July 22nd - Wellness Bar, THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, Queer Authors, and A NICE INDIAN BOY!

First up, we have executive producer Bryan Hlavinka talking to Breanna Foster Director of Clinic Operations at Legacy Community Health from LEGACY COMMUNITY HEALTH and their event at their WELLNESS BAR on Westheimer. Next stop, Brett Cullum talks with Klara Zieglerova about her design work for the ALLEY’s latest production, THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN. Then it's to the stacks! We talk with author R. Lee Ingalls and poet Stalina Villarreal about their appearances at the Houston LGBTQ+ Independent Author Fair at the Montrose Center on Saturday, August 1, from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. And finally, Matthew Williams continues our coverage of A NICE INDIAN BOY that opens at ASIA SOCIETY TEXAS on Friday, July 31st. He talks with Taher Lokhandwala about what brings him joy! 

Wellness Bar by Legacy

https://www.wellnessbarbylegacy.org/

GIRL ON THE TRAIN
https://www.alleytheatre.org/plays/the-girl-on-the-train

Houston LGBTQ+ Independent Author Fair at the Montrose Center on Saturday, August 1, from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM

A NICE INDIAN BOY 

https://asiasociety.org/texas/events/nice-indian-boy

Queer Voices airs in Houston Texas on 90.1FM KPFT and is heard as a podcast here.  Queer Voices hopes to entertain as well as illuminate LGBTQ issues in Houston and beyond.  Check out our socials at:

https://www.facebook.com/QueerVoicesKPFT/ and
https://www.instagram.com/queervoices90.1kpft/

Transcript

Welcome And What’s Ahead

Brett 0:03

You're listening to Queer Voices on KPFT Houston. My name is Brett Cullum. I am hosting tonight's episode. First up, we have executive producer Brian Lovinka. He is talking to Brianna from Legacy Community Health. They are having an event at their wellness bar on Westheimer. Then I talk with Clara Ziglarova about her design work for the Alley's latest production, The Girl on the Train. This is their Summer Chill Show, and it starts on July 24th, and they have an act out night on August 6th. Then I talk with author R. Lee Ingalls and poet Selena Fiatal about their appearances at the Houston LGBTQ Plus Independent Author Fair at the Montrose Center on Saturday, August 1st from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. And finally, Matthew Williams continues our coverage of A Night Indian Boy that opens at Asian Society, Texas on a Friday, July 31st. He talks with Tahir, Luck, and Walla about what brings him joy. Queer Voices starts.

Legacy Wellness Bar Community Event

SPEAKER_09 1:09

Now this is Brian Lavinka, and today on Queer Voices, we're interviewing someone from Legacy Community Health about an event coming up, and that is Brianna. Welcome to the show, Brianna.

SPEAKER_01 1:20

Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_09 1:22

So, what is this event that you're having?

SPEAKER_01 1:23

So, this event is called Community or Cocktails in Community. It's an event that we have at Wellness Bar. This is our second annual event. We hosted it one last year, and it's really an event and an opportunity for the community members to learn more about Wellness Bar for us to connect, to engage, and to really have meaningful conversations around health, wellness, community. And it really reflects on our belief for a strong community and really takes an engaged approach to ensure that we kind of help our community for health beyond care.

SPEAKER_09 1:56

So, what is wellness bar and where is it exactly?

SPEAKER_01 1:58

Yeah, so wellness bar is located in Montrose. We're right on Westheimer. And Wellness Bar um is a part of legacy, a health center that was created for services such as HIV prevention, HIV testing, STI testing, sexual health services, and really just um HIV treatment overall for the community that we're in.

SPEAKER_09 2:19

So I thought HIV was over. I mean, what are we testing for? I mean, these days, is that still a thing?

SPEAKER_01 2:24

It is still a thing. HIV is not over. Um, unfortunately, we do see that new testing and positive testing for HIV is still fairly high, especially in our Houston area. So definitely not over and definitely still want to have a preventative approach, right? We do want our community to get tested because knowing your status is very important.

SPEAKER_09 2:46

So you mentioned prevention. What does that mean exactly for HIV?

SPEAKER_01 2:50

So for HIV, prevention means going to see your provider, getting tested, getting prep. So we do offer prep services also at our wellness bar location.

SPEAKER_09 2:58

And what is PrEP?

SPEAKER_01 3:00

So PrEP is going to be medication that you could take that will help you um, that is, will help you prevent HIV or um contracting HIV.

SPEAKER_09 3:09

It's pre-exposure prophylaxis.

SPEAKER_01 3:11

Yes.

SPEAKER_09 3:12

I knew the answer to the question, but I wanted to I think this is a good time to disclose that I'm on the board of Legacy. So I'm doing this as a way to get information out about a legacy. I believe in the organization and what they do, what we do actually. So, Brianna, how did you get involved with Legacy?

SPEAKER_01 3:26

So I got involved with Legacy um about a year and maybe four months ago. Was really looking to join an organization that really had a mission of doing what's right, making sure that community has quality care and that really feels that healthcare is a right, right? Whether you have the ability to pay, which Legacy has that mission. So was really excited to join Legacy to really live out and contribute to a mission like this.

SPEAKER_09 3:55

Yeah, I mean, Legacy does not turn anyone away. So anyone can come and get healthcare anytime of the day, anywhere, anything that they need. So, what have you learned about Legacy that you didn't expect?

SPEAKER_01 4:08

Oh, that's a really great question. Um, I learned about Legacy that we do have uh funding or grant funding, especially for our patients with HIV. So the Ryan White grant funding. I guess when I first joined Legacy, I wasn't expecting us to have access to so much grant funding, even though we're FQHC, which is a federally funded, you know, organization. I think the amount of grants that we get, I wasn't expecting that. So really great to see us have those uh resources available.

SPEAKER_09 4:40

Okay, you mentioned FQHC and Ryan White. What is Ryan White?

