Writing the Book You Needed featuring George M. Johnson and KB Brookins

Join BMI Shearing Fellow KB Brookins for an evening with George M. Johnson, author of All Boys Aren't Blue. Following a reading of Johnson's work, Brookins will lead a conversation with Johndon about the craft of writing -- including but not limited to structure, hybrid genre writing (both authors use creative nonfiction, poetry, visual art, and letters in their work), influence of other Black queer authors, literary journalism, and audience. They will discuss these topics through centering Johnson's critically acclaimed books All Boys Aren't Blue,The Flamboyants, and their upcoming debut romance novel, There's Always Next Year. After the program, books by both writers will be available for purchase and signing.

This event is co-presented with The Library District and co-sponsored by The Center.

George M. Johnson is an Award-Winning Black Non-Binary Writer, Author, and Executive Producer located in the LA area. They are the New York Times Bestselling Author of the Young Adult memoir All Boys Aren’t Blue discussing their adolescence growing up as a young Black Queer boy in New Jersey through a series of powerful essays. The book was optioned for Television by Gabrielle Union in 2020, and as of 2024 is the #1 most banned and challenged book in the United States.

In 2018, George served as a NY State Spokesperson for the HIV stops with me Campaign. George was listed on The Root 100 Most Influential African Americans in 2020. The Out 100 Most Influential LGBTQ People in 2021. And in 2022 was honored as one of the TIME100 Next Most Influential People in the World for their fight against censorship in the United States.

In 2021 they wrote and Executive Produced the Dramatic Reading of All Boys Aren’t Blue starring Jenifer Lewis and Dyllon Burnside which received a 2022 Special Recognition Award from GLAAD, and a 2023 Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Daytime Special.

As a former journalist, George has written for over 50 major outlets including Teen Vogue, Entertainment Tonight, NBC, and Buzzfeed and Huffpost. In 2019 George was awarded the Salute to Excellence Award by the National Association of Black Journalists for their article “When Racism Anchors your Health” in Vice Magazine.

Their second memoir WE ARE NOT BROKEN was released in September of 2021. It received the Carter G. Woodson Award which recognizes books that “accurately and sensitively depict the experience of one or more historically marginalized racial/ethnic groups in the United States”. The book also received the Nonfiction Honor Book in the YA category from the International Literacy Association.

Their third book Flamboyants the Queer Harlem Renaissance I wish I’d Known was released in September of 2024. It was an instant Indie Bestseller, receiving 5 starred reviews and an Audie Award Nomination for best Audiobook for Young Adults.

Their first fiction book co-written with bestselling author Leah Johnson, THERE’S ALWAYS NEXT YEAR will be released December of 2025, already receiving a Starred Review from Booklist.

George is also a proud HBCU alum twice over, and a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated.

KB Brookins is a Black queer and trans writer, educator, and cultural worker from Texas. KB’s chapbook How To Identify Yourself with a Wound won the Saguaro Poetry Prize, a Writer’s League of Texas Discovery Prize, and a Stonewall Honor Book Award. Their debut collection Freedom House won the American Library Association Barbara Gittings Literature Award and the Texas Institute of Letters Award for Best First Book of Poetry. KB’s memoir Pretty (Alfred A. Knopf, 2024) won the Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award and the Dorothy Allison/Felice Picano Emerging Writer Award.

Parking/getting there: The New West Las Vegas Library is located at 1861 N. Martin Luther King Blvd. Las Vegas, NV 89106. Free parking is available on-site.

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Host or Publisher Black Mountain Institute