events
March 24, 2023 • Zurich, Switzerland
Explicit Uncensored: Alexander Cheves book reading
The queer, sex-positive techno party EXPLICIT, based in Zurich and founded by Brian McCabe, hosts community events on sex, censorship, and risk awareness. I am proud to read an essay from My Love Is a Beast: Confessions.
Jan. 11, 2023 • Atlanta, Georgia
Reading and book signing at Dad's Garage Theatre Company
I joined Martin Padgett, author of A Night at the Sweet Gum Head: Drag, Drugs, Disco, and Atlanta's Gay Revolution, and Stephan Ferris, author of Blue Movie. Martin and I read excerpts from our forthcoming books.
Dec. 3, 2022 • Provincetown, Massachusetts
Book reading and signing at the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod Drop-In Center
ASGCC’s roots are in Provincetown, where in the 1980s community members responded to the emerging AIDS crisis. Today, ASGCC serves clients across all of the Cape, with offices in Provincetown, Hyannis, Falmouth and Martha’s Vineyard.
Their new Commercial Street location opened on World AIDS Day 2022, and they invited me to join their opening week with a reading from My Love Is a Beast: Confessions.
Sept. 17, 2022 • Dublin, Ireland
Speaker at the International Dublin Writers' Festival
Thank you, Dublin, for this healing weekend with literary minds.
Aug. 5, 2022 • Montreal, Canada
Book signing at Community Day in the Village, hosted by Violet Hour
Community Day celebrates small businesses and organisations in Montreal. I joined local authors for a signing event hosted by Violet Hour, the city's queer book club.
Aug. 1, 2022 • Montreal, Canada
Book reading and reception at Priape, in partnership with M*Pact Global
Big thanks to my friend Stephen Pevner, owner of Priape and The Saint At Large, for hosting this event.
July 31, 2022 • Montreal, Canada
Le Grand Effeuillage littéraire
My first naked reading was with great artists, writers, and performers. Thank you for letting me be part of this beautiful show.
July 29 - Aug. 2, 2022 • Montreal, Canada
Panelist at the 24th International AIDS Conference
I will speak on panels discussing gay sex work, HIV, kink, and bareback culture.
July 28, 2022 • Montreal, Canada
Panelist at the For Fuck's Sake Summit, hosted by M*Pact Global
M*Pact Global was founded ten years ago on the belief that no discussion about AIDS is complete without sex — in particular, the sex lives of gay and queer men, who are still among those most affected by HIV and the efforts to curtail it.
The organisation holds the For Fuck's Sake Summit at the International AIDS Conference. In 2022, I joined them for a week of panel discussions, partying, and protest with a cohort of HIV activists and educators from across the globe.
June 18, 2022 • Fire Island Pines, New York
Book signing at the Fire Island Pines General Store
An honour. Thank you for having me.
May 5, 2022 • New York, New York
A MOUTH FULL: Queer Storytelling Hour
Thanks to Dusty Shoulders for creating this event: a place where queers tell slightly-rehearsed, slightly off-the-cuff stories about our lives and work.
April 30, 2022
Speaker at the Leatherfolk Book Club
This virtual book club, "a group for kinky folks who like books," has welcomed such writers as Garth Greenwell, Gayle S. Rubin, and Samuel R. Delaney to speak on their work. Click here to join the club.
April 29, 2022 • Augusta, Georgia
Book reading, signing, and discussion at Fist Fest 2022
Thank you for having me back.
April 9, 2022 • Palm Springs, California
Book reading and signing at the Desert Bloom weekend, hosted by Reegür
Thanks to Brandon Kennedy, a true fetish impresario, for organising this.
March 17, 2022 • Austin, Texas
Panelist at "Tech and the New Fluidity of Male Sexuality" at SXSW, hosted by Sniffies
I joined activist Jacob Tobia (Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story) and sex columnist Zachary Zane for a panel on queer hookup culture, labels, and more.
Dec. 5, 2021 • Chicago, Illinois
Book reading, discussion, and Q&A at the Leather Archives & Museum
An honour. Thank you for having me.
Nov. 12, 2021 • New York, New York
Book reading and discussion hosted by Quarto Magazine at Columbia University
I joined Sophia Anfinn Tonnessen (Ecologia) and Carlo Matos (We Prefer the Damned).
Nov. 5, 2021 • New York, New York
Book reading, signing, and discussion at Nasty Pig
I am a former copywriter for the brand and glad to know David Lauterstein — NP's passionate, cool, mysterious figurehead — as a friend and kindred literary spirit. Thank you, David and Fred, for hosting this.
Nov. 3, 2021 • Ann Arbor, Michigan
Book reading and discussion hosted by Literati Bookstore
I joined Sophia Anfinn Tonnessen (Ecologia) and Carlo Matos (We Prefer the Damned) at this virtual event hosted by Ann Arbor's beloved independent bookshop.
