In physics and cosmology, quintessence is a hypothetical form of dark energy, more precisely a scalar field, postulated as an explanation of the observed accelerating rate of the universe’s expansion. Trans and gender non-conforming people and artists are constantly expanding our understandings of gender and identity, disrupting binaries and imposed expectations. How are trans & gnc poets and writers articulating this expansion in their own stories? Come and witness the stories of transformation, homecoming/going, and expansion in works by three artists.

Troy Rockett is an actor, writer, and healthcare worker. His current writing challenge is playwriting; for him a nice expansion of his craft as a poet. The staged reading of his current play will take place in March on Brava Theater's cabaret stage.

Diego Basdeo Fitzgerald is a writer, youth worker, and archivist working and living in Oakland California (chochenyo/huichin land). With lineage from multiple continents, and as a queer and transgender person, Diego writes through the liminal space, contextualizing multiple continental and corporeal diasporas. His work retires the current immigration narrative, and looks through the ways the home and the body are used as a political battleground.

Evolve Benton is the Equity and Inclusion Manager at the UCSF School of Medicine. Evolve identifies as a black, queer, boi (born obviously incredible). Evolve is a prominent writer, speaker, and racial justice educator. In 2018 Evolve published their first poetry collection SIR: poetry dedicated to boihood & black queer love. Also, they co-produced their first independent film, The BOI DOC. Evolve earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Dillard University and a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology with a LGBT Specialization and Master of Fine Arts from Antioch University of Los Angeles