Christopher DiRaddo
he/him
Christopher DiRaddo is the author of the novels The Family Way (2021), which was nominated for the F.G Bressani Literary Prize, and The Geography of Pluto (2014). In 2014, he created the Violet Hour Reading Series & Book Club, which has to date provided a platform for more than 200 LGBTQ writers in Canada. He lives in Montreal.
www.christopherdiraddo.com
Excerpt from The Family Way (2021) by Christopher DiRaddo
"Owning a home had long been a dream of mine. As a kid, I’d play in the model kitchens and bathrooms when we’d visit the big box hardware stores. And I’d draw make-believe houses in pencil crayon at night in front of the TV (always a three-storey mansion), imagining the rooms on the different floors and what the gardens looked like. When I got older, in my early twenties, I daydreamed about my first apartment. Most young gay men fantasize about the sex they’ll have once they leave home. I did that too, but I also fantasized about where it would happen. Growing up, far away from the city centre, in the west-end suburb of Pointe-Claire, had me longing for a queer life downtown. And I often imagined what that domestic life would look like: stark white walls, queen-size mattress, dark grey sectional, ten-speed bike against the wall by the kitchen, a table for two."