“M” is Dead is a collaborative novella written by five writers
(Brian Kaufman, Annette Lapointe, Mary Ann Saunders, Michael V. Smith,
and Madeline Sonik) about a FTM (female to male) transsexual performance
artist known only as “M”. Through five voices we learn the story of M,
beginning with posthumous reminiscences from five friends who knew M in
an intimate, personal, or professional capacity. The friends only learn
of each other, and hear one another’s reflection of M, at a small,
private service organized by M’s friend and manager. Part Two is
comprised of reflections written by each of the five friends after the
service, after they have heard (and read) the words written about M by
the others.

M is Dead explores gender identity, loss, the notion of friendship,
the idea of “self,” and the social stigmatization still experienced by
many transsexual/transgendered individuals. Through the five narrative
threads we come to know M in all his layered complexity.