Please join us for an evening of moderated discussion and open conversation, touching heavily on Jon's experiences at Brown as a first-generation college student coming to terms with his queer identity and class background. Our conversation will be moderated by civil rights attorney Praveen Fernandes '94. Alumni of all generations, current students, and community members alike are warmly welcomed! Light fare and non-alcoholic beverages are included with registration, and Jon’s book will be available for purchase and signing.
Novelist Jayne Anne Phillips, winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, writes of No Son of Mine: "Every American should read this elegy about the politics of place and church, the loss of one home, and the triumphant forging of another." The memoir documents Jon’s experience growing up in a rural, religious, working-class West Virginia community--and the chasm between that experience and the new world he encountered at Brown, where he began living authentically, formed new bonds beyond bloodlines, and met the upper-middle-class Jewish man who would become his husband. It also traces Jon’s ensuing, messy estrangement from his mother and lost relationships with friends and family as his sense of home was stripped away, culminating in his mother’s death in 2020.
We'll gather at the Brown in Washington program's space at the National Press Building in downtown DC. Details on how to access the site will be sent to registrants in advance. Feel free to reach out to Chris Meyers '16 (meyersca@gmail.com) with any questions. Attendees are asked to adhere to all BCDC events policies.
Not a BCDC member yet? Check out our options here. BCDC membership is free for Young Alums (classes of 2019-2023) or you can elect a paid tier that's right for you. BCDC is a 501C3 nonprofit and membership enables us to continue and expand our good work in this outpost of Greater Brunonia.
About the author
Jonathan Corcoran is the author of the memoir, No Son of Mine (April 2024, University Press of Kentucky), and the story collection, The Rope Swing (2016, WVU Press), which was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Awards and long-listed for The Story Prize. His essays and stories have been published and anthologized widely, including in Belt Magazine, Salvation South, Still: The Journal, Best Gay Stories, and the Oxford University Press textbook, How Writing Works.
He received a BA in Literary Arts from Brown University and an MFA in Fiction Writing from Rutgers University-Newark. Jonathan teaches writing at New York University and in the low-residency MFA program at West Virginia Wesleyan College. He was born and raised in a small town in West Virginia and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY. Learn more at jonathancorcoranwrites.com.