Award-Winning Writer, Breast Cancer Survivor and Humorist to Visit UA

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Award-Winning Writer, Breast Cancer Survivor and Humorist to Visit UA

Tania Katan, who twice survived breast cancer, will be at the UA this month for a reading that is free and open to the public. (Photo courtesy of Tania Katan)

Tania Katan, Jewish lesbian humorist and author of My One Night Stand With Cancer, will be in Tucson to read from her memoir about surviving breast cancer.

By Cathy Busha, LGBTQ Affairs
October 8, 2008

Tania Katan, a Jewish lesbian humorist and author, will visit The University of Arizona to read from her memoir, which details how she survived breast cancer – twice.

At age 21, Katan was diagnosed with stage-three breast cancer. She survived, minus a breast.

Exactly 10 years later she was diagnosed again. By age 31, Katan has survived two bouts of cancer, two mastectomies and an idiosyncratic but loving Jewish family.

Katan, author of "My One Night Stand With Cancer," is the carrier of the BRCA-1 gene, as are many women of Ashkenazi descent. This also means that her ovaries have a 40 percent chance of developing cancer in her lifetime.

According to Katan: “Obviously, all that was left was to write a book."

She will be at the UA Oct. 28 for a two-hour reading beginning at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public and will be held at the UA's Gallagher Theater in the Student Union Memorial Center, 1303 E. University Blvd. A reception will be held after the event.

Katan has received numerous literary awards, such as the Judy Grahn Nonfiction Award and Jane Chambers Playwriting Award. She was also an honoree of the Stonewall Book Award and a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award.

As a playwright, Katan's plays have been seen across the country and she has received the the American College Theatre Festival Award in Playwriting, the Jane Chambers Playwriting Award, American Conservatory Theater's David Mamet Playwriting Award, among other forms of recognition.

As part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Tania will also speak at Wingspan, Southern Arizona’s LGBT Community Center located at 425 E. Seventh St. The event will also be held Oct. 28, at 2:30 p.m.

Both the day's events are supported by a grant from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Southern Arizona organization.

Co-sponsors include the UA's Office of LGBTQ Affairs, Wingspan, the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership, Women’s Resource Center and Nashim, a group for Jewish women.