures of this wide, wide country”— as they try to make sense of the times they are living in. Along the way, Leah and Bernie discover what it means to chase their own ideas and dreams, and to embrace what they are capable of both romantically and artistically.
Warm and insightful, Housemates is a story of youth and freedom—a glorious celebration of queer life, and how art and love might save us all.
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Emma Copley Eisenberg is a queer writer of fiction and nonfiction. Her first book, The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia, was named a New York Times Notable Book and was nominated for an Edgar Award, a Lambda Literary Award, and an Anthony Award, among other honors. Her fiction has appeared in Granta, McSweeney’s, VQR, American Short Fiction, and other publications. Raised in New York City, she lives in Philadelphia, where she co-founded Blue Stoop, a community hub for the literary arts.
Jessamine Chan’s stories have appeared in Tin House and Epoch. A former reviews editor at Publishers Weekly, she holds an MFA from Columbia University. She lives in Chicago with her family. The School for Good Mothers is her first novel.
Gerber/Hart is a LGBTQ+ library and archives located in the Rogers Park neighborhood in Chicago. Founded in 1981, Gerber/Hart is one of the largest repositories of LGBTQ+ content in the world. Gerber/Hart focuses on collecting, preserving, and making accessible the LGBTQ history and culture of Chicago and the Midwest. Learn more at gerberhart.org or by following @gerberhart onInstagram and Facebook. And for a deep dive into some of the amazing collections at Gerber/Hart, listen in to their 2022 podcast Unboxing Queer History!
Accessibility: This event is hosted at the bookstore, which is a wheelchair accessible space. Masks are required. Seating is on a first-come, first-serve basis. To request ASL interpretation for this event, please email events@womenandchildrenfirst.com by no later than 14 days before the event. For other questions or access needs, please email events@womenandchildrenfirst.com.
