An excerpt of mine from the forthcoming anthology, “The Book of Dads” appears in this Sunday’s New York Times. The Styles section runs a weekly column called “Modern Love,” and this week they’re running “The Sleepwalker,” which is about fathers, sons, daughters, and how being trans affects our families.
It’s not the first time a trans person’s life has been recorded in the column, but it’s one of the first, and it’s always good, I hope, to get work out there showing the complexity–and normality–of our lives. I’ve been especially interested in the relationships between transwomen and their fathers for the last few years–I’M LOOKING THROUGH YOU is, in large measure, about my relationship with my dad. Anyway, look for the story this Sunday. It had to be cut by more than half to fit into the space the Times has for the column, but I imagine you’ll get the gist.
I’ll also put in a good word for the anthology here. The book was edited by Ben George, and is full of interesting work by writers–all men, except for me–you’ll either be familiar with, or will want to be. It’s a collection of essays “on the joys, perils and humiliations of fatherhood.” I think it’d be a good gift for fathers day, and if you’re a trans person, or anyone struggling with difference, the wide range of experiences in the book–and, yeah, sure, the Boylan essay–might do well to send out a little bridge between your experience, and that of your own father’s.
I’ll be reading from the Book of Dads, along with several other of the authors from the anthology, at the Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square on June 9th. If you’re in the Boston area, I hope you’ll come check it out.
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