Several GLAAD staff members attended an event at Bluestockings Bookstore in New York City last week to celebrate the release of a new memoir by Nick Krieger, titled Nina Here Nor There: My Journey Beyond Gender.
The book chronicles Nick’s unique experience with his gender identity through the character Nina. In the book, Nina explores gender and sexuality through conversations and experiences with friends, family, lovers and strangers while finishing graduate school and approaching the end of her 20's. After settling into the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco following years of work in travel writing, and discovering a diversity of gender non-conformity, Nina finds herself feeling less and less connected to her female identity.
As the title suggests, Nina’s journey is free of any pre-determined destination; rather, the book probes at the parameters of the gender binary, making space for those of us who are neither here nor there. Yet even as the character grapples with challenging questions about her place in a limited gender system, Nick’s wit and humor bring a lighthearted tone to this contemplative narrative. Nina Here Nor There confronts ‘difficult to articulate’ feelings around gender and identity, and asserts that they are still very worth exploring.
The blog Feministing says of the book, “In our media context, where only one kind of narrative about transition seems to be allowed, this alternate personal story can feel pretty revolutionary.” Random House describes it as “the next-generation Stone Butch Blues—a contemporary memoir of gender awakening and a classic tale of first love and self-discovery.”
Nick was born in New York, but now lives in San Francisco. He has written for 365Gay, Original Plumbing, and other publications. Check his website for a list of his upcoming events.
Bluestockings is a bookstore, activist center, and fair trade café located at 172 Allen Street, and holds events almost every night.
GLAAD’s National News and Transgender Advocacy Fellow Angela Dallara contributed to this post
