Wilton Barnhardt

In Every True Pleasure: LGBTQ Tales of North Carolina, a new literary anthology from UNC Press, novelist and N.C. State professor Wilton Barnhardt curates a tight group of stories by North Carolina–associated LGBTQ writers and allies. Contributors range from household humorist David Sedaris to recent N.C. State MFA graduate and speculative fiction writer Alyssa Wong. Garrard Conley, Zelda Lockhart, Kelly Link, Toni Newman, Brian Blanchfield, and others join the mix to elucidate the regional nuances of love, belonging, identity, violence, and family for queer and trans people in the state. On his decision to include pieces by straight allies, Barnhardt notes the ever-expanding breadth of queer and trans identities, and asks astutely, “Just who is issuing membership cards these days?” In part, perhaps, anthologies like this one. Triangle-based contributors Randall Kenan, Minrose Gwin, and Allan Gurganus will also read at the release.