Bean

What's up?!

i'm passionate about creating honest + complex trans narratives through writing, performance, & film.

 

from curating my lambda literary finalist anthology for trans inclusion in the #metoo movement, to Developing a tv series inspired by my homeland, to building "the ship we built" (2020) from a text message into a novel with dial at penguin random house - i create pieces that transition and grow alongside me. 


my work specifically with transgender survivors of domestic violence and sexual abuse has received accolades from the founders of the trevor project, the new york times, RAINN, the ali forney center, ONe love, sounds of saving, male survivor, and MORE. i've been honored with membership in rainn's national leadership council to speak publicly on the many forms of justice survivors deserve. 


My storytelling career began in 2012, when I curated and self-published my first anthology full of letters that people wrote to their body parts. I have been interviewed by and written for a large number of publications, including Teen Vogue, Ms. Magazine, The New York Times, Bitch Magazine, Them, Bust Magazine, Huffington Post, Logo's New Now Next, Kirkus Reviews, Autostraddle, Thrillist, The Detroit News, Lambda Literary, The Feminist Wire, Toi Magazine and more. My writing has also been transformed into four experimental films. Full and Trans Boy Remember, both of which have played at festivals across Europe. An animated version of The Ship We Built, premiering at the Locomoción Festival de Animación in Mexico City, is now being adapted for a feature length film. My most recent, A Scavenger Hunt For People Loneliest In Their Own Homes, was commissioned by Price Hill Will and had its international premier this fall at the Indie Short Awards Cannes, where it also received the award for Best Experimental Short, and had its public premiere in Teen Vogue. 


I am currently nearing fine-cut for my first feature-length documentary - What Will I Become? Co-directed by Logan Rozos, the film weaves together the stories of three trans boys who died by suicide and the those who are surviving the suppression and isolation that comes with binary masculinity, while offering resources and imagination for a way forward. I am also in early development for a short-film collaboration with Queer Youth Assemble focusing on anti-trans legislation and taking back childhood sexual abuse narratives. Last, but not least, I am in early development of the feature film version of my decorated debut novel, The Ship We Built, which was also the first middle grade novel centering a trans boy to be written by one at a major US publisher. 


My essays, poems, books, and short films have also been presented at well over a hundred venues, including the famous Bluestockings and The Strand in NYC, the Detroit Institute of the Arts, MitSprache: The German Council of Victims and Survivors' Expert Committee of the Independent Commissioner for Child Sexual Abuse Issues, as well as barns, blackbox theaters, cafeterias, universities through two self-organized international tours of creative writing workshops and performances inspired by my writing and experiences. With this, I have been in partnership with countless transition homes, rehab centers, and non-profits, such as Black & Pink, RAINN, Home in Budapest, and Slutwalk Johannesburg. I have received additional support from the Sundress Writing Residency and Retreat for Survival and Healing in Knoxville, the Jerome Hill Foundation, the Gibney Dance Institute for Community Action Training in New York, the Jane Hoppen Residency at Paragraph New York, and the Bookshop Santa Cruz Residency at the Wellstone Center in the Redwoods. 


I am kicking of 2024 with the Tin House Winter Workshop for a manuscript-in-progress, Across From You (which I also wish to additionally develop into a play one day). As well as wrapping up my first picture book, and continuing the editorial process for my next anthology in contract with Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Meet Me There, Another Time, which focuses on queer and trans people writing to places they've had to leave behind. ​​


For acting! I most recently studied The Barrow Group approach! My work has ranged from indie short films, to roller skatin' as your music video muse, to a national ad that was also featured in Times Square. I often land roles of people and creatures who are lost, one who shows up and changes things, or one with a big secret. Shortly before the SAG strike, I made my TV debut. Now, frankly, I am getting back into the rhythm of the industry. I have also been using the time to further my movement practice, and collaborating with musicians on my skates. 


For more recent projects and updates, read the lil red box on this page! 


IN THE MEANTIME, HERE ARE MORE FUN FACTS:


1.) I discovered I am double jointed in my arms from watching America's Next Top Model.


2.) I cried the last time I watched 13 Going On 30. 


3.) I got toilet paper stuck to my roller skate at the fourth grade Halloween Party, and three years later I won the gold metal in my division at the USA Roller Sports National Championships in Lincoln, Nebraska. 


I'm very good at the game "Two Truths and a Lie." Lucky for you, I just gave you three truths. 


HERE'S ANOTHER TRUTH: I THINK YOU COULD BE FUN AND MEANINGFUL TO COLLABORATE WITH. PLEASE SAY HI TO ME.

EVENTS​


-Most recently: Creative workshop with Enoch Pratt Free Library and LGBTQIA2S+ DV/SA survivor workshops with Johns Hopkins University and Southern Oregon University. 


-Ongoing independent workshops! For survivors, check out Beyond Self Care and Storytelling For Survivorsand for people who care for survivors in their own lives, Beyond the Heroic Survivor. All winter holiday season & Valentine programming is free as it's an extra hard time of the year usually for survivors. 

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RECENT HONORS


-​Placement in the prestigious Tin House Winter Workshop for manuscript-in-progress, Across From You


-Placement in Film Independent's Fast Trackprogram representing co-directed documentary, What Will I Become? 

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RECENTLY PUBLISHED, PREMIERED, & SCREENED


-First time directing a stage-reading with Not Someone Like Meat Alchemical Studios in honor of Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention Month and fundraiser for One Love Foundation


-Authored the chapter, "When I Didn't Have The Words" in Surviving Transphobia with Jessica Kingsley Publishers ​


PROJECT ANNOUCEMENTS​​

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-My first feature length documentary, What Will I Become?, co-directed by Logan Rozos, is now nearing fine-cut. We are gearing up to find a home for the film this year! 


-I have found a director for The Ship We Built screenplay! A very lovely T4T moment.


​-I also recently submitted a chapter for an upcoming anthology, Shame-Sex Attraction with Jessica Kingsley Publishers. More information on the project coming soon! 


-I am in contract to edit Meet Me There, Another Time - a new anthology with Jessica Kingsley Publishers focused on queer and trans people writing to places they've had to leave behind. You can submit your own pieces and read more here. 


-I'm in early collaboration on an untitled short-film, zine project with Queer Youth Assemble focusing on anti-trans legislation and taking back childhood sexual abuse narratives. 


-I recently recontinuedPatreon,where you can support me and my work directly!