Author Event: Eli Erlick & Harron Walker In Conversation

Join us at Hive Mind Books in Bushwick for a discussion of trans history with authors Eli Erlick and Harron Walker. They'll discuss Erlick's book, Before Gender: Lost Stories From Trans History, 1850-1950, about the trailblazing lives of 30 trans people who were influential in their time, but largely unknown today.

After the reading and conversation, both authors will sign copies of their books.

Our coffee and tea counter will be open for the duration of the event.

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Books will be available to purchase at Hive Mind Books. We ask that books signed at our events be purchased at our bookstore. Book sales ensure that our independent queer bookstore can continue to keep the lights on and bring great events like this to our neighborhood. Thank you for your support!

If you would like a signed copy of either book but cannot attend the event, you can order signed books from us. Please place your orders through our website. We ship most places!

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ABOUT BEFORE GENDER

Highlighting influential individuals from 1850-1950 who are all but unknown today, Eli Erlick shares 30 remarkable stories from romance to rebellion and mystery to M**der. These narratives chronicle the grit, joy, and survival of trans people long before gender became an everyday term. Organized into 4 parts paralleling today’s controversies over gender identity (kids, activists, workers, and athletes), Before Gender introduces figures whose forgotten stories transform the discussion

ABOUT ELI ERLICK

Eli Erlick is an author, activist, and educator based in New York City. Her first book, Before Gender: Lost Stories from Trans History, 1850-1950 (Beacon Press), uncovers thirty trans narratives that radically disrupt popular ideas about transgender people. Her forthcoming second book, Belonging Through Exclusion: Understanding the Transgender Far Right (University of Chicago Press, 2026), explores why right-wing transgender people adopt their views and what we can do to prevent others from joining them. She recently completed her PhD in Feminist Studies and History of Consciousness at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and is currently the program director of the NYC Trans Archives, the largest transgender archive in the Eastern United States.

ABOUT HARRON WALKER

Harron Walker is the author of Aggregated Discontent, a new essay collection from Random House, and Veronica Place, a novella forthcoming from TigerBee Press. Her writing has appeared in New York magazine, Dazed, Wired, W, Sex Change and the City, and other publications.

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Hive Mind Books is a queer and trans bookstore and coffee shop in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The store and coffee counter will be open all night for attendees who want to make purchases. Seating is first come, first served. We have standing room available after seating fills up.

Subways:

(L) Dekalb
(M/L) Myrtle-Wyckoff
(M) Knickerbocker

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