SPEAKER_01 4:43

So Ryan White is grant funding that we receive to care for our HIV patients. Um, Ryan White, I want to say I can't remember right off the top of my head the story behind that, but I do know it is grant funding that we get from our heritage.

SPEAKER_09 5:04

He was a teenager in the 90s that passed away from HIV from uh blood transfusion because he was uh he required that for his medical needs.

SPEAKER_01 5:14

Thank you. Yes. I was gonna say I knew it was the story behind it, but I didn't want to uh incorrectly kind of speak to the story.

SPEAKER_09 5:22

So his story now saves thousands of lives across the country, across the world.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_09 5:27

So tell me more about this event.

SPEAKER_01 5:29

Yes. So this event is going to be held on Friday, July 24th, and it is from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. And again, it is at our wellness bar location. That address is 120 West Timer Road, Houston, Texas, 77006. Um and honestly, everyone should attend. We have staff members attending, our providers are attending, we have our colleagues from nearby locations that are attending, and we really want our community members to come out. Any supporters, any partners, any of our community partners as well should come out to this event. And it like I said, it's really just to engage in meaningful conversations around health, wellness, and really engage on how we can create a space that our community really loves to come get their health care from.

SPEAKER_09 6:19

I know when they created the wellness bar, they created it as a way to get a kind of way from the clinic environment where there were like maybe kids or other sick people, and there was just kind of a way to get in and see your get your provider and get your medicine in an environment that was more welcoming than a Meso clinic.

SPEAKER_01 6:35

Agreed. So the wellness bar atmosphere is very relaxing, and that was done on purpose. That was intentional. We wanted the wellness bar to really feel, again, more relaxed than your normal clinic. And it's really to kind of make our patients feel comfortable because feeling comfortable and making sure our provider and our clinic is approachable is really that step or that barrier. It kind of breaks down the barrier to um health care and really the stigma of it all or the fear or the discomfort. So the legacy team was very intentional about making that space very relaxing and very comfortable.

SPEAKER_09 7:13

So for people that are on the fence about getting tested, what would you tell them?

SPEAKER_01 7:18

I would tell them don't be afraid. We're here to help, right? And knowing your status is definitely going to be powerful. Our teams are there to help you. We're welcoming. We will greet you with a smile on our face, but definitely um take that first step and give us a chance to come in and really show you that healthcare is not that scary.

SPEAKER_09 7:38

Brianna, I appreciate you coming on and talking about the wellness bar and the event happening at the wellness bar. Give me the date and give me the website too.

SPEAKER_01 7:46

Absolutely. That date again is Friday, July 24th, and the time is um 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. And then our website is let me scroll up so I don't get it wrong. It's wellnessbar by legacy.org.

SPEAKER_09 8:05

That's easy to remember.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

Yes.

SPEAKER_09 8:07

And Brianna, is there anything that you want your listeners to know before we go?

SPEAKER_01 8:10

Really just want our listeners to know that Legacy is here to provide quality care to all, not only just Wellness Bar, but we really partner with the others' legacy clinics as well to make sure we take care of the whole person. And it's really about health beyond care, taking care of the whole person. So please, if you have a chance and you're free, stop by, come check us out, and we'll be more than welcoming to you.

SPEAKER_09 8:35

Well, thank you for coming on, and this is Queer Voices.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

Thank you.

Brett 8:50

Hi

The Girl On The Train Preview

Brett 8:51

there, this is Brett Cullum, and Clara Zieglarova is the scenic designer for the Alice Summer Chills production of The Girl on the Train. The show opens on July 24th. It runs through August 30th. There is going to be a special act-out performance specifically for the LGBTQIA Plus audience on August 6th. The show stars resident company member Elizabeth Bunch, who is fresh off killing and ultimately being killed by her husband in misery. The Girl on the Train was a DreamWorks film and a book by Paula Hawkins from 2015. So welcome, Clara.

SPEAKER_04 9:25

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Brett 9:27

Well, the first thing, this is one of the few works that I have not read the book. I have not seen the movie. Usually when we do the summer chills, it's like Agatha Christie, and I've read it like three or four times and all that. So I this is going to be a mystery for me. So tell me what is the story about?

SPEAKER_04 9:43

So I had to confess, I actually haven't read the book either, and I have not seen the film. Probably one of the few people left in the world who has to be.

Brett 9:49

We're in the same boat.

SPEAKER_04 9:50

We are in the same boat. I'm actually glad I didn't. I sometimes feel like it doesn't. Then I've start fresh, just almost, you know, with the story. It's a murder mystery. It's a thriller. It's a modern thriller. The main character, Rachel, is sort of an unreliable narrator. She has a history of substance abuse, and she's trying to figure out what happened, what she witnessed off a train. So she's a commuter into London and she spends a lot of time on the train and she's observing what happens in the people's backyards, and she witnesses something or she thinks she witnesses something. She's uh not sure whom she saw, when she saw them, etc. So that's kind of what unravels as the story continues. It's a pretty um, pretty wonderful. Yeah, pretty one. Hopefully it's gonna be a pretty wonderful progression, but it's a great story, really

Designing Fast Scene Changes

SPEAKER_04 10:39

fun.

Brett 10:39

Well, considering that you've never read the book and you've never seen the movie, so how did you approach the set for this one? Because it's are you just taking the cues from the script immediately?

