Great Plains lecture to cover LGBT activism in Kansas

Author C.J. Janovy will give the September Paul A. Olson Great Plains Lecture on the story behind her recent book, “No Place Like Home: Lessons in Activism from LGBT Kansas.”

Janovy, who won the Center for Great Plains Studies’ 2019 Stubbendieck Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize, researched the book by traveling across Kansas and speaking with activists who fought for acceptance and respect in an area of the country that faced big challenges for the LGBTQ community. The lecture is 3:30 p.m. Sept. 26 at the center, 1155 Q St. Janovy will receive the book prize medallion and a $10,000 cash prize at the event. The book prize celebrates the most outstanding work about the Great Plains during the previous year.

“Like hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ people who live in this part of the country, the people I wrote about have deep connections to their communities, to the landscape and to the broader cultures of the Great Plains,” Janovy said.

Janovy, who grew up in Lincoln, was previously editor of The Pitch, Kansas City’s Village Voice Media-owned publication, and studied English and writing at the University of California at Berkeley and Boston University. She is currently an editor for KCUR public radio in Kansas City, Missouri.

The event is free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase.

Learn more.