Meet Tomas Moniz, Author of All Friends Are Necessary
About this Event
On Saturday, June 13 at 1:30 PM, meet Tomas Moniz, author of All Friends Are Necessary, as part of San Mateo County Pride celebration in San Mateo Central Park in the Central Recreation Building. This free event is sure to inspire and deliver an insightful conversation about LGBTQ life in the Bay Area and how we open ourselves up to love.
We will have a limited number of free giveaway copies of the book on a first -come, first-serve basis.
About All Friends Are Necessary
Winner of the Golden Poppy Martin Cruz Smith Award for Emerging Diverse Voices
In this "tender and open-hearted novel," (Nina LaCour, author of Yerba Buena) Tomas Moniz--a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway and Lambda Literary awards--delivers a commanding new story about the power of friendship, community, and the families we create for ourselves.
Efren "Chino" Flores has just moved back to the Bay Area from Seattle, jumping from sublet to sublet. In Washington, he was an adored middle school biology teacher with a loving wife, and a child on the way--that is, until a stunning loss upended his life. Now he's working temp jobs, terrified of commitment, and struggling to put himself back out into the world.
But there to nurture Chino is a coterie of new and old friends and lovers who form a protective web around him. Closest to him are Metal Matt, a red-haired metalhead with a soft spot for Courtney Love and a rangy dog named Sabbath, and Mike and Kay, a couple whose literary edge is matched only by the success of their secret OnlyFans account. As Chino begins to date more men and women--and to open himself up again to love--his bonds with those around him grow both rich and profound. Like a fern blooming in the wake of a forest fire, new life comes after even the most devastating upheaval.
With gorgeous, heartrending detail and a seemingly infinite catalogue of tender, unexpected interactions, Tomas Moniz has created a striking mosaic of desire and belonging. An anthem to both queer and platonic love, All Friends Are Necessary evinces the wonder of friendship and the joy of giving yourself up to the essential force of community.
About Tomas Moniz
TOMAS MONIZ is a latinx writer living in East Oakland, CA. His debut novel, Big Familia, was a finalist for the 2020 PEN/Hemingway and the LAMBDA. His second novel, All Friends Are Necessary, won the 2024 California Golden Poppy Award. His new novel, The King of Aloe Vera, will be published September 2026 from Algonquin Books. He teaches at Berkeley City College, the Antioch MFA program and St. Mary’s College. He has stuff on the internet but loves penpals: PO Box 3555, Berkeley CA 94703. He promises to write back.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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