Reclaiming the Written Page: Author Steven Winkelstein on the art of creation
Mon. August 31, 2026 7:49 PM by GoPride.com News Staff
photo credit // steven winkelstein
Give Them Their Flowers is a series by Michael Oboza featuring mini profiles of regular people in the LGBTQ community
CHICAGO, ILL. -
By Michael Oboza, Special to GoPride.com
During my final year as a volunteer photojournalist, I made it my intention to help recognize everyday legends in our LGBTQ community. Among those whose creative vision and personal journey deserve to be celebrated is Steven Winkelstein, founder and CEO of Winkelstein Studios, Kirkus Star recipient, Amazon bestselling author, Book News Award winner, and product designer.
Thank you, Steven, for your time, your inspiration, and for sharing your life's work.
Editor's Note: You can pre-order Steven Winkelstein's latest novel, "The Day God Got Amnesia: A Diving Comedy" at his website, Amazon, Bookshop.org (which supports independent bookshops), or your favorite bookseller. It will be released Oct. 13, 2026.
Surviving and healing mark the true foundation of integrity and self-awareness, though for Steven Winkelstein, understanding his truth was a long internal process.
"For a long time, I wasn’t even out to myself. I didn’t fully acknowledge my sexuality until I was around 30 or 31," Winkelstein reflects. "I had been with a couple of guys along the way, but it was always on the down low. I told myself that it was just a secret fetish or something separate from my true self—not part of my identity or the life I was meant to live."
Carrying that division between his inner life and outer reality took an immense personal toll.
"Hiding and suppressing that part of myself was slowly killing me over the years. I often drank to numb the pain," he says. "I still mourn what might have been—a freer, openly gay youth that I never allowed myself to experience. But I’ve also come to understand that everyone processes their truth in their own time and in their own way, and I have learned to forgive myself for how long it took me."
Winkelstein points out that the pressure to stay hidden often comes from subtle, pervasive cultural messages rather than explicit hostility.
"I think being closeted for so long was partly a product of my environment. I didn’t grow up surrounded by especially religious or conservative people, but sometimes it’s the smaller things that affect you: the snide jokes made by friends, the way gay people were talked about in the media, or the ridicule you saw on television," he explains. "I was always afraid that if people knew the truth about me, I would become the target of that ridicule. Living in that kind of fear and suppressing such an important part of myself cost me dearly, in ways I may never fully recover from. Still, I’m grateful that I eventually came to terms with my truth and became someone I’m proud to be today."
Meeting yourself where you are is the beginning of a lifelong journey, and stepping forward into openness required navigating real uncertainty.
"Life was difficult during the process of coming out. I didn’t do it all at once, and I never made one big announcement. It happened as a slow trickle, first to myself and then, gradually, to trusted friends," Winkelstein says. "I also dated while I was still going through that process. It was painful for me and, at times, painful for the guys I was dating because I had not fully realized or accepted myself yet. It was an awkward and confusing period. I had to overcome a lot of embarrassment and figure out things that many people had been able to explore much earlier in life. But that process also made me stronger."
Stepping into the broader queer community also brought unexpected challenges that differed from the idealized welcome many hope to encounter.
"One of the most surprising parts was how difficult it could be to feel accepted by the gay community and to make friends. Before coming out, you can imagine that there will be this big, welcoming homecoming—that you will finally find your people and immediately feel that you belong. In reality, it isn’t always like that," he notes. "Many people in the community are carrying their own trauma. They can be guarded, protective, or sometimes even mean. But when you keep going, you eventually find the kind ones and the beautiful ones. They are out there. Once I made it through the roughest parts of that transition, I felt more alive, more honest, and more fully myself than I ever had before."
Long before he could live openly in his daily life, Winkelstein began exploring his identity through his writing, creating fictional characters who were brave enough to embody the truth he was still learning to claim.
"While I was still deeply closeted, before I was able to live openly, I began writing its protagonist, Slinger. He was openly gay on the page," Winkelstein says. "At the time, I sometimes distanced myself from that truth by telling people he was based on someone else, but in many ways, Slinger was always me. Writing him gave me a freedom I did not yet have in my own life and where the book began, Boulder was also where I first started coming out to myself. Nearly twenty years later, publishing my new novel, The Day God Got Amnesia: A Divine Comedy, feels like more than the release of a story. It feels like reclaiming a part of myself that was always there, waiting for me to become brave enough to recognize it."
For Winkelstein, the wisdom gained from lived experience boils down to recognizing when your life is out of sync and possessing the courage to realign.
"I would encourage people to learn how to recognize when something feels misaligned, when the way they are living does not match who they truly are," he shares. "Once you can acknowledge and accept that misalignment, you can begin making changes that bring your life closer to your truth, your values, and the person you want to be. That applies to sexuality, relationships, careers, and life in general. It also applies to art."
That same mindset drives his creative process across mediums, where exploration matters far more than rigid perfection.
