For the Rest of Us

Sonora Reyes is the bestselling and award-winning author of The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School and The Luis Ortega Survival Club. Born and raised in Arizona, they write fiction celebrating queer and Mexican stories in a variety of genres, across ages. Outside of writing, Sonora loves breaking their body and vocal cords by playing with their baby niblings and dancing/singing karaoke at the same time.

Karuna Riazi is the author of the acclaimed A Bit of Earth as well as the duology The Gauntlet and The Battle. She holds a BA in English literature from Hofstra University and an MFA in writing for children and young adults from Hamline University. She is an online diversity advocate and an educator, and her work has been featured in Entertainment Weekly, Shondaland, and Teen Vogue, among others. A born-and-raised New Yorker, Karuna Riazi lives on Long Island.

Abdi Nazemian is the author of Only This Beautiful Moment—winner of the 2024 Stonewall Award and 2024 Lambda Literary Award—and Like a Love Story, a Stonewall Honor Book and one of Time magazine’s Best YA Books of All Time. He is also the author of the young adult novels Desert Echoes, 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, The Quiet, and Menendez: Blood Brothers and the television series Ordinary Joe and The Village. 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 abdinazemian.com.

Kosoko Jackson is the author of YA novels championing holistic representation of Black queer youth across genres, including Yesterday Is History and Survive the Dome. He also writes adult romance and works as a digital media specialist focusing on digital storytelling and email, social, and SMS marketing. His work has also been featured on Medium, Thought Catalog, and the Advocate and in several literary magazines. He lives in New Jersey, and you can visit his website at kosokojackson.com.

Cory McCarthy [he/they] is the acclaimed, bestselling author of five released children's books and just as many forthcoming titles. His books have been translated into several languages and have appeared on the Bank Street, Barnes and Noble, Book Riot, and Tor best books list, as well as the Amelia Bloomer list of feminist children's fiction. Their upcoming titles include a middle grade trilogy and nonfiction picture book. They teach at Vermont College of Fine Arts and, like many of their characters, are a member of the LGBTQ+ community.

Kelly Loy Gilbert is the author of Picture Us in the Light, a Stonewall Honor Book and LA Times Book Prize finalist; Conviction, a Morris Award finalist; and, most recently, Everyone Wants to Know. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.