Coming Out Catholic

By Alex Dunkin

Like all good Catholic boys I care what Jesus thinks. Jesus -- both the man and the faith. Following him makes me happy. There’s just one issue... I think I’m gay. Well, it’s hard to be sure while going to an all-boys school. It could be a matter of simply liking what I know, and really, oh so very much liking what I see all day -- guys. Being gay and Catholic can’t possible work together. Can it?

Coming Out Catholic follows a year in the life of a private Catholic school student as he comes to terms with his sexuality. Armed with sarcasm and his best friend Mark, he prepares to take on the school thug and the awkward social encounters plaguing his late teenage years.

Confronting himself and his family are just the beginning of his trials. He finds he must find solace with his sexual desires without surrendering any of his faith. He loves both too much to deny either one, but when the time comes he will have to decide if he must turn away from one and prepare to succumb to a life of denial, or if, by some miracle, he can find acceptance for both within himself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Torquere Press
• Release date: May 27, 2015
• ISBN: 9781610409209

Alex Dunkin

Alex is an author, publisher and academic in professional and creative writing. His novels include Coming Out Catholic, Homebody, and Fair Day. He is the founder of the micropublishing label Buon-Cattivi Press, primarily publishing emerging writers and experimental forms of literature. He currently runs the new Blue Feet: Green anthology mentorship program at UniSA that develops for publication short creative fiction by higher degree research students. He teaches undergraduate courses for professional writing and creative short-form fiction with a focus on preparation for writing in professional industry settings. He has worked as a journalist and reviewer with ongoing contributions to publications such as Glam Adelaide. He is passionate about creating pathways and lasting connections between the worlds of academia and creative industries.