Lev is an American writer who already has a number of novels & YA fiction books under his belt. His work has been translated into many different languages and are regularly featured on 'best of' lists. His latest is ‘Camp’ which I recently read & I loved it. The story explores the different gender presentations through the different queer characters and I think it will resonate deeply with a lot of our community.

The interview was of course recorded remotely, Lev was in New York, I was in my makeshift studio at home in Ireland. This was my first transatlantic interview, so the line wasn’t always great, the sound is muffled slightly in parts when our voices mix together but it the audio is still decent (I think!!!)

We chatted about;

• his honest thoughts on femme shaming & why he wanted to explore it in the book,
• growing up gay in Manhattan,
• his uneventful but funny coming out to his mother,
• his teenage crush on Ryan Philippe,
• the subtle forms of homophobia he’s experienced from liberal people,
• being ‘culturally Jewish’ and converting to Paganism

and lots of other things.

You can get in touch with me by emailing me at jonny@imcomingoutpod.com and tweet me at @imcomingoutpod. Hope you like this episode. Let me know what you think :)