Manuel Betancourt

Manuel is also the author of Judy at Carnegie Hall (Bloomsbury Press, 2020), a 33 1/3 book on the cultural impact of the iconic 1961 Grammy award-winning double album that looks at Judy Garland’s place in the gay pantheon and examines her storied legacy through her most famous concert recording.

He’s one of the writers of Chad Sell’s critically acclaimed and Eisner Award-nominated graphic novel series The Cardboard Kingdom (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2018, 2021, 2023). A New York Times Summer Pick, the middle-grade title was named one of the best books of the year by Kirkus Reviews (starred review) and the New York Public Library.

Manuel is a member of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA), GALECA, The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, as well as a founding member of LEJA, Latino Entertainment Journalists Association. In 2019 he was selected to be the Writer in Residence at the Sundance Institute’s Documentary and Story Edit Lab.

Manuel holds a doctorate degree in English Literatures from Rutgers University.