Baldwin & Queerness
Reading in Black is a book club that centers Black literature and connects communities through stories, conversations, and shared curiosity. They create spaces where readers can discover, deepen, and enjoy together—from reading schedules to book discussions, from knowledge sharing to encounters with writers and experts. Always with a focus on growth and inspiration.
Location The Bookshop
Genre Perspective
Duration 45 minutes
Already bought a ticket to Giovanni's Room? Than you do not have to buy an additional ticket.
Baldwin & Queerness
For this special edition at ITA, Sharily Ortela dives into the work, the era, and the world of James Baldwin. Through quotes and excerpts, they engage with a guest and the audience in conversation about how Baldwin’s legacy gave language to our understanding of homosexuality and queerness.
Baldwin did not only write about race, justice, and the political struggles of his time—he was also radically honest about desire and intimacy. There is no separation between his political voice and his queer identity. He was unapologetically Black and outspokenly queer. Giovanni’s Room is his most explicitly homoerotic work. When his American publisher refused to release the book out of fear of a conservative backlash, Baldwin published it in England instead. How do we read this layeredness today? And what does Baldwin’s legacy ask of us in how we look at one another and at the world?
For bookworms and eager listeners aged 6 and up, we present The Bookshop Kids! Every first Sunday of the month, we transform our soft‑pink Bookshop into a place full of children’s stories where imagination has all the space it needs.
