Sasha Velour brings drag artistry to UBC speaker series

by V. S. Wells on March 7th, 2024 at 11:32 AM

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Sasha Velour is the latest speaker set to address the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.

The cerebral drag queen may be best known for winning season nine of RuPaul’s Drag Race, but her artistry has long marked her out as the thinking woman’s queen (“C.L.A.T.” notwithstanding). Her acclaimed drag show in New York, Nightgowns, got televised on the short-lived Quibi; her first book, The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag received rave reviews; she’s starring on the new season of Emmy-winning docuseries We’re Here; and she’s a talented graphic designer to boot.

Her April 18 talk at UBC comes as part of the 2024 Phil Lind Initiative, which has also featured Jia Tolentino (January 25) and Suleika Jaouad & Jon Batiste (February 15), and has upcoming speakers Viet Thanh Nguyen (March 14) and X Martinez (March 21).

Velour’s presentation, “The Big Reveal: Why Drag Matters,” explores drag as an intersection of pop politics and pop culture—from its historic roots to its current position as the right wing’s boogeyman.

“Drag embodies the queer possibility that exists within each of us,” Velour says in a statement, “the infinite ways in which gender, good taste, and art can be lived.”

The talk will be free—just like all good art.