Julián Delgado Lopera

Julián Delgado Lopera (born June 4, 1988) is a queer Colombian writer and performer. He is the author of ¡Cuéntamelo!, an illustrated collection of queer immigrant histories in the United States during the 1980s. He uses creative expressions, such as writing, queer literary performance, and bilingual poetry to advance LGBT activism projects across the Bay Area. Delgado Lopera serves as the Executive/Artistic director for the nonprofit organization Radar Productions since 2015.

Early life and education Julián Delgado Lopera was born in Bogotá, Colombia and immigrated with his family to the United States in 2003 when he was fifteen years old. He first moved to Miami, Florida, then relocated to the Bay Area to find his queer home.

Delgado Lopera attended the University of California Berkeley where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Women and Gender Studies in 2011. He then received two creative writing awards from Galería de la Raza and the Queer Cultural Center, ¡Cuéntamelo! is credited with bringing histories of identity intersection like queer, immigration status, gender and age to light.

Quiéreme (2017) Quiéreme (like me or love me) was published in March 2017. Quiéreme is a collection of essays documenting the experience of longing for love. Delgado Lopera plays with language in Quiéreme to create a mixed combination of English and Spanish into "Spanglish" as a form of bilingual literature.

Fiebre Tropical (2020)

Delgado Lopera's first novel debuted in March 2020 to positive critical reception. It was a finalist for the 2020 Kirkus Prize for Fiction, and in 2021, won the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction and the Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBTQ Fiction.

Activism Radar Productions Julián Delgado Lopera became the Executive/ Artistic director role of the Nonprofit organization Radar Productions in 2015. Radar Productions is based in San Francisco and organizes queer literature performances around the Bay Area that are open freely to the public. "Noche de Ambiente" offered a glimpse into the life of LGBT Latino identities in San Francisco from the 1970s to the 1990s. Delgado Lopera collaborated in the exhibition to use art as a tool to educate the public about queer Latino History in the Bay Area, particularly in San Francisco. He recognizes the importance of making room for multi-national and inter-generational queer Latino History and the need to extend the term Latinidad in the U.S.

Performance

Sister Spit A performer of Sister Spit, a feminist, queer, comedic poetry roadshow, Delgado Lopera travels around the country. He also received an award from the Regen Ginaa Artist Fund from Galería de la Raza in 2013 and the National Queer Arts Festival Grant from the Queer Cultural Center in 2014.