The Ivy Bookshop is thrilled to welcome journalist and drag historian Elyssa Goodman to Bird in Hand to talk about drag past, present, and future, via a celebration of her new book, GLITTER AND CONCRETE: A CULTURAL HISTORY OF DRAG IN NEW YORK CITY! This book is an intimate, evocative history of drag in New York City exploring its dynamic role, from the Jazz Age to Drag Race, in queer liberation and urban life. Ronin Davis, who works in social justice at the Department of Justice and the National Association of Counties in Washington, D.C., will join Goodman in conversation.
Elyssa Goodman is a writer and photographer specializing in arts and culture. Her work has been published in Vogue, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Vanity Fair, and others online and in print. Elyssa has also written about LGBTQ+ history and culture for Conde Nast’s them, where she was the site’s “Drag Herstory” and Queer Women’s History columnist. She has been a freelance writer for 19 years and in love with drag for 28 years, since the age of seven.
Ronin Davis is a senior program manager for behavioral health and justice at the National Association of Counties (NACo) where he manages portfolios aimed at informing, educating and assisting county officials across the country in their efforts to improve local justice and behavioral health systems.
Prior to joining NACo, Ronin was a Senior Director at Seedco, a New York-based, national nonprofit where he oversaw workforce development and economic stability programming for the New York office and lead operations efforts across the organization. Ronin also spent four years at The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center providing support to Second Chance Act grants around the country and managed the Community Initiatives technical assistance team, which focused on the intersection of community-based organizations and criminal and juvenile legal agencies. Ronin currently serves on the board of the National Assessment Center Association and has been consulting on a project to develop policy guidance for states on how to better support children and families of the incarcerated. Ronin received his master’s in social work from Columbia University.