t cooper
T Cooper's most recent novel, Lipshitz Six, Or Two Angry Blondes (Plume/Penguin, 2007), was a Los Angeles Times bestseller in both hardcover and paperback, as well as a selection of the Borders Original Voices program. The novel—T's second—was published to great acclaim in both Germany and Italy, in addition to North America, and was subsequently named a best book of the year by both the Austin Chronicle and The Believer magazine.
Cooper's first novel Some of the Parts (Akashic Books, 2002), was an indie bestseller, as well as a selection of the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers program. T was also co-editor of a politically-minded anthology entitled A Fictional History of the United States (with Huge Chunks Missing) (Akashic Books, 2006), of which Howard Zinn has said, "This is a 'people's history' with tongue in cheek: delightfully funny, imaginative, but with a subtle undertone of seriousness. I enjoyed it immensely."
Since 2002, T has read, lectured, and performed—for adults and youth audiences alike—at venues such as Harvard University, Yale University, the University of Southern California, the UCLA Hammer Museum, New York University, The New School, Hampshire College, Middlebury College, several Jewish Book Council festivals across the country, The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, The Miami Book Fair, The New York Times Great Read in the Park, The Texas Book Festival, The Baltimore City Lit Project, Book Expo America, the EMP Pop Music Conference, the Bronx Academy of Letters, and several U.S. Embassy-sponsored events in Germany.
Cooper was also the founding member of The Backdoor Boys performance troupe, the first boy band drag kings to hit the avant garde scene. The Backdoor Boys toured extensively, playing legendary NYC venues such as CBGBs and Irving Plaza, as well as several colleges and universities, and were featured in a variety of films, books, magazines and documentaries in the U.S. and abroad.
T Cooper's writing has appeared in a variety of publications including The New Yorker, The New York Times, The New York Times Style Magazine, The Believer, Poets & Writers, Out, Jane, and Punk Planet, as well as several anthologies of both fiction and non-fiction alike. T was the publisher and editor of The Fish Tank 'zine, which was awarded a Firecracker Alternative Book Award in 1999. Cooper was a finalist for the Koret Young Writer on Jewish Themes Award, and has been awarded multiple fellowships to The MacDowell Colony, Ledig House International, and Blue Mountain Center.
A transgendered (or "genderqueer") person, T Cooper holds an MFA in fiction from Columbia University, along with a B.A. in English from Middlebury College. Originally from Los Angeles, T taught high school English and writing in New Orleans before settling in New York City in 1996.
What can T Cooper talk about?
• Transgender: Good or Bad for Feminism?
• Writing (and Living) Beyond the Gender Binary
• The Writer's Craft: Workshops & Seminars on Creative Writing
(General fiction, or with a focus on "alternative" perspectives)
• The Cultural Legacy of Postmodern Jewish Identity
• Mainstream vs. Indie: "Making it" in either realm—or both
* Cooper's readings and presentations often incorporate visual media such as video and photographs
www.t-cooper.com
For more speakers on queer issues, see: Hanne Blank, Julia Serano, Catherine McKinley, Irshad Manji, Noelle Howey, Jennifer Baumgardner
For more speakers on creative writing, see: Veronica Chambers, Helen Benedict, Marilyn French, Cathi Hanaeur, Catherine McKinley, Johnny Temple
