Celebrate Pride Month with Queer Writes, an evening spotlighting the voices and visions of LGBTQIA+ writers from across St. Louis. Join this dynamic lineup of authors as they read from their work—stories, poems, essays, and more—that challenge conventions, expand perspectives, and illuminate the breadth of queer life in St. Louis.The 2026 Queer Writes lineup includes:
Christopher Conner
Ken Haller
Jet McDonald
Sidney McGhee
Molly Pearson
A tribute to Kathleen Finneran, with readings from The Tender Land by Joan Lipkin, Mary Jo Bang, Edward McPherson, and Jarek Steele
The program will also include special musical performance by CHARIS Chorus.
Please note: Happy hour is from 5:00–6:30pm, with the main program starting at 6:30pm.
Presented in collaboration with That Uppity Theatre Company
---
Come back for more! Thursday Nights at the Museum are sometimes the most fun, sometimes the most thought-provoking, and always the most interesting night of your week. The museum exhibits are open late, and you’ll enjoy cash bar and food for purchase, pop-up activities, lectures, and more.
---
Speakers
Christopher Conner (he/him)
Christopher Conner is a writer, filmmaker, and performance artist. He is a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and McKendree University. His short films include The Demon Lady and Victor Durant, Vampire Hunter, and he has directed such plays as Titus Andronicus, The Oresteia, Doctor Faustus, Salome, The Bacchae, and Romeo & Juliet. His solo photography exhibition, FilipinX: A Visual Journey, was featured at the Governor French Gallery. He is the creator of the Prep School Blues web series and novels, and most recently, the author of I Fell in Love with a Mexican Vampire. His next novel, I Seduced a Gringo Couple and Drank Their Blood, is set to be published later this year. He enjoys travel, museums, and opera.
Ken Haller (he/him)
Ken Haller is an Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine and is a past president of GLMA: Health Professionals Advocating for LGBT Health and PROMO, Missouri’s statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization. He has also served on the board of the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis, and he teaches an elective for first-year medical students called Acting Like a Doctor, employing the methods of improvisational theater to help students become more mindful, empathetic physicians. He is a writer, actor, and cabaret artist and has twice been named Best St. Louis Cabaret Artist by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Jet McDonald (they/he)
Jet McDonald is a writer, dancer, and aspiring mime. By day they work as a communications professional based in St. Louis. Their work has appeared in places like the Riverfront Times and Typehouse Literary Magazine, which nominated one of their poems for a Pushcart Prize. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL) and served as UMSL’s sixth Poet Laureate. Lately Jet is most interested in cross-genre and multi-disciplinary work. They are lucky to have a community of loved ones who embody how great the world could really be.
Sidney McGhee (he/him)
Sidney McGhee, performing as Freedapoet, is a powerhouse spoken word artist whose work bridges the gap between raw education and spiritual liberation. Though shaped by the DMV area, Sidney’s heart and history are rooted in St. Louis, where they were born, raised, and educated. As a dedicated community leader, Sidney founded DFT Breathe (Don’t Forget to Breathe), providing essential free healing services for all identifying men of color. Furthering this mission of equity, Sidney serves as the director of Damned Good People, a nonprofit located in the Grove. Whether advocating for LGBTQ+ rights or commanding a stage, Sidney’s mission is singular: to educate, to heal, and ensure you feel FREE.
Molly Pearson (she/they)
Molly M. Pearson is a writer, educator, and organizer based in St. Louis, Missouri. Her work centers sex, identity, aging, illness, community, and the risks we take to survive and make life worth living. Her writing can be found at The New Territory Magazine, Catapult, TheBody, Foglifter, Honey Literary, and elsewhere. She is a current MFA candidate in Creative Nonfiction Writing at WashU, and a member of What Would an HIV Doula Do? (WWHIVDD) collective, an interdisciplinary community of people joined in response to the ongoing AIDS crisis. She implores us all to listen to our elders
Event Venue
5700 Lindell Blvd, St. Louis, MO, United States, Missouri 63112, 5700 Grand Dr, St Louis, MO 63112-1004, United States, Clayton
Tickets
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.
