Alan Lessik will be reading from his debut novel, The Troubleseeker, a finalist for the 2017 LGBTQ Fiction Award. The Troubleseeker is a potent mash-up of contemporary history, Greek mythology, Cuban Santería, and queer eroticism that follows the story of Antinio from his youth in Havana through his later life in the U.S. The narrator, the Roman Emperor and demigod Hadrian who has his own back story of loss and redemption, weaves in conversations with Santería orishas, Greek gods, and stories of his own past as he watches over Antinio’s odyssey to achieve freedom and love.