Celebrate Pride with us! with Susan Rukeyser author of BAD WORDS: Feminist, Queer & otherwise Radical (World Split Open Press, 2025) a collection of short work, which inspired the Desert Split Open Mic to encourage and amplify literary work that is feminist, queer, or “otherwise” radical…AND …

The Worst Kind of Girl (Red Light Lit Press, 2025) Rukeyser’s literary/LGBTQ+ novel set in the California desert and Connecticut. It takes its questions from her own experience, coming out as LGBTQ+ at midlife, and the internal reckoning that followed.

Susan will be in conversation with featured Hudson Valley Writers and contributors to Rukeyser’s anthology Feckless Cunt— Tina Barry, Jana Martin, and Nina Shengold.

Susan Rukeyser lives in Joshua Tree, California, but for a while, a long time ago, she had a used bookstore in Kingston, New York. Her new novel is The Worst Kind of Girl (Red Light Lit Press, 2025). She created the Desert Split Open literary event series to amplify work that is feminist, queer, or “otherwise” radical. Susan’s own work on these themes is collected in Bad Words, published by World Split Open Press, her imprint for select, bold titles, including Feckless Cunt: A Feminist Anthology, which features several contributors from the Hudson Valley