Alan Lessik is a member of the Berlin Queer Writers Circle, Zen practitioner, amateur figure skater and LGBT activist. His debut novel The Troubleseeker (Chelsea Station Editions) was short-listed for the Publishing Triangle’s 2017 Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBTQ Fiction. With an interest in how novels preserve queer culture, he has been published on this and other topics by the Bay Area Reporter, Lambda Literary, KQED radio, and Andrew G Marshall´s podcast—The Meaningful Life. He served on the Board of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) LGBTQ Writers Caucus for the three years and moderated or participated in panels on queer fiction by Lambda Literary, the Bay Area Reporter, and Advocate.