Queer & Trans Life: Writing Today & Feeling Singular

Join Ben Bascom, Imani Jones, Jay Kibble, Victoria Logan, & Scoot Swain for the launch of Ben's new book, Feeling Singular: Queer Masculinities in the Early United States, and a discussion on modern queer experiences.

Ben will open the event with a brief discussion on the history of queerness and transness. Then Imani Jones, Jay Kibble, Victoria Logan, & Scoot Swain will each share their philosophies, theories, and experiences of queerness along with a brief reading of their works.

Feeling Singular: Queer Masculinities in the Early United States

Much of U.S. cultural production since the twentieth century has celebrated the figure of the singular individual, from the lonesome Huckleberry Finn to the cinematic loners John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, but that tradition casts a backward shadow that prohibits seeing how the singular in America was previously marked as unwanted, outcast, excessive, or weird. Feeling Singular: Queer Masculinities in the Early United States examines the paradoxical nature of masculine self-promotion and individuality in the early United States. Through a collection of singular life narratives, author Ben Bascom draws on a queer studies approach that uncovers how fraught private desires shaped public masculinity increasingly at odds with the disinterested norms of republican public

Meet the Author: Ben Bascom

Ben Bascom teaches early and nineteenth-century American literature and contemporary LGBTQ studies at Ball State University. His work draws upon a queer studies methodology that follows the relationship between power and desire, gender and sexuality, in American literary cultures. His recently published book, Feeling Singular: Queer Masculinities in the Early United States—available through Oxford University Press—examines the histories of exclusion that have produced the norms that today consolidate around white, straight, and cisgender male identities. He is currently working on a project that examines the intersection of sexuality and mental health in nineteenth-century American literature. 

Meet the Panelists: Imani Jones

Imani Jones (they/them/theirs) is a 25-year-old neurodivergent, nonbinary, artist, community builder, friend, fashion enthusiast, model, and lesbian. They received a BS in Psychology from Ball State University and continue to exude a deep passion for community, poetry and speech communication, liberation, and cultural analysis. Imani’s artistry is rooted in a close connection to their identity, emotions and the continuous pondering of how expression allows them to navigate the world. Imani’s life’s art is to be a living, flawed, open, and honest example of what it means to be yourself, to build community out of a relational deficit, and to thrive within a system that is made to harm you and divert hope. Imani hopes to expand their art and use their voice as a way of living so as to better serve their community, and to use their time and energy sharing with people. Through their words and writing, Imani shows people how to release themselves from the mental and emotional strongholds that our systems have created. 

Meet the Panelists: Jay Kibble 

Jay Kibble (he/they) is an emerging writer living in Richmond, IN. He received his 
Master’s in English from Ball State University where he happily began and continues to 
work with River Teeth: A Journal of Nonfiction Narrative. His journalism has appeared 
in Chatter and Get Out Chattanooga magazines, while his creative nonfiction 
is forthcoming in The Broken Plate and Rural Education and Queer Identities: Rural and (Out)rooted, an anthology spearheaded by Virginia Tech’s Center for Rural Education (forthcoming with Rutledge in 2025). When not performing marketing wizardry for Earlham College, Jay works on the leadership and PR/Media teams for Muncie Queer Alliance, a local nonprofit looking to increase inclusivity and connection within the Muncie queer community. A lot of what Jay will read tonight is from his memoir in progress, tentatively titled “Chaos Orbiting Chaos.” His poetry is swirling around in his head and should land on the page shortly.  He’d like to thank BSU faculty, UTC faculty, Midwest Writers Workshop, family and friends, and his boyfriend for helping him develop the confidence to get to where he is today. Also, coffee.  Huge shout-out to coffee. 

Meet the Panelists: Victoria Logan 

Victoria is an Indianapolis native, and she attended Broad Ripple Magnet High School for the Arts and Humanities. It was in high school where she found her love of news and writing. Victoria continued her education and ultimately obtained her bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in English from Ball State University. During her time in the MA program, she explored various aspects of her life, including her struggles with having an autoimmune disease and various pieces of her identity. Her final creative project used the topic of love as a vehicle to showcase her experiences, desires, and woes with the subject. She gravitated to writing poetry at the end of it all but remains open to other genres as the wind sends them. In future works, she looks to explore the layers of abandonment and healing through writing. Victoria is a lover of the arts of all forms, nature, hugging trees, cartoons, working out, staring at the sun, and has an unconditional and at times uncontrollable love of ramen.  

Meet the Panelists: Scoot Swain 

Scoot Swain is a poet and artist from Columbia City, Indiana. Coming from a small town, she wanted to be Spider-Man when she grew up, but eventually learned she couldn’t abide a career in law enforcement. She has a B.A. in Creative Writing from Ball State and an M.F.A. in Poetry from Butler. She was poetry editor at Turnpike Magazine and has read for Booth: a Journal. Her work smashes together multiple forms, namely comics and poetry. Common themes include gender, religion, roadkill, and small things found twiddling their thumbs where they don’t belong. Currently, she’s working on a collection of work about God (capital G), the worst friend a gal can have. Her work can be found at the Indianapolis Review and Peach Magazine. You can follow her on Instagram at @scootswainpoet or you can ask for her email after the reading.  

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