Hometown writers
The Decatur Book Fest includes several writers well-known in local literary circles.
• Megan Volpert, an openly gay Fulton County high school teacher for eight years, is editor of the new book “This Assignment Is So Gay” that she hopes will be read by teachers, students, parents, counselors and anyone who likes poetry.
Volpert and poets featured in the anthology will launch the book on Saturday, Aug. 31, at 5:30 p.m. at Decatur High School. State Rep. Karla Drenner (D-Avondale Estates) will give introductory remarks and there will be readings from the anthology and a panel discussion.
“It’s a great set of poems, even if you don’t have a special interest in teaching or queer issues,” Volpert said. “It’s a great conversation about LGBTIQ visibility, even if you don’t usually like poetry or don’t have any opinions about education.
“And it’s an utterly remarkable behind-the-scenes look at the stories emerging in the profession of teaching, even if you’re not an educator.”
The title of the book is, well, interesting.
“Many times there is only one openly gay teacher in a school, and s/he consequently has no support network for certain things. Hearing a student complain, ‘this assignment is so gay’ (meaning ‘stupid’), is one very common story to which all teachers immediately relate, so it was an obvious choice for the title,” she said.
• Collin Kelley, author of “Conquering Venus” and “Remain in the Light” as well as editor of Atlanta INtown newspaper, is included in this year’s Poetry track with his new book of poems, “Render.” He will be reading along will fellow queer poet Theresa Davis from the Local Poetry Stage on Saturday, Aug. 31, at 2 p.m.
“[T]he poems in Render … were written over a decade — roughly 2003 to 2012 — and they are the most personal work I’ve ever put in front of the public,” he said.
• Stacy Braukman, who works at Georgia Tech, has a new book titled, “Communists and Perverts Under the Palms: The Johns Committee in Florida, 1956-1965.” She will be part of a panel discussion titled “American Homophobia” on Sunday, Sept. 1, at 2:30 p.m. on the City Hall Stage.
The book explores the tactics used by the Florida Legislative Investigation Committee, now remembered as the Johns Committee, that was charged with the task of “unearthing communist tendencies, homosexual persuasions and anything they saw as subversive behavior in academic institutions throughout Florida.”
Braukman spent years going through archives and documents after learning about the committee in 1993 when its records were opened to the public and media outlets began covering the story.
Within those documents hidden for so long were the dealings of a “committee that operated in very shady, and sometimes bizarre” way, she explained.
Coverage included graphic sexual content, examples of homosexual sting operations and coercive interrogations held in motel rooms and basements.
“The committee, for a brief time, actually enjoyed a certain measure of legitimacy in the state,” she said.
Top photo: Megan Volpert, a Fulton County high school teacher, is the editor of the new book, ‘This Assignment Is So Gay,’ which features poetry from many local poets. (Photo by Rob Friedman)