Words and Actions: A Pride Month Reading List from ONE Archives Foundation book covers

This Pride Month, PEN America Los Angeles invited the ONE Archives Foundation to create a reading list as an extension of their exhibition, Pride Publics: Words and Actions.

Curated by Rubén Esparza, the multisite exhibition—which aims to stage a visual dialogue between historical and contemporary changemakers —includes 28 large-scale posters installed at a public site and at ONE Gallery in West Hollywood.

For the exhibition, artists, writers, and community organizers were asked to submit a portrait and a short text from themselves, as well as a quote from an LGBTQ+ luminary of their choosing. The resulting exhibition chronicles moments of multigenerational progress and community actions that contribute to the well-being and advancement of queer and trans life in the public realm.

Below is a list of recommended readings from some of the artists included in the exhibition. You will find a wide range of classics and recently published works, across a variety of genres. You will find beloved texts, talismans, and personal notes from each artist about how these texts have given them language and form, possibility and permission. We wish the same for you!

—Jaime Shearn Coan, Mellon/ACLS Public Fellow and Communications Manager, ONE Archives Foundation