Based in Berlin, Alan Lessik is a novelist and writer, Zen practitioner, amateur figure skater, and Queer activist. He is a member of the Berlin Queer Writers Circle.
His second novel, Make the Dark Night Shine, was published by Rebel Satori Press in October 2023 and was awarded the Gold Medal by Literary Titan and the Silver Medal by the Global Book Awards.
His debut novel, The Troubleseeker (Chelsea Station Editions), was short-listed for the Publishing Triangle’s 2017 Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBTQ Fiction. Alan’s non-fiction works and essays have been published by Lambda Literary, the Bay Area Reporter, KQED Perspectives, the Advocate, San Francisco Bay Guardian, and Frontiers Newsmagazine. For four years, he served on the Board of the LGBTQ Caucus of Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP). Recently, he was a guest on the Wrote Podcast, and Andrew. G. Marshall’s The Meaningful Life.
In 2013, Alan received lay ordination (Jukai) at the San Francisco Zen Center and was an active member of the Center´s Queer Dharma team. He was a teacher at the SF LGBTQ Sangha and is currently leading the Queer Meditation Group at the Village in Berlin. He is a member of Akazienzendo in Berlin and the Black Mountain Zen Centre in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
While he is working on his next novel in Berlin, he is available as a writer and copy-editor.
He can be reached at writer.lessik@gmail.com.
Alan Lessik 