SPEAKER_04 10:49

Yeah, absolutely. Basically, there are so many different locations. She's on the train, we are in multiple, we are in Rachel's home, we are in multiple other homes, and everything happens in a very quick sequence. So it's almost has this filmic, little cinematic quality. So for me, I think one of my main jobs was to how do you um do that with the set? So you go very flawlessly from one scene to another. So that's especially at the Hubbard Theater, which is a thrust, which is a wonderful configuration for the audience goods. There's not a bad seat in the house. Everybody has a really good view, but how do you get the furniture? You know, people have to sit, the uh, you know, people things happen onto um the middle of the stage. That's always the tricky bit for me. So, you know, in general, like when I read the script and I feel like, okay, I have a feeling this is how for me, that's how it feels. We what we were want to go to a very modern. I was very, very fortunate to work at the alley before I designed Ken Ludwig's uh Lent Me a Soprano. I worked on um the uh murder of um Roger Aykroyd, Agatha Christie, uh you know, very treasure, wonderful, wonderful murder mysteries. And this time it's a little bit different, it's modern, it's kind of slick, and it's this girl, you know, on the train. And you know, when you are on the train and you look out of the window, I have a very clear view, but then it gets darker, and actually the window turns into a mirror, and you see yourself, and then sometimes you see a little bit of the outside when it's lit, and that whole kind of mystery of what's inside, what's outside, again being maybe under influence of the substances, you don't might not the realities. So that was kind of like in general the feel I was going after. So going back to the furniture, that's the always the challenge. How do you because if you have a proscenium theater, you can have sort of track and goes in and out pretty quickly, but if you have a thrust, so you have to be able to have the furniture go down. That track takes a long time. You kind of see it coming. And so we had a few different evolutions with the director. Uh, we were looking at turntable and bringing it, but it seemed like we were kind of locking ourselves in because there's so many theme changes and it felt like repetitive. And then we thought, oh, what if you do? And this was so funny because I talked to the um my the technical director here, Paul Zapone. I said, What do you think about pop-ups? And he said, pop-up what? And I said, Oh, pop. And he said, you know, when something like it's a flooring kind of just comes up, he said, Oh, you mean toasters? And I said, So it's funny how the terminology for theater design is, you know, every region, I guess. So we are doing some toasters. That means that the furniture kind of miraculously rises from the floor that allows for a very smooth sort of appearance, even all of a larger priests of furniture. And uh yeah, so sorry, that was a very long answer to a simple question, but that was that was that was kind of my approach. And uh and uh I don't know if I should I just keep going.

Brett 13:43

No, no, no. It's wonderful, but it's so interesting because I feel like Rob Melrose, the artistic director, he has structured these seasons to include very filmic pieces. Like last season they had the Da Vinci Code, they just did misery. I mean, it's all of these things that started not necessarily as plays. And I think that when we have plays, usually you just have like one or two locations. It's a very easy kind of set transition from one to the other. Usually it's very convenient at Act Two, it changes, you know. But these film versions are just wild. And Michael Lockler, the guy that's over all of this stuff, it's just been amazing watching them handle this because I'm like, how are you going to do this? Because have you counted how many locales do you have in this? Or do you even know?

SPEAKER_04 14:26

Oh, we actually we have eight scenes in act one, and we have, I think, nine scenes in act two. So yeah, that's some of them are repetitive. So yeah, that's why so that that is actually the big, and for me, that's like the most fun part of my job is trying to figure out how does because you know it's sometimes easier to design a beautiful set for a single occasion, but then if you have 17 of them, how and you know, they have to go very quick succession, how do you do that? And that's the challenge, that's the puzzle. Sometimes I feel like there's more drama off stage or under the stage, and hopefully not. Sorry, that was not probably not the appropriate thing to say, but like, you know, if I sometimes wish people would see what actually happens off stage to make things happen or underneath the stage in our case with the toasters, not pop-ups, that that you know happens, you know, things have to be changed while they are still underneath the stage before they go up and and and so forth. So that's that's the I think and also the filming, I think it adds the the fast pace because I think these days also people are used to very fast-paced things, you know. We all what Instagram, everything is like a few seconds long. So I think also keeping up with with that kind of I think adds to the sort of the thriller and yeah, and uh and I think in my own work, I always feel like you know, my when you see yeah, on Thursday, we had the last time we see the actors rehearse in a rehearsal hall. And everything happens very quickly because there's no set. It's really people just helping you to the said same, oh you know, setting, mocking everything up. And I sometimes feel the energy should not drop just because something has to wait for the set. I want the set they you know not to get in a way. I want the set to help tell the story but not get in the way. So that's what I feel like it's very important part of my job is to help it tell it, but not get in the way of saying the story.

Brett 16:15

Yeah. Well, you've done summer chills before. You alluded to that. Is there a different approach that you take when a show is a thriller, as opposed to like maybe a bright, cheery musical or something like that? Did you like find yourself trying to figure out design elements that are gonna make it seem a little bit more tense or create that? Yes, for sure.

