Emmett Scout is set to read from his new book, “Peter Darling,” a queer, trans retelling of “Peter Pan” at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 31 at The Writers Workshoppe and Imprint Books, 820 Water St.

Scout, who grew up wandering the beaches of Port Townsend, wanted to be a novelist since he was 6 years old, and for many years fueled his love of writing in critique groups while selling books at The Writers’ Workshoppe. In 2015, after moving to Seattle, he found his calling as an author of LGBT romance and began writing under the pseudonym of Austin Chant.

His first novel, “Peter Darling,” explores the nature of catharsis, identity and unconditional love. His other publications include the novellas “Coffee Boy” and “Caroline’s Heart.”

Scout is currently finishing his senior thesis on romance novels at the University of Washington–Bothell and hopes to go on writing novels for the rest of his days.

For more, see his website,

austinchant.com.

The Writers’ Workshoppe also hosts Port Townsend poets Gary Copeland Lilley and Matthew Nienow to kick off National Poetry Month at 7 p.m., Saturday, April 1.

Lilley’s fifth full-length book of poetry, “Bushman’s Medicine Show,” was released in March by Lost Horse Press. Originally from North Carolina, Lilley first discovered Port Townsend when he accepted a poetry faculty position in the 2008 Port Townsend Writers Conference.

Nienow recently published his first book of poetry, “House of Water,” by Alice James Books. He lives in PT with his wife and two sons, where he builds boats and custom wooden paddleboards.