In-Person: How to Fuck Like a Girl: Essays by Vera Blossom

A cheeky how-to guide, as raunchy as it is heartfelt, from a bright new literary voice.
A bold and vulnerable collection from a new, young voice, How to Fuck Like a Girl is a daring mash-up of pillow book, grimoire, and manifesto by writer Vera Blossom. From hooking up to trans witchcraft, petty crime, capitalism, friendships, divorce, and survival, Blossom brings wit and melancholy, grandeur and smarts, debuting a bright literary voice as raunchy as it is heartfelt. A cheeky how-to guide that earnestly asks if it is possible to fuck oneself into girlhood, How to Fuck Like a Girl is a cult classic in the making.

Vera Blossom is a proud Filipina American and transfemme monster. Her work explores desire, pleasure, gender, and death. She writes the steamy, confessional newsletter How to Fuck Like a Girl, and cofounded Snack Report, a food blog focused on rituals, feelings, and friendship. In 2021, she helped produce Black Mountain Radio, an artist-driven audio project published in collaboration with Black Mountain Institute and the Believer magazine. In 2022, she was associate producer on season 2 of The Anti-Trans Hate Machine, which focused on the disinformation ecosystem constructed by the Christian Nationalist movement. In 2023, she was selected as an Ann Friedman Weekly Fellow and a PEN America Emerging Voice.

Jessica Hopper is the author of the books The First Collection of Criticism By A Living Female Rock Critic and Night Moves. Her writing has appeared in GQ, Rolling Stone, The New York Times Magazine, The Guardian, Elle, and Bookforum, among other outlets. A long time contributor to the Chicago Reader, she has been a columnist for the Village Voice and Chicago Tribune, the music consultant for This American Life, the editorial director for MTV News, and a senior editor at Pitchfork and Rookie. Her essays have appeared in several editions of Best Music Writing, and she currently serves as series editor of the American Music Series at the University of Texas Press.

Accessibility: This event is hosted at the bookstore, which is a wheelchair accessible space. Masks are required. Seating is on a first-come, first-serve basis. To request ASL interpretation for this event, please email [email protected] by no later than 14 days before the event. For other questions or access needs, please email [email protected].

Event Venue

Women & Children First, 5233 North Clark Street, Chicago, United States