SPEAKER_04 16:31

For sure. Especially this one, or sometimes you can do the opposite. Sometimes, like, for example, with well, actually, both with uh murder of uh Roger Aykroyd or with Lenin Soprano, you walk into the theater and it seemed very idyllic, beautiful interiors and very decorative. And and then that's gonna just a position of like a really brutal murder happen there. So it's it's uh for in in Koisap Rich in Agatha Christie. So uh it's it's with this with this piece. I kind of felt like I wanted to have, we are starting from the very beginning. I think I wanted to kind of have this sort of this little bit shifting reality, I should say. I'm using uh this material that I haven't I only used once before, and I was a little bit nervous. It's a polycarbonate, so it's a structurally very uh sort of uh stable material. People build uh glass, you know, uh greenhouses out of it. I use it in bronze so it's not too bright, so it can go dark. And what I like about the material is that you can see through it when you light through it, kind of, but also when you light in front of it, it turns into a mirror. And so we've been trying to figure out the right sort of uh the right version of how much do we want to see through. And that was the exciting part sort of working with Michelle Fullerton, who is uh the head scenic artist. Uh so we she got the sample of the material and she I said, okay, maybe now it's true translucent, because maybe the director and I thought maybe should be very opaque. And she put sort of she kind of put a scenic treatment on one side, and then she sent us a video of somebody walking behind it and has this eerie, kind of ghostly quality. And we're like, oh, that is amazing, amazing. So we we thought that's what we're gonna go with. So sometimes I like is that I actually don't do any, I I design the set, but I don't actually like literally don't touch anything that you audience comes and see. So I'm only, I would say I'm only my design only looks as good as the people who make who produce it and I who who actually create it. And so for me, working with Michelle and her doing, oh my gosh, how many different samples we had to the different opacities and because they are a series of sliding panels and we have memory pieces and people weaving through them. It was so important to get them the right opacity. And she, I don't know how many samples she did, but many, many, many, many and different colors. And then, of course, we our director, Casey Stangle, she's like, you know, I want also the furniture to kind of be part of her world because it's we are in Rachel's head. This is we are seeing what happened through Rachel's head. So since she is a substance abuser and unreliable narrator, it's not everything, nothing is that clear. We don't know exactly where things are, and and it's kind of shifting. And so she's like, I want the furniture to be a little bit different. And so uh Scott uh Grough, who is the uh props master, he said, We can I can work with plastic. I mean, we can do something. I was like, Oh goodness, that would be amazing. So he had this collab those things, it's a great collaboration because we said I said, you know, this is the material, the polycarbonate. And he said, Oh, that'd be really cool. I think I can make it work, which is amazing. And then yesterday, I you know, two days ago, I walked into the theater and the pieces are there and they look pretty cool. I mean, you know, I think they're well, we'll see, but I think it's pretty exciting. And and he said, you know, I just want to tell you, I you saw this drawing, is the drawings were there, but you know, I kind of feel like I needed to take some liberties because this is like I kind of felt this was really good. And I'm like, thank you, exactly right. Because I love the collaboration because sometimes, you know, my work ends with the construction drawings, but I'm not actually, and you know, sometimes when you make something with your hands, you can think of better ways to do it. And so I really appreciate really true collaborators who are the input to the design. And they're all designers, they have my fine arts degrees, and so I really enjoy that's one of the main thing I really love about theater, is working with people who are interested and really skilled and know what they're doing, and it's just a joy to be able to do that.

Brett 20:38

Well, it's amazing to think of how many people in the process, especially when you bring something this technical to the stage, and how many people have to like pass that baton off and execute something very different. And you I'm so excited because you I think you're the only person, Clara, that I've heard use the word opacity in an interview. It's really awesome. But I was gonna ask you about your own journey too.

Clara’s Path Into Scenic Design

Brett 21:02

Obviously, you're very well known for Jersey Boys. Uh Tony nominated for that, but how did you get into scenic design? Like what was the genesis of this for you?

SPEAKER_04 21:12

You know, I always enjoyed arts. I my first degree was in book culture and topography. I grew up in Prague in the Czech Republic, and uh yeah, and you know, I beh I grew up behind the Iron Curtain when the I'm dating myself here, but let be it. And uh yeah, I done some sculpture as well. I worked on the expo 100 years ago in Japan and when I was still a teenager, and I uh sort of enjoyed three-dimensional work always. And when I wanted to do a study abroad for a year, it kind of happened to be in a drama school at a in in theater design. And I thought, oh, how different can it be? You know, but it's it's we I never work with a story really. And so the first time I'm working with a story, and that's kind of it's all about what we are doing, right? The storytelling through actors, through speaking and more. moving me through visual means and sort of really, really fell in love with that. I was pretty lucky that after I I after college I was able to work for Ming Chou Lee, one of the sort of uh preeminent uh designers in the United States, and Tony Walton as well. And they, you know, obviously a big Broadway designer and they were both very uh supportive of my career and um and encouraging and uh and my parents didn't my you know say oh she will never make living that's a waste of spray it's not exactly a parent's dream for a kid go to go to the theater because obviously but you know we're we're having a lot of fun so they're surprised you pay for everything maybe so I really truly love what I do and I feel like every project is new and different different materials different group of people different director different approach and so that's why for me it never gets old yeah never boring.

Brett 22:51

Never boring and it's it's funny because when I think back to Jersey Boys I really feel like that that was a musical that had a very filmic quality to it. So you being on the girl on the train and this the kind of this connection of the cinematic feel it it makes sense in this weird way.

SPEAKER_04 23:06

Absolutely absolutely you know I actually started because I'm from Central Europe I thought I'm only tragedies and everything very dark and had this notion of American musical as being too frivolous or you know not for me. And then as more I learned about the genre the more respect I have a huge respect for the genre and how difficult it is and how difficult it is to do it well. And so with uh with Jersey Boys being my first big Broadway musical I uh which you know when we had I didn't even have the full script it was work in development and it was super exciting really fast paced and obviously a huge success and everybody thought oh I am I'm the woman who can I'm the designer who can do all these fast paced and I love it to be honest. I love it and I am I don't I think I I don't remember getting a script in my hand that didn't have like a million different scenes in different locations and so I really enjoy I really enjoyed the technical part of my work as well. I love the you know I love working with with the technical directors and uh and here you know Paul Zapone and DW Jones they were just the the best and and being able to collaborate with them and they're so smart and they can make so many amazing things happen. I really have have huge respect and and take so much so much joy out of working with with people like that. But but you are right I am and I love the puzzle. I love the technical puzzle to be honest.

Why The Alley Keeps Calling

SPEAKER_04 24:31

Yeah.

Brett 24:31

Well what's it like working here at the alley? I mean obviously you've been here a couple of times but what is it what is it like coming here? What keeps you coming back?

SPEAKER_04 24:38

Well there it's the people really it's the people and what they do, what they stand for. I think it's a theater that's really pretty amazing and unique. There are a lot of great theaters in in the United States uh but this is definitely one of the the very best and I feel like they're doing it well. I think there's a lot of pride in their work. They treat people well I think that's to be a lot to be said for for people who come here as artists. I think that yeah I think that's what keeps me coming back. And also as I mentioned before like working with people who are so good at what they do and they are they have the yes we can do mentality. So on this show we are I love built-in lights. I feel like I'm the queen of built-in lights everything that lights up that on the set and I love and I usually to be honest over design a little bit because I'm ready to be having make some cuts um budgetarily and on this show with the director because I always thought about the shifting reality and the train passing by and trying to create a sense of movement we thought we will use and I designed a lot of lot of LED lights and I thought it's gonna get cut and they are all there. So I was told that we have 1200 square feet, a linear feet of LED lights. So I haven't seen them all turned on yet but I think it's gonna be quite spectacular so I really look forward to it.

