The friends and family of Michael Denneny and the Brown University Library will host two symposiums in honor of the life and archive — gifted to the John Hay Library — of the late Michael Denneny, the first openly gay editor at a major publishing house. Both events are free and open to the public. Registration is required.

Becoming Real: Introducing the Archive of Gay Publishing Pioneer Michael L. Denneny

Virtual Symposium

• Monday, October 6, 2025 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. ET
• Free and open to the public
• Registration required

Following welcome remarks from Joseph S. Meisel, Joukowsky Family University Librarian, Joseph Denneny, brother of the late Michael Denneny, will introduce the participants, starting with Leo Lovemore, Librarian for History, Society, and Culture, who will provide an overview of the materials in the Michael Denneny Archive.

Panelists

• Bill Goldstein, moderator – Writer and founding editor of the books site at NYTimes.com
• Gina Carroll – Author, TEDx Talk speaker, founder of the writing, editing, and authorship services company Story House
• Keith Kahla – Executive Editor, St. Martin’s Press
• Michael Lee – Researcher, educator, and author of When The Band Played On: The Life of Randy Shilts, America’s Trailblazing Gay Journalist
• Douglas Sadownick – Author and founder of the the LGBT Specialization in Clinical Psychology at Antioch University
• Jason Villemez – Writer and editor

Life, Sex, and Death after Stonewall: A Symposium on the Work of Michael L. Denneny

Hybrid Symposium

• Thursday, October 9, 2025 from 4 to 7 p.m. ET
• John Hay Library, room 303 and on Zoom (link provided to registered attendees)
• Registration required

A native of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Michael Denneny’s extensive personal archive was donated to Brown University’s John Hay Library in 2023. On Thursday, October 9, 2025, the John Hay Library will host a symposium to celebrate Michael’s archive and examine what Michael’s legacy as a publishing pioneer and gay activist can teach today’s generation as it confronts its own crises.

Program

Centered on a keynote address by editor and poet David Groff, who co-founded The Publishing Triangle with Michael in 1988, a panel discussion with scholars, and an overview of some of the treasures from Michael’s archive, the event will address themes from Michael’s life and work, including:

• Channeling the power of literature to formulate a shared identity
• Cultivating friendship networks that inspire action
• Challenging barriers to writers from marginalized communities
• Catalyzing change in the publishing industry
• Confronting the AIDS Crisis through literature

Participants

• David Groff, keynote speaker: Poet, author, editor, educator and co-founder of the Publishing Triangle
• Domenic DeSocio: Assistant Professor of Instruction, Department of German, Northwestern University
• Ernesto Mestre-Reed: Novelist, educator, and longtime friend of Michael Denneny
• Blake Smith: Writer and scholar
• MariaHadessa Tallie AM’20 Ph.D.’25: Interdisciplinary artist, poet, award-winning children’s book author, and Ntozake Shange scholar

Materials on View

Following the symposium, in-person attendees will be invited to view materials from the Michael Denneny Archive.

Michael Denneny

Called a “dean of gay publishing” by The Washington Post, Michael Denneny was the first openly gay editor at a major publishing house. A star pupil of Origins of Totalitarianism author Hannah Arendt, Michael lived out her belief that speech is a form of action by championing authors from communities historically underrepresented in his industry. Authors he signed and edited ranged from Ntozake Shange to Larry Kramer to Randy Shilts.

Not content to operate only within the traditional publishing world, he co-founded the groundbreaking publications Christopher Street magazine and New York Native newspaper to create venues for the gay community to grapple in words with crises from Anita Bryant to AIDS, as well as with the process of LGBTQ+ self-definition that accelerated after Stonewall.

Michael Denneny Archive

The Michael Denneny archive at the John Hay Library includes drafts of Denneny’s own writing, from his graduate research under philosopher Hannah Arendt to work on his final book On Christopher Street: Life, Sex, and Death after Stonewall (University of Chicago, 2023), along with correspondence with friends and writers including Ntozake Shange, John Preston, and others, personal photographs, and ephemera related to late 20th-century New York gay nightlife.