Pridefest at Barnes & Noble Philly

Join Barnes & Noble Philadelphia on Saturday June 21st from 12pm – 7pm at Barnes & Noble Philadelphia (1708 Chestnut Street) for its first annual PrideFest – an all day reading celebration.

We will be carrying a selection of titles from all guest authors attending who will be greeting, signing and speaking about local LGBTQ+ organizations. The day will be split up into morning and afternoon author groups. Please read below to see what time the authors will be coming by. We will have goodies and special events throughout the day.

We ask that all interested attendees register for a ticket through Eventbrite.

AUTHORS

MORNING 12-3

Tj Alexander (they/them) is a Lambda Literary Award finalist and USA Today bestselling author who writes about queer love. Originally from Florida, they received their MA in writing and publishing from Emerson College in Boston. They live in New York City with their wife, cats and various houseplants.

Hailey Piper (She/Her) is a Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Queen of Teeth, A Light Most Hateful, All the Hearts You Eat and other books of dark fiction. She’s also the author of over 100 short stories appearing in Weird Tales, The End of the World As We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King’s The Stand and many other publications. She lives with her wife in Maryland. Find Hailey at www.haileypiper.com.

Kalynn Bayron (she/her) is the New York Times and Indie bestselling author of the YA fantasy novels Cinderella Is Dead and This Poison Heart. Her latest works include the YA horror novel You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight and the middle grade paranormal adventure The Vanquishers. She is a CILIP Carnegie Medal Nominee, a Bram Stoker Award nominee, a LOCUS Award finalist and the recipient of the 2022 Randall Kenan Award for Black LGBTQ fiction. She is a classically trained vocalist and musical theater enthusiast. When she’s not writing you can find her watching scary movies and spending time with her family.

Katherine Locke (they/them) is an award-winning and critically-acclaimed author for all ages, including picture books like WHAT YOUR WORDS, middle grade titles THIS IS OUR RAINBOW, GENDER REBELS, and ATHLETE IS AGENDER, and young adult titles THE GIRL WITH THE RED BALLOON and THIS REBEL HEART. They have four cats, one horse and a lifelong love of chai lattes. They can be found online at katherinelockebooks.com

Xio Axelrod ( She/Her) is a USA Today bestselling author of award-winning contemporary romance, romantic fiction, and what she likes to call strange, twisted tales. She grew up in the music industry and began recording at a young age. When she isn’t writing stories, she can be found in the studio, writing songs, or performing on international stages (under a different, not-so-secret name). She lives in Philadelphia with one full-time husband and several part-time cats.

AFTERNOON 4-7

K.M Enright (He/Him) is the Sunday Times Bestselling author of MISTRESS OF LIES. Find out more about his writing at kmenright.com or follow him on social media at @KM_Enright.

Jennifer Dugan (She/Her) is an awkward romantic who writes across many genres and categories. Her debut novel, Hot Dog Girl, was called a “great fizzy rom-com” by Entertainment Weekly and “one of the best reads of the year, hands down” by Paste Magazine, although she is best known for Some Girls Do, her third young adult novel which took Tiktok by storm. Her adult romances, Love at First Set and The Ride of Her Life boast “the most hilarious disaster bisexuals you’ll ever meet” per Buzzfeed. Jennifer has also collaborated with artist Kit Seaton on several graphic novels, including the GLAAD Outstanding Original Graphic Novel Nominee, Coven.

Kay Synclaire (She/Her) is the youngest of five children and the proud aunt of twelve. Kay attended Philadelphia University(now Thomas Jefferson University) before working in caretaking roles as a nurse assistant and preschool teacher. Kay currently lives in Philadelphia with her sister, who is the coauthor of her 2022 collection of short stories, The Strange Accounts of Germantown and Other Peculiar Phenomena. House of Frank is Kay’s debut novel.

Erik J. Brown (He/Him) debut novel, All That’s Left in the World, was named a Junior Library Guild Selection and received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews. Erik was also selected as a Lambda Literary Emerging Writers Fellow. When not writing genre-blending books for young adults, he enjoys traveling and embarking on the relentless quest of appeasing his Shiba Inu. He lives in Philadelphia with his husband.

Camille Kellogg (they/them) is the author of Just As You Are and The Next Chapter. They’re based in New York City, where they work as an editor for children’s and young adult books. They’re passionate about queer stories, cute dogs and bad puns.

Laura Piper Lee (She/Her) has wanted to be an author since she was a kid. Well, she first wanted to be a mermaid, but that didn’t work out. She enjoys making people laugh, flirting, and avoiding exercise, so writing romantic comedies is pretty much a perfect career choice. She lives with her partner and their son in Philadelphia. If anyone’s rolling by the bagel shop, she’ll have an everything toasted with butter.

M.L. Rio (She/Her) holds an MA in Shakespeare studies from King’s College London and Shakespeare’s Globe and a PhD in English from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her bestselling first novel If We Were Villains has been published in twenty countries and eighteen languages. Graveyard Shift is her first novella.