Brett 26:00

I I was so excited about this. I'm always excited about the tech. I am such a geek when it comes to that so Clara Ziglarova thank you so much for talking to me about the girl on the train one of the summer chills going to be July 24th through August 30th at the alley. So a nice summer run here a chance to get into the air conditioning and see what 12000 LED lights? Is that what we're looking at? 1200 you know I think what are you talking about 1200 but still it's still a lot it's it's a lot and and opaque things and things that turn solid and then we come mirrors and all of that yes yeah we're excited about it. Yeah so thank you so much I appreciate it. Thank you for having me you're listening to queer voices on KPFT Houston and we are also a podcast available from all major digital outlets.

Support KPFT And Join Us

Brett 26:53

We have a legacy here in Houston in that we have been on the air in some form or fashion for over five decades as long as KPFT has been around in Houston. But this station is listener funded to help us please consider donating to KPFT at kpft.org you can make a one-time contribution or like me set up a monthly one and if you would like to be a part of Queer Voices please look me up on social media. My name is Brett with two T's column my last name is spelled only with used as vowel we would love to include your voice here either as a guest or as a regular contributor kind of like the donation but in your time and it can be one time or ongoing just like that donation.

LGBTQ Author Fair Spotlight

Brett 27:39

We'll take your money or your voice we are not picky here at queer voices and if you just enjoy listening that's great too hi there this is Brett Cullum the Montro Center will host the second annual LGBTQ plus independent author fair to be held on Saturday August 1st it's gonna last from 10 a.m until 3 p.m two of the featured artists at this event are author Arlie Ingalls and poet and artist Stelina Villarial who are with me today. So welcome Lee and Stelina Thank you. Hello likewise well what I wanted to find out first is a little bit about what you write and what you are showcasing in this event. So Stelina can you tell me a little bit about your book and what you are bringing to this author fair?

SPEAKER_00 28:28

Yes so my book Wata it what it's Spanglish which means to watch it's a book about art and I went to a bunch of art exhibits and wrote about them and also it's in English and Spanish but I focused a lot on the artist issues that I wrote about and a lot of the artists are part of the LGBTQIA community and so I wrote for example about being trans and being non-binary but as well as being a lesbian I also have some flash nonfiction that introduces the poem sections and there I talk a little about my life and my relationship to art and I talk about being queer in some of those as well. And so and then the Spanish uses a lot of what's called inclusive language a lenguaje inclusivo which basically means that it's gender neutral when referring to people but it's still gendered when referring to inanimate objects.

Lee 29:41

Oh wow oh very very interesting and then Lee uh your books are a little bit different obviously tell me a little bit about what's your bringing yeah my area of interest is capturing history the history of people uh and not just any people but those people uh that uh normally don't get written about so being part of the Engels family uh I think that's a legacy that Laura began uh and I wanted to continue. So the first book that I wrote added a fourth generation of stories about the Ingalls family and then my second book added a fifth generation. The second book is actually my stories. It's a different audience for each one of the books. So where the first book might have been for those that were fan of the TV series and Laura's books, my second book would be more for an audience that we are accustomed to the gay and lesbian community because it does it chronologs in the upper Midwest in a time where we didn't have access to all the broadcast TV and the social media and the internet and those things that we have today. So it was an interesting time to grow up and I want to make sure that I capture that. And then another interest is cooking. My family put together a recipe book a long time ago but it was too big. So I pared it down to those recipes that I actually make and put it in book form as well.

Brett 31:05

I also have short stories and stuff out there uh talking about uh other things also so there it's about the history of um the English family largely but I think that that also captures the history of of average Americans so you both write about identity and cultural uh ancestry and different things uh viewpoints from that so it'd be interesting but very different projects and very different um viewpoints which is the beauty of of having one of these author fairs is you get a lot of different variety but tell me kind of how you started writing like Selena if you could tell me like how you decided that you were going to write this book called uh Watcha.

SPEAKER_00 31:46

Well mine didn't start intentionally I took an art history class when I was doing my PhD program at University of Houston and the art history class went to Mexico City and we looked at a bunch of art exhibits the professor said for those of you who are in graduate studies you have to write something related to your dissertation and I just thought about it and asked well can I write some poems about the art and the professor said yes. So initially my book Wacha did have some poems about Mexico but I ended up taking them out because most of the poems were about US based Latinx artists uh including Afro-Latinx artists and I also have a few indigenous artists but the because it was US based it and because a lot of the ethnic identities of the artists were not of Mexican origin, I took out the poems that had to do with the Mexican art. But that that's how it started it it just also so happened that when I was working on the project there was uh something called uh Latino art now which happens every two years in a different city and it happened in Houston around that time. It basically it brings awareness to Latinx art because as um an anthropologist uh Arlene Davila has expressed Latin American art gets a lot of visibility but Latinx art doesn't get as much visibility and so I wanted to bring that visibility in in the book.

Brett 33:26

And Lee, yours is a different path, correct? Not as academic.

Lee 33:30

Yeah yeah mine is totally different. However the process that we use sounds like it's very similar because I I've always believed in when you write something, uh don't think about what you're writing or whether or not you should include something or how you should include it, etc. Put everything down that you eat that comes to mind uh because the book really takes shape in the editing not in the initial draft. So I just write to write and when I'm done I'm done and then I go back and start editing and and making uh try to make a book out of it.

