Denis Denis: Lust at First Sight / Love at First Sight

Bread & Wine: An Erotic Tale of New York, tells the story of a romance that defied social norms and brought two unlikely people together across the boundaries of class, race and convention. Delany was a successful novelist, essayist and professor, when he met Denis, a homeless man selling books on the street in Manhattan. They slowly developed a friendship that grew into a caring relationship—despite the immense differences in their lives. By turns bizarre, humorous and touching, Bread and Wine has garnered praise from the likes of Neil Gaiman, Edmund White and Alan Moore. Delany talks about the story with Mia Wolff, the co-creator of the graphic novel that grew out of it. Out of print for years, Bread and Wine has now been reissued by Fantagraphics Books.

Stars In His Pocket: A Conversation With Samuel Delany & Kara Keeling

“Stars in his pocket… : A Conversation with Samuel R. Delany and Kara Keeling" took place on Wednesday, November 8, 2017 at 5:30 p.m. in the Lownes Room of the John Hay Library. The event included an exhibit of Samuel Delany’s works and manuscripts from the Library’s collection. Samuel Delany is a highly laureled writer of science fiction and cultural criticism, in which he explores questions of sexuality, gender, race, language, perception, and the fluctuating conceptions of “the human.” His prodigious literary talents are intimately informed by his experiences as a gay black man, the grandson of a freed slave and nephew of famous civil rights workers. He is also an acute observer of off-the-grid urban spaces, the textures of micro-neighborhoods, and queer locations.