Desire, Calling No. 2

Saturday, September 12th at 7:30 pm

Reading | Community | Dance Party

"Every night I pray to love, please invent yourself."

- Jennifer Espinoza, from "It's Important to Be Something”

Join us at Verbatim Books for Desire, Calling No. 2—a night of words, want, and wild joy. We’re bringing four writers who know how to make language do something to you. 2026 Lambda Literary Award Winners Demree McGhee, author of Sympathy for Wild Girls, and Ilana Masad, author of Beings and All My Mother’s Lovers will read prose. Jennifer Espinoza, author of I Don't Want to Be Understood, and emerging writer Jenna Flenner will share exquisite poetry.

We’re excited to be raising money for a local queer nonprofit and crown the evening with a dance party! Stay tuned for more announcements as the evening gets closer. All ages. Free. Everyone is welcome.

Let's celebrate books, desire, and community!

The Writers:

Demree McGhee is a writer. She earned her BA from the University of California San Diego and her MFA at San Diego State University. Her work has been published in Lunch Ticket, Wax Nine Journal, Burn All Books, and more. Her debut short story collection, Sympathy for Wild Girls, is available from Feminist Press. 

Jennifer Espinoza is a trans woman poet. Her work has been featured in Poetry Magazine, The Paris Review, the American Poetry Review, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA in poetry from UC Riverside and is currently a professor of creative writing. 

Ilana Masad is a writer of fiction, nonfiction, and criticism. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, New York Times, LA Times, Washington Post, NPR, The Atlantic, and many more. She is the author of the novels All My Mother's Lovers and Beings and is co-editor of the anthology Here for All the Reasons: Why We Watch The Bachelor. Masad holds a PhD in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has taught a wide variety of creative writing and literature courses, and also provides editorial services to authors.

Jenna Flenner is a senior writing major at Point Loma Nazarene University. She actively contributes to the Driftwood creative arts journal and participates in local theatre. Born and raised in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, she takes inspiration from early American history, combining it with her love of the Beat Generation. After graduation, Jenna hopes to study for a teaching certificate and continue traveling.