When Identity Changes Everything
Join authors Katherine Larson, Kristin Gilger and Courtney Gustafson as they explore the evolving bonds that shape who we become. Together, they reveal how families--biological, chosen and accidental--adapt when someone steps into a new version of themselves.
| Where: | Student Union Tucson Room (Seats 110)  |
| When: | Sun, Mar 15, 2:30 pm - 3:25 pm |
| Signing area: | UA Campus Store Book Sales (Mall) (following presentation)
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| Genre: | Memoir / Essays / Creative Nonfiction |
| Moderator: | Cheryl House |
Panelists
Kristin GilgerKristin Gilger is Emerita Professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism from the University of Nebraska and is the co-author of “There’s No Crying in Newsrooms: What Women Have Learned About What it Takes to Lead....
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Courtney GustafsonCourtney Gustafson is a cat rescuer, community organizer, and creator of Poets Square Cats on TikTok and Instagram. Her first book, "Poets Square," recounts her initial experiences with feral cats and the life she now lives to help them....
Katherine LarsonKatherine Larson is a poet, essayist, molecular biologist, and field ecologist. Her debut collection of poems, "Radial Symmetry," was selected by Louise Glück as winner of the Yale Series of Younger Poets....
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Books:
My Son, the Priest
A Mother's Crisis of Faith
Kristin Gilger
Memoir / Essays / Creative Nonfiction
Monkfish Book Publishing Company
November 2025
ISBN 9781958972939
266 pages
Buy nowNot every Catholic mother wants her son to be a priest.
The true story of a young man’s journey to become a Jesuit priest—written by his mother, a fallen-away Catholic who must come to terms with her son’s decision or risk losing him.
It is an intimate, sometimes irreverent, and often searing examination of faith, family, and reconciliation.
“You send your son off to college and you think that in a few years you might get a call, and he’ll announce that he has someone he’s bringing home, someone he wants you to meet. But then that someone turns out to be a recruiter hawking a lifetime of poverty, chastity and obedience. What college kid in his right mind would sign up for that?”
The book offers a rare, often entertaining, glimpse into the highly unusual Jesuit formation process—which includes sending would-be priests off on pilgrimages with $35 in their pockets. It also takes on tough issues, from the church’s history of sexual abuse to its treatment of women, and asks tough questions: Is it possible to be Catholic, liberal, and a feminist all at the same time? What does it mean to call yourself a Catholic? More/less
Poets Square
A Memoir in Thirty Cats
Courtney Gustafson
Memoir / Essays / Creative Nonfiction
Random House
April 2025
ISBN 9780593727614
256 pages
Buy now
Wedding of the Foxes
Katherine Larson
Memoir / Essays / Creative Nonfiction
Milkweed Editions
July 2025
ISBN 9781639550067
208 pages
Buy now
