Carol Rosenfeld, Chair (she/her) In 2023, Carol received a Gay City News Impact Award in recognition of her service, and she is a proud member of the Saints & Sinners Literary Festival Hall of Fame. Her novel, The One That Got Away, was published by Bywater Books in 2015.
David Groff, Vice Chair is an independent book editor and the author of three books of poems: Live in Suspense, Clay, and Theory of Devolution. With Philip Clark, he edited Persistent Voices: Poetry by Writers Lost to AIDS; with Jim Elledge, he edited Who’s Yer Daddy?: Gay Writers Celebrate Their Mentors and Forerunners. He teaches poetry, nonfiction, and publishing in the MFA creative writing program at the City College of New York. David is a cofounder of the Publishing Triangle. www.davidgroff.com
Rob Byrnes, Treasurer is the Lambda Literary Award-winning author of six novels and several short stories and essays. He also serves on the Boards of Directors of Big Apple Performing Arts, the parent organization of the NYC Gay Men’s Chorus, and The Other Side of Silence (TOSOS), New York City’s oldest LGBTQ+ theater company. He has been inducted into the Saints & Sinners Literary Festival Hall of Fame and has been recognized with a Gay City News Impact Award and inclusion on City & State NY’s annual “Pride Power 100” list.
Emanuel Xavier (he/him), Awards Program Director is a poet, spoken word artist, and LGBTQ+ activist. He is the author of seven poetry collections, including his latest, Still, We Are Sacred. His work has appeared in Poetry, a gathering of the tribes, Latino Book Review, and other publications, and his books have been finalists for the Lambda Literary Awards and International Latino Book Awards. He is the recipient of a New York City Council Citation and a Gay City Impact Award for his contributions to arts and culture. He is currently represented by Liza Dawson Associates and is working on a memoir. www.emanuelxavier.org
Jim Berg, Secretary is a writer, editor, and consultant. His academic work, published as James J. Berg, includes The Isherwood Century (U Wisconsin Press), edited with Chris Freeman, which won the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Studies in 2000. His most recent book is Isherwood on Writing (U Minnesota Press). He is also a freelance developmental editor and consultant, working with writers on academic and nonacademic projects. Jamesjberg.com
Gerard Cabrera, Membership Coordinator is the author of short fiction, poems, and the novel Homo Novus, published by Rattling Good Yarns Press in 2022. His writing has appeared in literary journals such as The Acentos Review, Jonathan, Kweli, Apricity, Digging Press, and Angel Rust. A naturalized Brooklynite, Gerard hails from the Puerto Rican community of Springfield, Massachusetts, the birthplace of Dr. Seuss, basketball, and the first American dictionary. www.gerardcabrera.com
William Christy Smith, Publications Coordinator is a museum and library professional who lives in New Orleans. His stories have appeared in Deep South, Arkansas Review, Louisiana Literature, and six issues of the Saints & Sinners Literary Anthology. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in English from Westminster College, Fulton, MIssouri, a master of Liberal Arts degree from the University of Chicago, and a master of Arts Administration degree from the University of New Orleans.
Reginald Harris, Board Member is the author of Autogeography, winner of the 2012 Cave Canem / Northwestern University Press Poetry Prize. A member of the National Book Critics Circle, his work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, Poetry, This is the Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets, The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South, and Split This Rock’s The Quarry Social Justice Poetry Database.
J.M. Redmann, Board Member has published twelve novels featuring New Orleans PI Micky Knight. Her first was published in 1990, one of the early hard-boiled lesbian detectives. Her books have won multiple awards, including three Lambda Literary awards, and the Publishing Triangle’s Joseph Hansen Award. Her third book, The Intersection of Law & Desire, originally published by W. W. Norton, was an Editor’s Choice of the San Francisco Chronicle and a recommended book of NPR’s Fresh Air.
Dan Hendrick (he/him), Board Member is the author of Jamaica Bay, a local history of the New York City estuary, and the producer and writer of Saving Jamaica Bay, a documentary film narrated by Susan Sarandon. He is currently finishing his first novel.
Cheryl A. Head, Board Member is the author of the award-winning Charlie Mack Motown Mysteries and Time’s Undoing, her acclaimed 2023 historical novel. Before turning to fiction, she worked as a television and radio producer, reporter, and broadcast executive in Detroit and Washington, DC. Cheryl is a former Vice President of DC Black Pride, a 2019 inductee into the LGBTQ Saints and Sinners Literary Festival Hall of Fame, and a recipient of the Alice B. Readers Award. She lives in Washington, DC, and is Co-Chair of the 2027 Bouchercon World Mystery Convention.
Parrish Turner, Board Member is an essayist and editor from Georgia based in Brooklyn. He has worked at McNally Jackson, HarperCollins, and Lambda Literary, among other literary organizations.
Kay Popple (they/them), Board Member is a Marketing Assistant at Random House Worlds, working on both prose and illustrated titles across genres including science fiction, fantasy, romance, and manga/manhwa/graphic novels. They hold a BA in English Literature and an MA in Publishing and Creative Writing.
Michael Solis, Board Member is the Executive Director of Writers & Books, a literary arts nonprofit in Rochester, NY. He is the author of Deficient, a queer YA science-fiction novel nominated for the ALA Stonewall Book Award, the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Fiction, and the Pushcart Prize. He also co-chairs the Middle Grade and Young Adult Committee of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association and serves on the board of directors of Queer Princeton Alumni.