Rainbow Book Fair draws full house at LGBT Center

• Read the whole article at GayCityNews.com

By Michael Luongo
for GayCityNews.com -- May 6, 2024

It’s a story of success that also acknowledges how important LGBTQ books are to New York, and how important New York is to those books.

“People come in from all over for this event — from the West Coast, the Midwest, Canada, and the Deep South,” said Perry Brass, one of the four main coordinators for the Rainbow Book Fair. “It is now the biggest LGBTQ book event in the world. I kind of wish it weren’t, that someone else was doing something bigger. But it’s New York’s good fortune, and a huge amount of work in the part of the four coordinators.” The three other coordinators are Sarah Chinn, Darrell Perry, and Daniel Kitchen.

The Rainbow Book Fair was held April 20 at the LGBT Community Center on 13th Street. The event spread over three floors, and is the second time it was held in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Brass said so many vendors and companies participated that they ran out of space for tables three weeks before the show. They expected about 1,500 attendees, and the event’s sponsors included the LGBT Community Center and CUNY’s CLAGS, the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies. Publishers included academic houses such as New York University and Rutgers University. Many writers were self-published, presenting their books next to tables staffed by major New York publishing houses. The roster of speakers included Felice Picano, Torrey Peters, Samra Habib, Andrea Lawlor, and many more.