CANCELLED Rita Therese - Come

Bold, brave and darkly funny, Come is the extraordinary story of sex worker Rita Therese. Following significant personal tragedy and trauma, the line between Rita's sex worker persona Gia and her real self began to blur in a seemingly endless loop of grief, work, sex, love and heartbreak. 

Original and exhilarating, Come lifts the lid on everything you thought you knew about sex work. Follow Rita’s journey from stripper to adult film star to sex worker, artist and philosophy student. She shares her vulnerabilities, the tricks and pitfalls of the trade, and everything she has learned along the way.

Rita discusses her remarkable life story with Bri Lee, author of Beauty and the award-winning memoir Eggshell Skull.

Tickets are just $5 each - or free with a pre-ordered book. 

 

About the Book

Two selves intertwine and it leaves you, in the dance room, making a decision that winged liner is just for work. Because you don't know which self you are looking at right now, which person you are. The song stops and you break out of your trance and ask if he'd like to extend… 

Rita is an escort, one of the best in Australia. It all began on a whim at 18, after she rang the number on a sign looking for nude models. Always the outsider, she quickly learns the sex industry is comprised of many other people just like her and she becomes immersed in this world: the drugs, the late nights, the glamour, being an outcast, the attention and validation from men. Mostly she thrives on how taboo her life has become. 

Following significant personal tragedy and trauma, the line between Rita's sex worker persona Gia and her real self begins to blur in a seemingly endless loop of grief, work, sex, love and heartbreak. In this achingly honest memoir, Rita learns that death and trauma do not always bring grand transformative experiences. Sometimes, in order to go forward, we have to write our own stories and choose to keep living. 

Unflinching, compelling and darkly funny, Come announces a fearless new talent in Australian writing.  

 

Praise

“A riveting and unforgettable journey. Rita’s ability to take you from despair to laughter to depravity in seconds makes this book utterly addictive.” - Nakkiah Lui

About the Author

Rita Therese is a 25-year-old sex worker, artist and writer based in Melbourne, Australia. She entered the sex industry at age 18, and has worked as a stripper, porn and as an escort. She currently works as an escort under the alias Gia James. 

She has written for magazines like Frankie, Vice and Penthouse Australia, and had a monthly sex and dating column for Sneaky magazine. She had her first solo photographic exhibition "Gemini" in 2016 at Goodspace Gallery in Sydney. The exhibit played on the juxtaposition of light and dark, and was centered around themes of sexuality, kink, femininity and fantasy. 

She is also the author of 4 self published zines - Zero Vol. 1 + 2, Heartbreaker and Fantasy. The zines focus on short stories about her life as a sex worker and discuss relationships, love, grief, mental health and sex. She distributes the zines through her Instagram and website. 

Rita is currently undertaking her Bachelor of Philosophy and working towards a career as an academic, specializing in the field of Gender Studies with a focus on sex work. 

About Bri Lee

Bri Lee is a freelance writer whose work appears in The Monthly, Harper's Bazaar, The Saturday Paper, Crikey, The Guardian, and elsewhere. She regularly appears on ABC TV's The Drum, and ABC Radio National. In 2016 Bri was the recipient of the inaugural Kat Muscat Fellowship, and in 2017 was one of Griffith Review's Queensland writing fellows. 

Her first book, the memoir Eggshell Skull, won and was shortlisted for numerous awards. In 2018 she received a Commonwealth Government of Australia scholarship and stipend to work on Beauty, her second book, at the University of Queensland. She is qualified to practice law, but doesn't.