Booked & Beautiful

Booked & Beautiful is a recurring series of unfiltered, unapologetically Queer and Trans-focused programs in the style of your favorite TV talk shows. Featuring conversation, performance, video and audience participation!

Your new favorite host SNJV (pronounced: sun-jeev), mistress of many arts, brings his sparkle and shine to the library for a new talk-show-style program featuring conversations with the boldest change agents of the queer and trans community. Our inaugural edition features VERA!, Armenian-American drag king and dancer. Hold on to your wigs!

VERA! is the father of the House of Pack with 33 children and a dozen grandchildren. They are the co-host of the Rebel Kings of Oakland, the oldest drag king troupe on the West Coast, co-star of award-winning webseries "City Folx" and board member of Oaklash, the Bay Area Drag Festival. They co-produce the nationally touring "SAVE HER!" environmental drag show with Pattie Gonia, and will be a featured artist at Austin International Drag Festival in December 2024. They are currently working on the next iteration of their Armenian dance and drag performance work to continue delving into and queering their cultural heritage.

SNJV is an artist using dance, drag and drama to showcase humanity. Infusing culture into dance and fashion, SNJV creates performances for stage and film. With over 30 years of performance, SNJV has presented work globally, holds the title of Mr. GAPA 2019-2022, the first South-Asian title holder in GAPA’s (GLBTQ+ Asian Pacific Alliance) history. In addition, he is the co-founder of Parivar — a social collective to support and celebrate Queer and Trans communities of the South Asian diaspora. He is also an educator who lectures about his research on drag, dance and identity. SNJV recently premiered his newest production, The Definition of Drag — a cinematic and dance journey showcasing the artistry and intention of Drag.

Host or Publisher Hormel LGBTQIA Center of the San Francisco Public Library