L.Z. Hansen known to her friends as Zoe, came to New York City in 1984 at seventeen years old from London England. She settled in the East Village pre gentrification, and worked as a hair and makeup stylist for downtown celebrities and musicians.

In 1987 Zoe moved into The Chelsea Hotel (the old room 100, now 102) while working in the sex industry to support an increasingly large heroin habit.

Finally sober in 1996 she decided to stay in the sex industry and open her own brothels; which proved to be highly successful.

Hansen always had a love of words and was a gifted writer as a child, it just took her a long time to get to the point in her life where she was able to concentrate and develop her talents and make a career from her writing.

Zoe’s first story was published in the acclaimed Ho’s Hookers Call Girls and Rent Boys, where she was mentioned on the front page of The New York Times Book review.

In The Unbearables, Big Book of Sex- a short story called ‘Brothel work’- an underground outlaw literary work of art. She has also had countless articles and short stories published on various online magazines and blogs. After her short story ‘Sid’ received 7000 hits on itunes in 3 weeks and was published on Carnal Nation she became the ‘sex industry‘ story teller of the L.E.S.

Wanting to move on from that area, she wrote a short story called ‘Life With Lucky’ a true story about a boyfriend of hers who robs a bank in a hilarious bungling mess, and gets away with it. She has performed Life with Lucky with the talented St Revjen Miller to rave reviews, and is considering broadening it to a full scale play.

Hansen is a known performer/reader in the New York area, and can be found at various series telling her  often harrowing, scary, yet always entertaining tales of life in New York City during the 1980s. She co-hosted the monthly Sex Workers Literati from 2010-2011, which became highly popular amongst the underground literary crowd. She is currently planning another literary night with Mary ‘Raff’ Raffaele, former ‘Cycle Sluts from Hell’ band member, and writer. Which shall include the works from New York writers, and those visiting, a touch of Rock n Roll, twirl of Burlesque, the theme is always true & hilarious, underground & filthy.

Hansen continues to live in the East Village with her husband and child, while working on a chick lit novel based lightly on her life, called “Going Down in Gotham.” About love, life, the L.E.S and finding herself amongst the pregentrification rubble of Avenue B.