Join Nicola Dinan, Queer London-based author as she celebrates her incredible debut, Bellies!

Left Bank Books welcomes Hong Kong/Kuala Lumpur-raised, London-based debut author Nicola Dinan, who will discuss the book that Elliot Page says is "smart, hilarious and deeply moving" Bellies, on Wednesday, August 16th at 12pm CT / 1pm ET in an online event. Order copies of Bellies from Left Bank Books to support authors and independent bookstores!
Dinan will be in conversation with Andrea Lawlor!
"TRIUMPHANT AND HUMANE." -- Elle, A Most Anticipated Book of 2023
I wore a dress on the night I first met Ming.
It begins as your typical boy meets boy. While out with friends at their local university drag night, Tom buys Ming a drink. Confident and witty, a magnetic young playwright, Ming is the perfect antidote to Tom's awkward energy, and their connection is instant. Tom finds himself deeply and desperately drawn into Ming's orbit, and on the cusp of graduation, he's already mapped out their future together. But shortly after they move to London to start their next chapter, Ming announces her intention to transition.
From London to Kuala Lumpur, New York to Cologne, we follow Tom and Ming as they face tectonic shifts in their relationship and friend circle in the wake of Ming's transition. Through a spiral of unforeseen crises--some personal, some professional, some life-altering--Tom and Ming are forced to confront the vastly different shapes their lives have taken since graduating, and each must answer the essential question: Is it worth losing a part of yourself to become who you are?
Buoyed by a voice as tender, effervescent and wryly funny as the cast of characters it centers, Bellies is an unforgettable story of youth, intimacy, hunger and heartbreak, at once boldly original yet fiercely familiar, which unabashedly holds a mirror up to our most vulnerable selves and desires.
*About the Speakers*
Nicola Dinan grew up in Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, and now lives in London. Bellies, her debut, was shortlisted for the Mo Siewcharran Prize. Nicola is a graduate of the Faber Academy Writing-a-Novel course. Her work has appeared in Huck, i-D, Paper, Necessary Fiction and elsewhere.
Andrea Lawlor teaches creative writing at Mount Holyoke College, is the recipient of a 2020 Whiting Award for Fiction, and has been awarded fellowships by Lambda Literary and Radar Labs. Their publications include a chapbook, "Position Papers" (Factory Hollow Press), and a novel, "Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl." (Vintage/Knopf).
*Review Quotes*
"Triumphant and humane." --ELLE, A Most Anticipated Book of 2023
"A grand, affecting story of shifting identities and shifting intimacy." --ELECTRIC LITERATURE, A Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Book of the Summer
"I just read Nicola Dinan's novel Bellies. Nicola is an astounding writer and the book is smart, hilarious and deeply moving." -ELLIOT PAGE, on Instagram
"In growing up, we each have to gain a sense of the world. In these absolutely glowing pages, Tom and Ming make their way. They love and dream in ways that only youth can, but perhaps we all should. Dinan imbues this tale of identity and friendship with generosity, hope and that mighty keen touch of wit." -WEIKE WANG, AUTHOR OF JOAN IS OKAY
"With Bellies, Nicola Dinan has written an intimate odyssey - full of warmth and humor, punctuated with prose that's thrilling and tender and elegant and pungent. Dinan weaves an irresistibly queer love story within a scrupulously architectured world, offering a story about connection, loneliness, identity, and the many different forms that family can take. Thoughtful, seductive, and entirely engrossing - Bellies is already a classic." -BRYAN WASHINGTON, AUTHOR OF MEMORIAL