On today's episode, we welcome David Ciminello, author of the new novel The Queen of Steeplechase Park, from Portland’s Forest Avenue Press. David’s a Lambda Literary Fellow and recipient of a Table 4 Writers Foundation Grant. His short fiction has appeared in the Lambda Award-winning anthology Portland Queer: Tales of The Rose City and Stephen O’Donnell’s The Untold Gaze. His poetry has been published in Poetry Northwest.
David’s original screenplay Bruno was made into a movie directed by Shirley MacLaine and starring Kathy Bates, Gary Sinise, and Jennifer Tilly. David is also an actor, with credits including Another World, Days of Our Lives, Kojak, Matlock, Murder She Wrote, and Seinfeld.
In the words of Lidia Yuknavitch: “David Ciminello has reanimated Depression-era Coney Island with such vivid and dazzling detail that I wanted to laugh, cry, eat a hot dog, and go for a swim all at once. A phenomenal story of a burlesque queen searching for her lost baby in the glitz, ooze, and hum of sideshows from Brighton to Gravesend. I couldn’t put it down.”
David will be part of “Incite: Queer Writers Read” at Literary Arts in Portland on Wednesday, July 17. He’ll also be in conversation with the wonderful Laura Stanfill at the Willamette Writers Conference on Saturday, August 3, and he’ll be in conversation with the wonderful Stevan Allred at Annie Bloom’s Books in Multnomah Village on Tuesday, August 6.
You can stream and/or download the interview online at: https://bit.ly/3XIjm19
Author photo courtesy of Brian Delaney