About
Welcome to Bay Area Queer Writers Association.
We are a community of authors, readers, and supporters who assist and encourage each other. The goal of the group is to create a strong visible writing community here in the greater California Bay Area.
We are based in Silicon Valley, but we have participants from all over the greater California Bay Area. This group is open to anyone who loves to read and wants to help support area authors. You don’t have to live in the Bay Area to join our community, you just have to love Queer books and enjoy reading.
Join us to meet authors and find your next favorite book.
Come follow us on social media!
Our Story
In the summer of 2019 four local Northern California LGBTQ+ authors got together at the Billy DeFrank Lesbian and Gay Community Center in San Jose, California for a conversation about advancing the local LGBTQ+ writing community, how the writing community has changed, and what they saw coming in the next few years. These authors Jeanne Marcella, SA ‘Baz’ Collins, J. Scott Coatsworth, and M.D. Neu formed the beginning of the San Francisco Bay Area Queer Writers Association, over the next few weeks and months the authors continued to support one another and build upon the idea of supporting the queer writing community in the greater Silicon Valley area.
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Having its first group meet up in Fremont, CA in November 2019, the Bay Area Queer Writers Association (BAQWA) grew from four to seven members.
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With massive support from Jeanne Marcella, J. Scott Coatsworth, and M.D. Neu this loose-knit group of authors/friends continued to grow their queer writers’ group and when the pandemic hit in early 2020, the group moved from in person events to hosting several on-line readings and meet ups. The group continued to work together and build a small but dedicated team of authors.
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During the pandemic, BAQWA continued to attract participants and spread its reach throughout the Bay Area. As with all organizations, people come and go and contributors continued to change. However, the core of BAQWA has not. If you are a queer author in the San Francisco Bay Area, we welcome and support you and would love for you to join our association.