Thursday, October 30 at 7:00 pm
Talking Leaves...Books and Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center present
Join us at Hallwalls for an evening with Steve Majors, in conversation with James Whorton, celebrating Majors' new book Man Made: Searching for Dads, Daddies, Father Figures, and Fatherhood! This event will be free and open to the public, with books available for purchase. Please buy your book from Talking Leaves to best support this event.
“Steve Majors writes from experience with a clear eye and a steady hand. I trust him: he is blunt about his mistakes and open about his loves. This book is a glorious reminder that life has no instruction manual—you figure it out as you go.”
— James Whorton Jr., author of Angela Sloan
Not all little boys want to grow up to be like their dads. The shy ones, the sensitive ones, the ones people mock as strange or call queer — sometimes they want to grow up to be loved by men who stand in for their fathers. They'll put up with bullying from an older brother, taunts from the gym teacher, long work hours from a boss, and even discipline from a gay daddy, all as a means to discover what kind of man they truly want to be.
In this poignant and provocative memoir, Steve Majors takes us on a journey of his own self-discovery as he grows from a gay boy in search of a father figure to a gay man grappling with what it means to be a father himself. In doing so, Majors creates various snapshots of time in which his — and the world's — understanding of what it means to be a gay man changes.
Steve Majors is the author of High Yella, the forthcoming essay collection Man Made (University of Wisconsin Press, 2025), and the graphic novel Light Bright (Graphic Mundi, 2026).
Steve's writing explores issues of race, class, and identity. His essays have been published in outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, CNN.com and NBC Think.