Healing for the Heart...and Beyond: Making Valentine's Gay Panel Discussion

Join us on 𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗙𝗲𝗯𝗿𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮𝗻𝗱 at 𝟱:𝟬𝟬𝗽𝗺 as we present a queer twist on Valentine’s Day with a multifaceted group of lesbian writers offering casual yet intimate counsel on 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁…𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱. The panel discussion will touch on all manner of healing – the heart, mind, soul, and body – in the eternal human quest to discover our true selves, connect with others, and utilize our creative gifts to build healthy relationships with ourselves and each other. The discussion will be facilitated by the distinguished panel of 𝗗𝗿. 𝗝𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝗱, 𝗡𝗮𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗕𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆, 𝗗𝗿. 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝗕𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘀, 𝗞𝗶𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗘𝘀𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿, 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗚𝗶𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗶, and 𝗕𝗿𝗶 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗸𝗲𝘀.

𝗗𝗿. 𝗝𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝗱 is a feminist lesbian award-winning director of four documentary films. She is a former public and commercial radio broadcaster, talk-show host and assistant professor of Communication at Hofstra University. Her poems appear in 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘵, 𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘉𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘞𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘰𝘮, 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘰𝘮, 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘴, 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘦, 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺 and forthcoming in The 𝘓𝘈 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴. She was a rock singer with the New Haven Connecticut Women’s Liberation Rock Band, 1970-1976, and sings Jazz in Long Beach, CA.

𝗡𝗮𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗕𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆 is a creator in all manner of ways — from her one-person show 𝘚𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘈𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘵 (she performed it at the 2023 Hollywood Fringe Festival), to the web series 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘦, to TV jobs on 𝘎𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘳, 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦 and 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘮. A few years ago she wrote and produced the 40-minute lesbian romance film 𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘣𝘺’𝘴 𝘝𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯…and now the novel version is out – where she gets to tell the full journey.

𝗗𝗿. 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝗕𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘀 is an artist, author, inspirational speaker and Emeritus professor of communication at Cal Poly University. She taught communication at Claremont Graduate University, Chino Men’s Prison, and Universities in Thailand, and China. She teaches and leads workshops in creativity, communication, and spirituality. She is the author of six published books and lives in Naples, California. Her poetry has recently been published in 𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘉𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 and in 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘗𝘖𝘞𝘌𝘙 𝘖𝘍 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘍𝘌𝘔𝘐𝘕𝘐𝘕𝘌 𝘐 poetry anthology.

𝗞𝗶𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗘𝘀𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 is a poet and creative producer whose work explores themes of identity, connection, and witness. She is working on her first poetry collection and editing a collaborative book of poetry with four lesbian poets over sixty. Her work has appeared in 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘕𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘸𝘣𝘰𝘺, and 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘞𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘰𝘮. She produces the 𝘋𝘺𝘬𝘦 𝘋𝘪𝘷𝘦 podcast with Dr. Marie Cartier and is in post-production on the documentary 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵: 𝘉𝘢𝘣𝘺, 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘔𝘺 𝘙𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯.

𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗚𝗶𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗶 is the author of 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘍𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘋𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘈𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘩𝘰𝘭: 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹 𝘗𝘛𝘚𝘋. She has been a Master Certified Coach for over 20 years and is a keynote speaker and seminar leader specializing in supporting survivors in healing from Complex PTSD, achieving long-term recovery with food, weight, drugs, alcohol, and close relationships – resulting in them reconnecting with themselves and others and turning their pain into power and purpose.

𝗕𝗿𝗶 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗸𝗲𝘀 hails from Los Angeles, on unceded Tongva land. Her writing has appeared in 𝘌𝘱𝘪𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘺, 45𝘵𝘩 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘭, 𝘉𝘶𝘻𝘻𝘍𝘦𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸, and elsewhere. Her debut chapbook, 𝘈 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘵 𝘍𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵-𝘋𝘪𝘳𝘵, was released in 2023 through Bottlecap Press. She is the former Managing Editor of 𝘚𝘒𝘌𝘞 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘦, an editorial assistant at 𝘏𝘐𝘕𝘊𝘏𝘈𝘚 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴, and completed a residency and fellowship with 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘞𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘦 and Voodoonauts in 2024.

The event is free and open to the public, no tickets or reservations required!