Literary Curator Briana Jacobs spends much of her year after each Festival thinking about who she would like to have on the Literary Art Jury. We are very pleased to announce that the juror selection for the literary art portion of the Festival is now complete!
Our 2016 SEAF Literary Art Jurors are… (in no particular order):
- Carol Queen
- Harlyn Snow
- Theo Galaexis
- Jiz Lee
- Josef Abrams
Read more about these amazing and sex positive authors!
Dr. Carol Queen
Dr. Carol Queen is staff sexologist and Company Historian at Good Vibrations, the women-founded sex shop, where she has worked since 1990, and co-founder of the Center for Sex & Culture in San Francisco. A noted writer and cultural sexologist whose work has been widely published, she’s written or edited several books, most recently The Sex & Pleasure Book: Good Vibrations Guide to Great Sex for Everyone (with Shar Rednour). She has been speaking publicly about sexuality for 40 years. She frequently speaks to college, conference, and community audiences, most notably an Oxford Union debate in 2009: “This House Believes that Promiscuity is a Virtue, Not a Vice.” (Photo courtesy of Good Vibrations.)
Harlyn Snow
Writing was Harlyn’s first love. Or, more accurately, it helped her seduce her first lover. Ever since then words and Harlyn have been inseparable. Previously published in several local rags, Harlyn was honored to be included in last year’s anthology. While she is quite prolific at writing erotic poetry and short stories, Ms. Snow is currently working on a novel set in Prohibition era Seattle. This involves the imbibing of strong cocktails in old brick buildings because research and authenticity are very important. With a deep appreciation for the power of provocative prose, salacious syntax, and witty lust-filled metaphors, Harlyn is thrilled to be included as a juror on this year’s panel.
Theo Galaexis
Born atop a piano on a gritty barrio street in South America, Galalexis was seperated from his Armenian mother in his early years of life due to political conflicts and dire circumstances. The pain of loss and a seedy city upbringing honed an insight and proclivity to the bizarre and darker side of humanity. He found solace in writing at an early age and has pursued it ardently since, traveling the globe to discover and reveal psycho-socio sexuality. Winner of Finland’s coveted Pervert of the Year award, Galalexis has written kink for online publications, male and female erotic periodicals and has had several works recognized by SEAF in past years.
Jiz Lee
Jiz Lee has worked in porn for over a decade, spanning independent erotic films and hardcore gonzo pornography. A versatile performer and key player in the queer porn movement, Jiz has been the recipient of multiple AVN and XBiz Award industry nominations and Feminist Porn Awards, and in 2015 was named an honoree of The Trans 100. (Jiz is agender and uses the gender-neutral pronouns: they/them.)
Jiz works behind the scenes at San Francisco queer porn company Pink & White Productions (CrashPadSeries.com, PinkLabel.tv) and fundraises for LGBTQ and sex worker-focused organizations through their erotic philanthropic art project, Karma Pervs. They’ve presented on porn at Princeton University, the American Studies Association Conference, and were featured on MSNBC, Fox News, and proudly, Lifehacker. Jiz has also appeared in non-adult productions including short films FLOAT and If Not Now, and a guest role on the television series Transparent.
Of all the opportunities performing in porn has provided, the least anticipated was writing. In 2007, Jiz began to blog their adventures in the adult industry. Their writing has since appeared in The Feminist Porn Book, Best Sex Writing, and Jezebel.com. Their first book, Coming Out Like a Porn Star was named “Best Sex Work Books 2015” and they are the co-editor of the forthcoming Porn Studies Journal Special Issue: Porn and Labour. When not working in porn, Jiz is training for an IRONMAN 70.3.
Josef Abrams
Josef has been an active member of the Seattle sex-positive community for almost a decade, working with several different groups in that time. in 2013 he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing from Seattle University, though that was not that start of his writing career. Fist published in 1999, Josef has been writing, publishing, and contributing to the literary world since then. Most recently he has been published in veteran’s literary journals, and generating content for a new series of erotica that will be marketed on Amazon. Currently he is working on a memoir of his career in the Marine Corps, and his time in Iraq.