Self Publishing Versus Traditional Press

Brett 33:59

Well you both have physical copies of your book that you're bringing along to this author fair obviously so you've been published so I want to talk to you about the paths that you both took to being published and Lee if you could start us off with how you got your book out there.

Lee 34:13

Yeah so that's that's a great question. I did talk to a lot of literary agents and publishing houses, et cetera, about publishing my book but one of the things I found interesting if you use uh and I'm I'm gonna people gonna hate me for saying this especially those in the literary world uh printing world a lot of times they want to edit your book so that it's more marketable and more whatever they think it should be. And I really was not interested in that. I wanted my books to remain purely my voice. So to do that you you have to go down the road of self-publishing or I felt I did. That's why I chose to do self-publishing rather than using an agent or a publishing house.

Brett 34:52

Selena I know your book is available on your website uh which is just her name uh stelinavialial.com but uh it it looks like it's published through another channel yes it's published by Deep Vellum Publishing and I actually went the traditional route that poets go and I actually submitted to contests and open reading periods.

SPEAKER_00 35:13

One of the contests I applied to the Noemi Press one my book was a finalist but it they decided not to publish it. I didn't win but it got recognition and when I posted about it online one of my friends who is a press mate from a literary translation press that I'm a part of because I'm also a literary translator they saw that I had become a finalist and said oh well have you introduced your work to develop and I said no and and I asked well can you introduce me to the editor and they said yes and at the time the editor Sebastian Badamo he is someone who is completely bilingual and so he was actually the perfect audience member for my book since he was able to understand all of it. And because he was just so supportive of the inclusive language and all the content and so it was a really great experience to work with him. But again poets don't use an agent but I still sort of needed a little bit of a push from a press in order to be recognized and to be seen.

Brett 36:29

Yeah very different things going around an author versus a poet like when you're look working with a historical book versus a a book about poetry and art it's interesting that you both kind of have different paths but what I wanted to ask you too is how important is community as an

Identity And Community In Writing

Brett 36:49

author or an artist? Is this event are you looking forward to meeting other independent authors in the LGBTQ space?

Lee 36:56

I think that's very important to uh for people to see you and to know you and see your work and and how does that relate to them you know where can they find themselves in your work uh etc I think it's very important. Uh so yeah no I'm I'm looking forward to this event.

SPEAKER_00 37:09

Definitely you don't create art in a vacuum it's community is a part of it. So I think meeting other art artists and writers are integral to what I do as my process and when I go to book fairs what's dangerous is that I end up with more books than what I come in with because I end up buying some of them. But I'm looking forward to meeting all the writers who are part of the book fair. I love that it's intimate unlike some of the book fairs that have just so many authors that you can't really talk to them that much I'm really looking forward to be able to have a conversation and and to see how we overlap and how we also are a diverse community as well.

Brett 37:54

Of course we're talking about the Houston LGBTQ plus independent author fair which is going to be at the Montra Center Saturday August 1st and I wanted to ask both of you how you fit into the community. So Stelina I noticed that you use she they pronouns so how did you arrive at that designation and how do you identify so I am intersex I have hyperandrogenism.

SPEAKER_00 38:19

So that just means that I have too much androgen for a woman so for many years I identified as a manly woman without having the vocabulary to understand what that meant. For many years I didn't understand the umbrella of what it is to be trans until more recently when the the non-binary label came up and I started to understand it a little bit more and I don't identify as non-binary but I think I'm closer to someone who is non-binary than someone who is on one of the ends of the binary. And so I think that it was a long process. So I do identify as trans, but the book actually came out before I came out as trans. So what you see in there is me talking about being queer and all and just celebrating again artists who I was able to live through vicariously and I was able to write about trans issues before I realized okay I'm trans too. Well do you think that creating this book watch uh helped you define that for yourself definitely I thought that looking at what the artists were expressing and what I was expressing were one and the same. I thought that it really helped me even for example the poem about being lesbian I because I've dated men I'm I'm not a lesbian but I have a partner who's a woman and so now I'm lesbian for her.

Lee 39:56

And so I feel like it does encompass all of my identities and I have tried to go through different uh LGBTQ acronyms trying to find myself for a while I was questioning and I didn't like that people thought of people who were questioning as young because I'm middle aged but I felt like I I identified with that cue because I had tried different ones I thought I was bisexual for a while then I thought I was pansexual for a while and now I'm demisexual so it it really I really have a broad spectrum that I tried through the acronyms and I really like that trance is a nice umbrella where I can fit well and Lee uh how do you identify yeah so I'm a gay guy I mean I'll I've always been that that's that's just who I am that there was really never any question even before I knew that that term existed or that that community existed I knew that's who I was I just couldn't have articulated it the way that I do today.

Brett 41:04

So yeah no totally gay well I think that you both have this journey that you've documented with your work because Stelina obviously you were talking about queer representation and Lee obviously you've written a book about your uh coming up as a gay man and and figuring out that you are so a little bit of similarity there although different paths for sure but um how much does history and cultural identity play into your work and and I would love to ask Lee first you know obviously you come from a very historied family so you've got to feel this weight of like a historical legacy too.

Family History And Cultural Memory

Lee 41:43

Yeah so I do my family's uh history is well documented and you one side you would you would expect the Engle side certainly you would expect there to be a lot of information there and there is there are museums there are libraries there are uh books written about our family there's uh there's a lot of information out there about that side of my family but it would be surprising to know that there's almost as much about my mother's family as well. In fact today I wrote a uh a short article about uh one of my ancestors that was born in the 1600s the first generation of that side of my family uh to be born uh in the new world uh as they knew it back then I do history and family history my own personal is very important to me but it's also uh important for me to encourage other people to look inside their own family's histories uh to find those stories that are remarkable we all have them uh in our family and if we don't tell them then they fade into history and and nobody ever thinks about them again. And I think it's a shame to lose that part of your own your own connection to your past. So yeah that's that's that's my motivation. Yeah. And I think Selena made a very uh good point. When you write something uh whether that's about you or about something or about somebody else it changes who you are and becomes a part of who you are. You understand that experience better or or you write about something that uh even that you might have thought of in your own personal life but then once you write about it you really see it more clearly than you did before and it changes who you are. So writing I think is important.

