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THE QUEER�BOOK CLUB

First Meeting

Please fill out if you haven’t already!

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THE QUEER BOOK CLUB

First Meeting:

Cracking the Cover and

Cultivating Connections

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WELCOME AND THANK YOU!

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A BIT ABOUT US…

ALICE

My name is Alice, I am the Club President. I wanted to start this club because I got really into queer literature over the summer and selfishly wanted a place to share my passion! Months of planning later, and here we are. I am a sophomore, I’m an English major, French minor, and I’d love to get into publishing (that is like a dream of mine). My favorite reads tend to stray towards personal, memoir-style essay collections, but I do enjoy the occasional romance or thriller. Growing up, I was obsessed with Harry Potter and the Hunger Games, the books, of course. I spend a lot of my time reading, playing guitar, and collaging. If you haven’t noticed the accent, I am British! I moved here six years ago permanently, but still adore my hometown, London. Let me know if you have any questions about UCSB or running a club or England or anything really.

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A BIT ABOUT US…

DINORA

Hi, my name is Dinora Abarca, this years Treasurer. I seeked immediate interest in joining this organization once I read “queer book club”. All throughout high school I struggled a lot with my sexuality. It wasn't until i read the book “The Lesbiana’s Guide To Catholic School” by Sonora Reyes that I was able to seek some sort of comfort and confidence in my sexuality. Coming from a Latino/Hispanic background being apart of the queer community isn't normalized which made it quite difficult for my internalized homophobia to vanish. This novel allowed me to gain a new perspective of another Latina’s perspective of growing up in such a homophobic community and know I wasn't alone. Anyway, I can go into more detail about this book in a future GB meeting.

I am a first generation student from the IE (Inland Empire) more specifically Riverside, CA. I am a 2nd year Sociology major, and a Poverty, Inequality and Social Justice minor. With this degree I plan on pursuing a career in law enforcement or perhaps in the nonprofit sector. I love all genres in music but my all time favorite has to be country & Banda Mexicana. A lot of my friends say I have an obsession with Spider-man (I have 3 blankets, 2 Spider-man legos, the pandora necklace, etc.), I love having movie nights in sb, watching the sunset, recently I picked up the hobby of teaching myself to play the guitar and all i can say it is a lot harder than it looks. I also love anything outdoors.

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A BIT ABOUT US…

Hannah

2nd year bio major

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A BIT ABOUT US…

Ari

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WHO IS THIS CLUB FOR?

Any UCSB student interested in LGBTQ+ literature, regardless of personal identity.

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HOW OFTEN DO WE MEET?

General meetings are monthly. Special events are on specific dates.

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THE PLAN ACCORDING

TO OUR CALENDAR

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WHAT DO I NEED TO DO?

Keep up with assigned readings.

Attend general meetings (come as prepared as you’d like) and participate in activities.

Attend special events (as best as you can).

BONUS POINTS: Volunteer at our fundraisers.

Follow our Instagram (@thequeerbookclubatucsb)

So, what do you need to do in order to be a stellar member of the Queer Book Club.

�First is to keep up with the assigned readings. This one is obvious but I have to say it to really make it clear. The discussions are based on your input, and we’d really love as much engagement as possible. We understand that everyone is going to have a busy quarter, but the whole point of this club is to promote reading for fun! Take this opportunity to enrich your daily life. Just a few pages a day goes a long way. Even if you do some of the reading, that’s better than nothing. If you don’t do the reading but still want to listen to our discussions, that’s fine too, but please try your best because the more you read, the more you’ll get out of the discussions.

Next is to follow our Instagram. If I haven’t plugged it enough, I’ll do it once more. All our updates will primarily be on Instagram. @thequeerbookclubatucsb

You’ll also need to attend general meetings, but do come as prepared as you’d like, I don’t want this to be a source of stress.

Attending special events as best as you can. Remember, we plan those events for you guys, so take advantage and attend!

And bonus points if you’d like to volunteer at our fundraisers when they do come up. I’m gonna be honest, I believe fundraisers are gonna be more towards the later quarters since we’re just establishing the baseline of the club, but we’ll keep everyone in the loop.

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WHAT DO I NEED TO DO?

Please, please, please JOIN OUR SHORELINE!

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WHAT DO I NEED TO DO?

Please, please, please JOIN OUR DISCORD!

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OUR FIRST SPECIAL EVENT

SUNSETS & STORIES

We’re going to read our assigned reading with the sunset to accompany us!

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OUR FIRST SPECIAL EVENT

SUNSETS & STORIES

THURSDAY OCTOBER 10th

5pm - Sunset

The Bluffs

Bring your book and a

blanket, and dress warm!

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OUR FIRST READ…

Women by Chloe Caldwell

OUR FIRST ASSIGNED READING IS WOMEN BY CHLOE CALDWELL!

If you’re wondering how we chose this book, it is my (Alice) favorite piece of queer literature. We’ll focus on this one since we didn’t have time to vote on a book. Usually, we’ll vote on Instagram based on the books you’ve included in the welcome form!

