For Elliott DeLine, growing up in Syracuse was cold, boring and lonely. But the city molded him into a writer.

“I am inspired to write by dissatisfaction with life and caffeine,” said DeLine, an award-winning transgender author, in an email. “I wanted to write about my own experiences because it seemed nosey to write somebody else’s memoir. Somebody had to tell my story and I figured it might as well be me.”

DeLine’s latest book, “Show Trans,” was published Oct. 1 and is described as a novel based on his own experiences with “sex addiction, sex work, navigating the MSM scene, a trip west, dissociative identity disorder and the struggle to find love, connection and self-actualization as a non-binary trans person,” according to DeLine’s website.

DeLine is returning to SU’s campus Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Eggers Hall to talk about and read from his newest book.

A 2012 Syracuse University alumnus, DeLine is also the author of “Refuse,” a fictional novel, and “I Know Very Well How I Got My Name,” a novella. His work has also been featured in the Modern Love essay series of The New York Times, in The Collection: Short Fiction from the Transgender Vanguard and in Original Plumbing Magazine.

While growing up in Syracuse, DeLine said the community was largely unsupportive of LGBTQ individuals. However, he said the most resistance he experienced was among members of the LGBTQ and trans* communities.

“We are largely horrible to one another. I spent a lot of time trying to figure this out, when I considered myself an activist,” DeLine said. “I can confidently say I have no idea how to change it, beyond individuals being brave enough to stand against the crowd and tell the truth.”

Although attending SU may have indirectly influenced his work, DeLine said coming back to the university to conduct a reading of “Show Trans” on Tuesday will be an interesting experience.

“It’s kind of bizarre and awkward, but I’m hoping it goes well,” DeLine said.

Dana Spiotta, an associate professor of English and textual studies, is a former professor of DeLine’s who will join him for a discussion about his work after the reading.

Spiotta said DeLine’s timing is great, and she is happy to see more trans* people sharing their stories.

“Elliott’s writing also helps people with similar experiences feel less alone,” Spiotta said in an email. “Elliott honestly shares his struggles and his insights, and this sharing helps us all feel our common humanity beyond our gender identities or orientation.”

Spiotta said DeLine’s work contributes to a safer LGBTQ environment on campus and in the community. “Show Trans” can help people who often want only to define and reduce marginalized identities get over their stereotypes and misconceptions about trans* people.

DeLine is currently the vice president of CNY for Solidarity, Inc., a nonprofit that works to provide resources and support to the LGBTQ community and marginalized individuals in the Syracuse area. The organization also advocates for those who are often obscured by the larger LGBTQ community, with an emphasis on the intersectionality of classism, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia and other forms of oppression, according to the organization’s website.

Harvey Teres, an associate professor of English, said DeLine was his best student. Teres said DeLine distinguished himself from other students by writing insightful, stylistic essays and impressed him with sensitive and smart comments on the books they studied in class.
Teres said it is pleasing and always slightly surprising when former students become writers due to the risk involved, but commends DeLine for his hard work and growing success.

“In Elliott’s case it’s especially gratifying because I know he wrestled admirably with issues of sexual identity and many wider moral and social matters, and what better way to work your way through them than to create fictive, virtual worlds in which you can dive in and explore them thoroughly,” said Teres in an email. “Elliott’s fiction will likely be a gift to many readers here in Syracuse and beyond, and no doubt a source of strength to him as well.”

Published on November 4, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Alexa: adiaz02@syr.edu | @alexalucina