Pride on the Page

Other Voices, Other Muses:
Playwrights, Storytellers, Comics and Then Some

Moderator: David Perry

Panelists: Selene Luna, Susan Rukeyser and Lorenz Qatava

David Eugene Perry is the founder and CEO of the public relations firm David Perry & Associates, Inc. For 10 years, he was the host and creator of 10 Percent TV, the longest running LGBTQ TV show in California history. He and his husband, Alfredo Casuso, live in Palm Springs with frequent trips to San Francisco, and when possible, Orvieto and Spain. His first novel, Upon This Rock, has been critically acclaimed, including praise from Tales of The City author Armistead Maupin who called the book “an elegant, twisty thriller” and from Fenton Johnson who said Upon This Rock is “the gay DaVinci Code but a lot better.” Upon This Rock is the winner of the 2021 Ben Franklin Silver Medal from the Independent Book Publishers Association and “Best Gay Book of 2021” from the San Francisco Book Festiva

Selene Luna is Soledad on FX's Mayans M.C. and the voice of Tía Rosita in Disney-Pixar’s Academy Award & Golden Globe Awards' Winner COCO. In 2019 Luna took to Washington, DC alongside U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer to advocate for disability rights at a rally on Capitol Hill. 

Susan Rukeyser writes and reads in Joshua Tree, California. Her debut novel, Not On Fire, Only Dying was published by Twisted Road Publications. Her new, as-yet unpublished novel, The Worst Kind of Girl, was recently named a Finalist for the Big Moose Prize. Susan’s short fiction and creative nonfiction appear in many wonderful places and is collected in Whatever Feels Like Home (above/ground press). A frequent live performer, she read at Long Beach Out Loud, Red Light Lit, and Hi-Desert Fringe. On November 12, find her at the Joshua Tree Writer’s Festival. As World Split Open Press, Susan publishes select titles. She hosts the monthly Desert Split Open Mic, Joshua Tree’s feminist, queer, and otherwise radical open mic. Learn more at Susan Rukeyser's website.

Lorenz Qatava (he/him/his) is a poet, playwright, novelist, and journalist. He is the author of a gay romance novel set during the Almeda wildfire in Oregon, a volume of recent poetry and short stories about the turbulent 2020s, and two stage plays about Black gay life. In 2021 his first play, Speak My Words, Tell My Truth, a poetic fantasia about Black gay writers, was presented initially as a virtual performance by Coachella Valley Rep in Cathedral City, CA in April 2021 and as a live staged reading by Dezarts Performs in Palm Springs, CA in November 2021. In 2022, he was selected by the Ashland New Plays Festival as one of five New Voices playwrights. His writing career began after he retired from 30 years working for the federal government in international affairs, social marketing, and public health.