This one is a shorter read, Vogue has claimed it’s the type of read you devour in one sitting, so you’ll have plenty of time to finish it before the 17th. Usually, we’ll give you an entire month for your assigned reading, but this is a novella, meaning a smaller novel. I’m going to read you the blurb:�“A young writer moves from the country to the city and falls in love with another woman for the very first time. From the start, the relationship is doomed. With startling clarity and breathtaking tenderness, Chloé Caldwell writes the story of a love in reverse: of nights spent drunkenly hurling a phone against a brick wall; of early mornings hungover in bed, curled up together; of emails and poems exchanged at breakneck speed. ‘Women’ lays bare the fierce obsession of addictive love and asks the question: What , if anything, can who we love teach us about who we are? Capturing the feverish heartbreak of Sapphic romance, painting a stark picture of an identity in crisis, and illuminating the exploratory possibilities of queer life, ‘Women’ is an incandescent novella that brands the heart and sears the soul.”

Again, the deadline to read this book is the 17th of this month. Come prepared as you’d like. You can bring specific questions or quotes you resonate with, and I’d recommend bringing your copy if you get one to easily look back on passages we may discuss.

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HOW DO I ACCESS THE BOOK?

We’re still working on distribution of books, but here are options for “Women”:

As for where to access the book,

We are currently working with outside organizations and companies to see if we can receive or rent a collection of books for the club. Since this club is relatively new, this is still in the works so we appreciate your patience. Until then, we have a couple options for Women by Chloe Caldwell.

You can either purchase the novella on Amazon for $14 if you’d like a physical copy, or if you’d like a free online version, Internet Archive currently releases the book, again, for free. All you need to do is sign up with your email address and you can access the book from your phone, laptop, iPad, etc.

There are other methods too, and you can totally do your own research. I know that Barnes and Nobles is selling it as an eBook, you might be able to find an Audiobook version if that’s more your style. Totally open to you.

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OUR CLUB RULES

All members are expected to respect one another’s identity, opinions, and experiences.
Actively listen when someone is speaking, and engage with empathy and openness.
Respect the privacy of members. What’s shared in the club stays in the club.
Try your best to arrive on time for meetings and come as prepared as you can.
Be open to growth. Remain open-minded and eager to learn from other’s opinions and experiences.

I’m sure all of you are lovely, decent human beings, but I want to set our club rules in stone in order to create a safe and welcoming environment for everyone.

All members are expected to respect one another’s identity, opinions, and experiences.

Pretty self explanatory. Respect is the number one rule for everyone here, no excuses or exceptions.

Actively listen when someone is speaking, and engage with empathy and openness.

We may disagree at times, and that’s human. What’s important is to actively listen and give the speaker your full attention.

Respect the privacy of members. What’s shared in the club stays in the club.

During discussions, you are totally free to share personal anecdotes or experiences relating to the assigned reading topic, but it is vital that that information stays private to the club. An okay thing to say to someone outside of the club could be “I love this club,” “We discussed queer identity in the club today,” “We’re reading Women by Chloe Caldwell.” What’s not okay to say is anything relating to people’s personal information. Remember, we’re trying to create a safe space.

Try your best to arrive on time for meetings and come as prepared as you can.

For general meetings, it’s great if you’re on time so you don’t interrupt discussions or come in without a clue of what’s going on. Again, you can come as prepared as you’d like! I want this to be fun for you guys, so don’t feel like this is an academic class with homework and prep work. If you’d like to come in with just the book, that’s fine. If you’d like to come in with quotes and questions as well as the reading, that’s fine.

Be open to growth. Remain open-minded and eager to learn from other’s experiences.

Remember that this is a really cool experience to hear other’s perspectives. This will enhance your own opinions and thoughts, and will build community amongst us that can hopefully turn into authentic conversations and friendships.

That’s it! Pretty simple, I’m sure we’ll have no issues with them this quarter, but your membership does rely on following these rules. Again, respect to us and one another is NUMBER ONE!

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IT’S YOUR TURN!

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IT’S YOUR TURN!

Are there any specific events or activities you’d like to see from us?
Do you have any book club experience? What has worked/not worked for you?
What are your expectations of us?

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WHAT MAKES QUEER LIT. SO POWERFUL?

Why do you think representation in literature is important for the LGBTQ+ community?
What role does storytelling play in shaping or shifting cultural attitudes toward queerness?
How do themes of resilience, self-discovery, or community in queer literature inspire readers?
Why do you think some queer stories are often marginalized or censored, and how does literature serve as a form of resistance?
In what ways can queer literature create empathy and understanding among readers outside the LGBTQ+ community?

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ICEBREAKER TIME

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BIRTHDAYS

01/01

12/31

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NAMES

A

Z

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# of LANGUAGES

1

5+

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HOW CLOSE TO SB

closest

farthest

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ANY QUESTIONS?

If you come up with a question at a later date, please reach out to our Instagram (@thequeerbookclubatucsb), or reach out to Club President Alice

directly (alicedehghanzadeh@ucsb.edu).

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THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING!

OUR NEXT GENERAL MEETING WILL BE ON: October 17th at 4pm

see you at sunsets and stories on october 10th!