"I have explored many different things through writing and visual art. A lot of those experiments have failed, but I continue to iterate and explore. That is how you learn, and that is how you create," Winkelstein concludes. "The goal of creation is not to perfect a process or to make something flawless. The goal is to experience the act of creating. That is what it is really about."
During my final year as a volunteer photojournalist, I made it my intention to help recognize everyday legends in our LGBTQ community. Among those whose creative vision and personal journey deserve to be celebrated is Steven Winkelstein, founder and CEO of Winkelstein Studios, Kirkus Star recipient, Amazon bestselling author, Book News Award winner, and product designer.
Thank you, Steven, for your time, your inspiration, and for sharing your life's work.
Editor's Note: You can pre-order Steven Winkelstein's latest novel, "The Day God Got Amnesia: A Diving Comedy" at his website, Amazon, Bookshop.org (which supports independent bookshops), or your favorite bookseller. It will be released Oct. 13, 2026.
Surviving and healing mark the true foundation of integrity and self-awareness, though for Steven Winkelstein, understanding his truth was a long internal process.
"For a long time, I wasn’t even out to myself. I didn’t fully acknowledge my sexuality until I was around 30 or 31," Winkelstein reflects. "I had been with a couple of guys along the way, but it was always on the down low. I told myself that it was just a secret fetish or something separate from my true self—not part of my identity or the life I was meant to live."
Carrying that division between his inner life and outer reality took an immense personal toll.
"Hiding and suppressing that part of myself was slowly killing me over the years. I often drank to numb the pain," he says. "I still mourn what might have been—a freer, openly gay youth that I never allowed myself to experience. But I’ve also come to understand that everyone processes their truth in their own time and in their own way, and I have learned to forgive myself for how long it took me."
Winkelstein points out that the pressure to stay hidden often comes from subtle, pervasive cultural messages rather than explicit hostility.
"I think being closeted for so long was partly a product of my environment. I didn’t grow up surrounded by especially religious or conservative people, but sometimes it’s the smaller things that affect you: the snide jokes made by friends, the way gay people were talked about in the media, or the ridicule you saw on television," he explains. "I was always afraid that if people knew the truth about me, I would become the target of that ridicule. Living in that kind of fear and suppressing such an important part of myself cost me dearly, in ways I may never fully recover from. Still, I’m grateful that I eventually came to terms with my truth and became someone I’m proud to be today."
Meeting yourself where you are is the beginning of a lifelong journey, and stepping forward into openness required navigating real uncertainty.
"Life was difficult during the process of coming out. I didn’t do it all at once, and I never made one big announcement. It happened as a slow trickle, first to myself and then, gradually, to trusted friends," Winkelstein says. "I also dated while I was still going through that process. It was painful for me and, at times, painful for the guys I was dating because I had not fully realized or accepted myself yet. It was an awkward and confusing period. I had to overcome a lot of embarrassment and figure out things that many people had been able to explore much earlier in life. But that process also made me stronger."
Stepping into the broader queer community also brought unexpected challenges that differed from the idealized welcome many hope to encounter.
"One of the most surprising parts was how difficult it could be to feel accepted by the gay community and to make friends. Before coming out, you can imagine that there will be this big, welcoming homecoming—that you will finally find your people and immediately feel that you belong. In reality, it isn’t always like that," he notes. "Many people in the community are carrying their own trauma. They can be guarded, protective, or sometimes even mean. But when you keep going, you eventually find the kind ones and the beautiful ones. They are out there. Once I made it through the roughest parts of that transition, I felt more alive, more honest, and more fully myself than I ever had before."
Long before he could live openly in his daily life, Winkelstein began exploring his identity through his writing, creating fictional characters who were brave enough to embody the truth he was still learning to claim.
"While I was still deeply closeted, before I was able to live openly, I began writing its protagonist, Slinger. He was openly gay on the page," Winkelstein says. "At the time, I sometimes distanced myself from that truth by telling people he was based on someone else, but in many ways, Slinger was always me. Writing him gave me a freedom I did not yet have in my own life and where the book began, Boulder was also where I first started coming out to myself. Nearly twenty years later, publishing my new novel, The Day God Got Amnesia: A Divine Comedy, feels like more than the release of a story. It feels like reclaiming a part of myself that was always there, waiting for me to become brave enough to recognize it."
For Winkelstein, the wisdom gained from lived experience boils down to recognizing when your life is out of sync and possessing the courage to realign.
"I would encourage people to learn how to recognize when something feels misaligned, when the way they are living does not match who they truly are," he shares. "Once you can acknowledge and accept that misalignment, you can begin making changes that bring your life closer to your truth, your values, and the person you want to be. That applies to sexuality, relationships, careers, and life in general. It also applies to art."
That same mindset drives his creative process across mediums, where exploration matters far more than rigid perfection.
"I have explored many different things through writing and visual art. A lot of those experiments have failed, but I continue to iterate and explore. That is how you learn, and that is how you create," Winkelstein concludes. "The goal of creation is not to perfect a process or to make something flawless. The goal is to experience the act of creating. That is what it is really about."