Nov. 1, 2021 • New York, New York
Miss Manhattan Non-Fiction Reading Series
Warm thanks to Elyssa Goodman — Miss Manhattan herself — for organising this badass literary event and inviting me to read.
Oct. 21, 2021 • Chicago, Illinois
Book reading, signing, and discussion at Exhibit B at The Martin
Sadly, Sophia was not able to join due to health concerns, but her wicked spirit was there, haunting us.
Oct. 20, 2021 • Minneapolis, Minnesota
Book reading, signing, and discussion at the University of Minnesota, hosted by Great River Review
The unholy trinity, united: all three authors from Unbound Edition Press's fall lineup joined this Minneapolis event. I read with Carlo Matos, author of We Prefer the Damned, and Sophia Anfinn Tonnessen, author of Ecologia.
Oct. 16, 2021 • Savannah, Georgia
Book reading, signing, and discussion at Club One on Jefferson
I returned to my true hometown for a reading at the city's premier nightspot — and my first gay bar. I was joined by Sophia Anfinn Tonnessen (Ecologia) on the famous cabaret stage where the late icon The Lady Chablis performed her notorious weekend show.
Oct. 12, 2021 • Atlanta, Georgia
Publication day for My Love Is a Beast: Confessions: book reading, discussion, and signing at Theatrical Outfit
Thanks to Patrick Davis, publisher at Unbound Edition Press: my friend, editor, co-conspirator, confidante, therapist, and fellow hedonist. Thank you for believing in this book and in me. We made a dark little beauty.
Oct. 8, 2021 • Augusta, Georgia
Book reading, signing, and discussion at Fist Fest
Unfettered books belong at unfettered places.
Oct. 6, 2021 • Savannah, Georgia
Discussion and Q&A at the Savannah College of Art & Design
As a graduate of the SCAD writing program, I know a thing or two: the professors are unmatched and the graphic design majors can easily make a fake ID. I chatted with writing students about craft, social media, how to pitch, and more.
Thanks to Chris Millis, chair of the SCAD writing department and author of Small Apartments and God and California, for facilitating this talk.
Sept. 29, 2021 • Portland, Oregon
Book reading and discussion at Eagle Portland
Big thanks to all the leather daddies (and some dear friends in the audience) for coming to see me read.
Sept. 28, 2021 • Portland, Oregon
Book reading, signing, and Q&A at Q Center Portland, in partnership with Another Read Through Books
This is where I met and immediately bonded with my press mate, Sophia Anfinn Tonnessen, author of Ecologia.
Sept. 26, 2021 • San Francisco, California
Book signing at the Folsom Street Fair
I signed copies of my book My Love Is a Beast: Confessions at the Folsom Street Fair, an annual gathering of fetish folk that changed my life many years ago. Unbound Edition Press made history as the first literary press represented there.
Sept. 23, 2021 • San Francisco, California
Book reading, signing, and Q&A at the Center for Sex and Culture Library, hosted by Folsom Street Events
Thank you for having me.
Sept. 22, 2021 • Los Angeles, California
Book reading, signing, and Q&A with Daniel Reynolds, Editor-in-Chief of Out Magazine, at Eagle L.A.
Thanks to Daniel Reynolds, Neal Broverman, Sunnivie Brydum, Lucas Grindley, Diane Anderson-Minshall, and my dear friend Christopher Harrity. A few years ago, these people gave a young intern his big break and let him write articles for The Advocate.
Sept. 21, 2021
Guest writer, "Savage Love" in The Stranger
I helped Dan Savage with another reader-submitted question on "Savage Love," his internationally syndicated advice column. For the post "Power Tripping," we discussed the plight of a self-described straight man whose kink involves dominating — and denying — queer men. Read it here.
Nov. 9, 2020 • Auburn, Alabama
Panelist, "Let's Talk About: Sex" hosted by PERIOD. The Menstrual Movement
I joined a virtual panel hosted by PERIOD., a global youth-led organisation that provides sex education and menstrual products to humans in need. The panel focused on the need for comprehensive sex education in schools.
Feb. 26, 2020 • San Francisco, California
Beastly: An Intimate Conversation With Alexander Cheves, hosted by the Leatherman's Discussion Group
Thank you for having me.
Jan. 2, 2019
Guest writer, "Savage Love" in The Stranger
I helped Dan Savage answer a reader's question about finding porn in our current era of stringent internet censorship. Read it here.
March 2018 • New York, New York
Panelist, "HIV/AIDS Healthcare Challenges" at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
I joined a panel of PrEP advocates and longterm AIDS survivors to discuss the realities, failures, and victories of modern HIV care and prevention.
Nov. 9-12, 2017 • Los Angeles, California
Judge, Los Angeles Puppy Pride
Human dogs came from across California to compete in this fetish pageant.
May 2014 • Savannah, Georgia
Reader and award recipient, Artemis Magazine Awards 2014
Thanks to Angela Brandt, poetry professor, for helping me with the words.