New Hope Celebrates to host lecture by author Damian McNicholl on Dec. 17

Bucks County author Damian McNicholl will tell his story of growing up and coming out in Northern Ireland during a live broadcast on Facebook and YouTube on Dec. 17 at 7 p.m.

Organized by New Hope Celebrates History, the lecture represents the second installment in its “Artists & Authors Speaker Series.”

McNicholl is an acclaimed author and former attorney. His first novel, “A Son Called Gabriel” (2017) was an American Booksellers Association Book Sense Pick, and a finalist in the Lambda Literary Awards and ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year awards. A Bucks County resident, he has appeared on CBS, WYBE Public Television and National Public Radio, in addition to interviews in print media.

McNicholl will discuss growing up gay in Northern Ireland during the Irish Troubles, his emigration to America in the ’90s, and the overwhelming acceptance of legal same-sex marriage in the Republic of Ireland, but not in Northern Ireland until recently.

The event is free, but donations are encouraged to help continue New Hope Celebrates History’s mission of preserving history for the LGBTQ+ community and providing educational programming. For every $100 donated, attendees can receive a copy of “An Enlightened Community: 20th Century LGBT Stories of New Hope.” Co-produced by the Friends of the Free Library of New Hope & Solebury and New Hope Celebrates, the book can also be purchased online.