Brett 43:14

Yeah and Selena kind of the same question I mean how much does cultural identity play into your work?

SPEAKER_00 43:19

Well cultural identity is a big part of who I am and so for example the fact that I did focus on a very Latinx based book and also a book that included a large part of my queerness I decided to write about my family history a little bit as well my mother was an activist her name was Maria Jimenez and she really shaped who I am and I write a little bit about my family history how I'm fourth generation immigrant in Magnolia Park and also I Wrote a little bit about politics because the book starts off with what I call rebuttal poems, where I write a little bit about what other people say about the subject, but then I insert toward the end my own opinion. Whereas the end of the book is very political and definitely protest poetry. And I also write a little bit about my family history in those pro sections because I talk about how being political and art are in conversation with one another. I was recommended by John Marolo's partner for some reason. And I think it's because they're friends with Huma, who is a great activist and artist in town, and I think that that's how it happened, but it was through recommendations.

Brett 45:02

Yeah, they've been on the show a couple of times, so yes, very familiar. And Lee, how did you get involved initially with the uh author fair?

Lee 45:12

Yeah, so John recommended me last year, reached out to me last year, and I'm not exactly sure how he found out who I am or where I am or how to contact me, but he reached out to me last year. We we participated last year and uh look forward to it this year as well. Yeah, what did you find uh last year was like for you? Um, you know, it was new for everybody. It was the first year that they did that, so it was a smaller author group, but it was very well attended. Uh I uh met a lot of people. Uh and like Selena said, you end up buying more books uh than what you intend to when you walk through the door, but that's okay. That gets you uh to know the local art uh authors as well. So um yeah, I was very pleased. I sold a lot of books, had a lot of conversations, met a lot of people, some of the people I still talk to today.

Brett 45:57

Yeah, unfortunately, Selena, I uh agree with you as well. I walked out of the author fair last year with more books than I think I filled up a whole shelf. But it's so interesting because you really do get a chance to see people from every facet of the community, and it's an intimate, like you said, Selena, it's not a a huge author fair. It's not uh a ton of people. It's it's enough that you can walk through, talk to people, find out exactly what they're doing, uh, just like we are doing today, which I appreciate both of you for doing that. Um but it's the second annual Houston LGBTQ plus Independent Author Fair, Montreal Center, Saturday, August 1st from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. And of course, you can meet uh author Arlie Ingalls and poet and artist Stelina Villarreal. Uh they will be there and uh have their books available and it'll be a great event. So thank you both for talking to me about it.

Lee 46:54

Yeah, thank you.

Aerial Roots Theater Begins

SPEAKER_06 47:05

All right, this is Queer Voices, and I am Matthew Williams, and a part of another installment in our series of talking to people, doing great things in the community, and also finding about what makes them happy today. I have a very, very fun interview for y'all. Petroleum engineer, Texas Aggie, Rice MBA, actor, producer, community builder, champion of South Asian stories, founder of Aerial Roots Theater, the guy who spent his days in the energy industry and his nights under the stage lights, proof that engineers can in fact have dramatic flair, living proof that spreadsheets and Shakespeare can coexist. The man who found love at Texas AM found his artistic calling in Houston. And apparently, one good gay brother wasn't enough. His family said, Let's overachieve. Please welcome Tahir Lok Handwile.

SPEAKER_08 47:51

Wow. Wow. That is a great intro. I don't think I'm ever gonna that's never gonna be beaten as far as long as I live. That's the plan.

SPEAKER_06 48:00

Thank you for having me, Matt. Yes, yes, it's no problem. That's the plan. So, yes, we have Mr. Tahir here to uh to talk to us about nice little endeavor. I always tell people Houston has a ton of arts, way more than even people in the arts realize. So we got a new theater company coming to us. Uh, I'm gonna let you go ahead and explain a little bit the name of it and what you're doing.

SPEAKER_08 48:19

Yeah, so the name of the company is Ariel Roots Theater Company. My co-founders and myself, Anjina Menon and Nidhi Berghiz, we met in the Houston theater scene doing what we love. It is the name of the company is synonymous with the banyan tree that's found all over South Asia. And it has these roots that come out of its branches and root into the ground, and they make the central trunk of the tree stronger. But the tree also kind of spreads and propagates. And we thought that was a great metaphor for the South Asian diaspora and the immigrant community at large, which is such a big part of the fabric of Houston, Texas, right? Like you you spread out and propagate out of many times of your homeland, but in doing so, you strengthen not just yourselves, but uh your home country. And so our mission is we put it in a simple way, just tell stories uh that speak to the South Asian diaspora experience and for the people that love us. So it's not just for us, but uh it's for this vibrant uh community of Houston we call home. And yeah, we we have our first show, uh A Nice Indian Boy, which speaks to just that experience, opening at the Asia Society July 31st. And I'm super excited to bring that to the theater community and to the Houston community at large. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 49:35

And speaking of uh the play, uh what about it? Because it's you know, it's kind of a bit of a funny play, at least unless some comedy involved, but what about it made you say that this needs

Why A Nice Indian Boy

SPEAKER_06 49:46

to be the first one?

SPEAKER_08 49:46

Yeah, it's a rom-com. In many ways, it's it is a story that I'm very close to as a queer Indian American person. It it is about the relationships that we have here within the gay community and within the queer community, but it also speaks to the immigrant experience and how a lot of times folks who raise kids who grow up here who are very different from their parents can find uh it troubling to bridge the gap between generations. But the it's a real story about how love can conquer difference, how love can bridge a lot of these gaps. And so it's really touching and very sweet in many ways, but also super funny. And yeah, hopefully a great night at the theater uh for queer people in Houston, for the immigrant community, and really for everyone. It's a very universal story.

