
Poppy Z. Brite (born Melissa Ann Brite, now going by Billy Martin) is an American author born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Born a biological female, Brite has written and talked much about his gender dysphoria/gender identity issues. He self-identifies almost completely as a homosexual male rather than female, and as of 2011 has started taking testosterone injections. His male name is Billy Martin. He lived in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Athens, Georgia prior to returning to New Orleans in 1993. He loves UNC basketball and is a sometime season ticket holder for the NBA, but he saves his greatest affection for his hometown football team, the New Orleans Saints. Brite and husband Chris DeBarr, a chef, run a de facto cat rescue and have, at any given time, between fifteen and twenty cats. Photos of the various felines are available on the "Cats" page of Brite's website. They have been known to have a few dogs and perhaps a snake as well in the menagerie. They are no longer together. During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Brite at first opted to stay at home, but he eventually abandoned New Orleans and his cats and relocated 80 miles away to his mother's home in Mississippi. He used his blog to update his fans regarding the situation, including the unknown status of his house and many of his pets, and in October 2005 became one of the first 70,000 New Orleanians to begin repopulating the city. In the following months, Brite has been an outspoken and sometimes harsh critic of those who are leaving New Orleans for good. He was quoted in the New York Times and elsewhere as saying, in reference to those considering leaving, "If you’re ever lucky enough to belong somewhere, if a place takes you in and you take it into yourself, you don't desert it just because it can kill you. There are things more valuable than life."
Series
Books

Fear Of The Unknown
2005

The Value of X
2003

Ukus pelina
1993

Stay Awake
2000

Exquisite Corpse
1996

D*U*C*K
2007

Are You Loathsome Tonight?
A Collection of Short Stories
1998

SELF-MADE MAN
1999

Antediluvian Tales
2007

Guilty but Insane
2001

Prime
2005

Liquor
2004

The Crystal Empire
Novella
2016

Wrong Things
2001

Doctor Brite
All stories starring the character Dr. Brite, coroner in New Orleans.
2016

Zombies
Encounters with the Hungry Dead
2009

Soul Kitchen
2006

Drawing Blood
1993

Mussolini and the Axeman's Jazz & Are You Loathsome Tonight?
1995

Last Wish & The Gulf
2016

The Feast Of St. Rosalie
2003

The Crow
The Lazarus Heart
1998

Used Stories
2004

The Living Dead
2008

Courtney Love
The Real Story
1997

Lost Souls
1992