Boylan talks to Roxane Gay about her latest memoir, an exploration of a life lived in two genders. Pre-order your copy of Cleavage and get your free ticket now!

In 2003 Jennifer Finney Boylan published She’s Not There, which became the first bestselling work by a transgender American and established Boylan as a go-to source for public conversation about the impact of gender on our lives. More than two decades later, her new memoir, Cleavage, returns with older and wiser eyes to examine the joys and the struggles of being transgender. In prose that is heartwrenching and hilarious, Boylan considers how the experiences of trans people might have changed from when she came out in 2000 to the present era of blowback and fear. The book is a humane and compassionate antidote to a moment that often finds discussions of trans lives and issues being distorted and abused for political aims.

Boylan speaks with bestselling author Roxane Gay about her hope for a future in which we all have the freedom to live joyfully as men, as women, and in the space between us.

Pre-order your copy of the book! Tickets labeled "In-Person (with book)" include a copy of Cleavage that you'll receive upon entry.

To join the event in-person | Please register for an In-Person Ticket. Doors will open 45 minutes before the program begins. Purchase a drink from the NYPL bar and a snack from Amy's Bread while you mingle before the event! For LIVE from NYPL events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Please arrive early to avoid disappointment; we will do our best to accommodate everyone. Booked seats that have not been claimed will be released shortly before start time, and seats may become available then. A standby line will form 45 minutes before the program.

To join the livestream | Want a copy of Cleavage? Order your book at the Library Shop—proceeds benefit The New York Public Library.

A livestream of this event will be available on this NYPL event page. To receive an email reminder shortly in advance of the event, please be sure to register! If you encounter any issues, please join us on NYPL's YouTube channel.

Copies of Cleavage will also be available for purchase from the Library Shop the evening of the event. All books purchased in the bundle should be picked up the evening of the event. If you are unable to pick up your book the evening of the event, you must pick up your book at the NYPL Shop within 14 days. Any unclaimed books will be donated to the Library.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Jennifer Finney Boylan is the author of nineteen books, including Mad Honey, coauthored with Jodi Picoult. Her memoir, She’s Not There, was the first bestselling work by a transgender American. Since 2014, she has been the inaugural Anna Quindlen Writer in Residence at Barnard College of Columbia University; she is also on the faculty of the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference of Middlebury College and the Sirenland Writers Conference in Positano, Italy. She is the President of PEN America, and from 2011 to 2018 she was a member of the Board of Directors of GLAAD, including four years as national cochair. In 2022–23 she was a Fellow at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. She graduated from Wesleyan University and Johns Hopkins, and she holds doctorates honoris causa from Sarah Lawrence College, the New School, and Wesleyan University. For many years she was a contributing opinion writer for the opinion section of The New York Times. Her work has also appeared in The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Literary Hub, Down East, and many other publications. She lives in Maine and New York with her wife, Deirdre. They have two children: a daughter, Zai, and a son, Sean.

Roxane Gay’s writing appears in Best American Mystery Stories 2014, Best American Short Stories 2012, Best Sex Writing 2012, A Public Space, McSweeney’s, Tin House, Oxford American, American Short Fiction, Virginia Quarterly Review, and many others. She is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times. She is the author of the books Ayiti, An Untamed State, the New York Times bestselling Bad Feminist, the nationally bestselling Difficult Women and the New York Times bestselling Hunger. She is also the author of World of Wakanda for Marvel. She has several books forthcoming and is also at work on television and film projects. She also has a newsletter, The Audacity and once had a podcast, The Roxane Gay Agenda.

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ACCESSIBILITY NOTES

In-Person

• Assistive listening devices and/or hearing loops are available at the venue.
• You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or CART (Communication Access Real-Time Translation) captioning service by emailing your request at least two weeks in advance of the event: email accessibility@nypl.org or use this Gmail template.
• This venue is fully accessible to wheelchairs.

Livestream

• Captions and a transcript will be provided.
• Media used over the course of the conversation will be accompanied by alt text and/or audio description.
• You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation by emailing your request at least two weeks in advance of the event: email accessibility@nypl.org or use this Gmail template.

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