SPEAKER_06 50:36

You know, considering so full disclosure to everybody listening, I know to hear because of his brother, Hussein, that I've been close with for a few years now, and it's such an interesting story because I I'm pretty sure he's brought up you being involved in theater. So but then one day he was just like, Yeah, you're starting a theater company. I was like, Oh, but I d what what not? What what because I know you know you have the fields that you work in, I was like, Oh, okay, that's interesting in a great way, in a very great way. So I I love those kind of stories. One thing I've I would uh I think interesting question I want to ask you is what would you think an 18-year-old version of you would say about where

What Younger Tahir Would Think

SPEAKER_06 51:08

you're at now?

SPEAKER_08 51:08

I hope the 18-year-old version would sort of look at where I am now and be proud. 18-year-old me was just leaving India, moving to America to build a life and a career here. And had starry-eyed dreams and uh thoughts of a life not lived and friends not had yet and partners not met yet. Notice I said partners, we already came in after all. But yeah, I I've I, you know, looking back as now late 30s and I won't say more a person. I hope I would, you know, building the life I've built with a partner who I love very much, a job that uh I enjoy doing, and a passion that I'm pursuing with aerial roots, that my 18-year-old self would be like, yeah, all right, you know, some of the stars in my eyes uh maybe they were real. A loving, gay relationship that's long-term is possible and achievable. I don't think that 18-year-old me had that. And so I think maybe would be surprised from that perspective, but I think hopefully also really hopeful to see that that was a possibility.

SPEAKER_06 52:16

Yeah, yeah. Uh I got two more questions. But and I'm gonna go in the opposite direction now. Five years from now, what do you hope someone says after they walk out of an area roots production?

Building A Sustainable Theater Home

SPEAKER_08 52:26

Wow, that is a that's an ambitious question. So I my short term and our short-term goals as a co-founding team are we want to be South Asians or a not a very highly represented community art. And so we want to tell stories for South Asian audiences, like I said, and the people that love us, but like we would love the chance to pay South Asian artists to make art. Like that is that is something that we hope to achieve and and do so by creating a vibrant community, shows that people want to come out and watch, and make a sustainable infrastructure for ourselves. And so that I hope is a goal that we can achieve in the next two years, if not the next five. In the next five, I mean, like I would hope to be like a Houston institutional theater, that I would hope to be a destination theater company for folks looking for an evening that of thought-provoking entertainment, of uh art that speaks to them and their experiences as Houstonians, as you know, people of uh of all creeds, sexualities, genders, uh and I I hope to be or we as a founding team hope to be able to provide that to the city that we love so much.

SPEAKER_06 53:41

Yeah, yeah, great that sounds like a great plan to me. And my last question, the way the one that I have to ask everybody, is uh what gives you hope today?

Where Tahir Finds Hope

SPEAKER_08 53:49

I think it has always been the people around me. I I think every moment with my partner, with my mother-in-law in our home, the life that we're building, my friends, talking to people like yourself, Matt, um all of that gives me hope. I think a I'm always like moved by the goodness and the amazingness that people do. Like, I mean, look at you, right? Like all of the amazing things you do in local politics, with this podcast, with your job, with your creativity. I mean, how can you like not enter a conversation like this and leave inspired?

SPEAKER_06 54:33

Yeah, I mean, that's the point. That's the point. I don't I hate I hate complaining and I hate complaining without doing anything about it. And also it just feels good. So I, you know, I don't know, people who don't do that have fun with life, but it just, you know, kind of feels good to look for hope and aim for it. And I guess coming from the arts, you know, maybe that's it's like a big thing in the in the arts, even if the saddest of saddest stories still has some kind of way to give you a little bit hope. So we'll go ahead and start the in end the interview now. But the last thing I want to end with is you letting us know all the information that you want our listeners to know about, where to find out about nice young uh nice Indian boy, how to go, how to see it, where it's at, and then uh any information about future productions.

SPEAKER_08 55:11

Amazing.

Tickets And Partner10 Discount

SPEAKER_08 55:12

Yeah, so uh the A Nice Indian Boy is going to be at the Asia Society. It's in the museum district, it's a beautiful space at the Brown Theater. Asia Society has been a wonderful partner and want to shout out particularly Chelsea D'Souza uh and her team there at Asia Society for all of the help that they've provided us uh in putting the show on. The show runs from July 31st to August 9th. It's eight shows. I have an exciting offer, Matt, for your listeners. If they use the code Partner10, they can get $10 off any ticket that they purchase between now and August 9th. That's part P-A-R-T-N-E. It's $10 off a $35 ticket price. So it's a we want to make sure it's an affordable show for everyone to come watch. And we are hope, we hope that they will take advantage of that. As for coming shows, you'll have to stay tuned. Follow us on Arial Roots H T X on Instagram.

SPEAKER_06 56:09

All right. Well, thank you very much for taking some time out to talk about your endeavor and the play and the production company and everything, the theater company and whatnot. I'm definitely gonna be at one of these productions. My schedule finally changed in a great way, so I'm definitely gonna be at one of these to tell uh to tell everybody about it. Well, I'm already telling everybody about it, but I definitely can't wait to see it to tell even more people about the experience. But I want to say thank you again for this. Uh, this uh my name is Matthew Williams. I'm speaking with the here, Lok Hanwala, uh uh founder of Aerial Roots Theater Company. And y'all make sure to check out Nice Indian Boy. I said that right. I said that right. Yeah. You did. Thank you so much. Thank you again. Yeah, yeah, uh thank you again, and this is Queer Voices.

Closing Credits And Links

SPEAKER_10 56:59

This has been Queer Voices heard on APFT Houston and as a podcast available from several podcasting sources. Check our web page at queervoices.org for more information. Queer Voices Producer is private, it's co producer, and DavidMendo. It's part of another podcast called This Way Out, which is produced.