Julie R. Enszer's Blog, page 32

Projects, or how one little idea becomes a whole Megillah

  

Well, it’s summer. I, like everyone, still have a million and one commitments, including teaching a summer class, but this week there has been some time. I worked on a few new poems. I updated some of my project lists. David Allen, my productivity guru, says that most professionals have between forty and sixty active projects that have our attention at any given time. This is true for me. While reviewing projects this time, however, I realized that I do not list creative projects individually in my project lists. I have simply generic projects like, publish the next book of poems, or write book reviews, or read lesbian fiction. These work fine, but in reflecting on things, I realize how many large projects I have in mind for my creative work that I have not committed to on paper (or virtually as I use this great tool for my project management system.)

So I am contemplating the creative projects that are a gleam in my eye. While reflecting on these projects, I am thinking about how one small idea triggers more related idea and then suddenly the one small idea becomes a whole Megillah. Does this happen to other people? Or are there only some of us that cannot quite leave well enough alone? Some of us for whom every little itch has to be scratched?

I am not going to disclose all of my Megillah creative projects here, but I will give a few examples of how a small idea becomes a Megillah. This year, the lovely William over at Lambda Literary asked me to review a new lesbian novel by Helen Humphreys. I loved the book; I decided to read another book of hers. Suddenly, I want to read her full oeuvre. Humphreys was born in the UK but now lives in Canada. This connects in my mind with the great experience I had reading Sarah Waters’s new book, The Paying Guests. After reading that, I thought, I should read more of Waters’s books. I do not think I have read on of her novels since the first, Tipping the Velvet. So I picked up a few of her earlier titles and read those. Now I am deep into reading two lesbian authors with UK connections and so I am thinking about how they compare to Emma Donoghoe and Jeannette Winterson. And so it goes.

Poets talk about how one poem grows into a sequence. At first, without consciousness. Then it becomes a productive area to explore. A sequence, a book. Sometimes when you read an author’s complete works, the obsessions become clear and evident. Sometimes you can see where they begin. Not always. I think that they sneak up on people.

Maybe it is like the oysters and sand. One small grain. Though more than just getting under the skin, ideas that become Megillahs seem to leap from the mind, from the body, into the air. They circulate in the world and we follow them. Or at least, I do.

I am going to spend part of my summer thinking through my Megillahs. I want to turn them into projects that I can work on just like I keep the cars in good repair and the animals attended to by the vet. I think part of the reason why I had not made them into projects is that I think of the Megillahs as being less like big books and more like delicate butterflies. I do not want to crush them. I want them to live. I want to fly away with them.

Photo Credit: https://butterflymoms.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/butterfly-flying-in-book.jpg

Filed under: personal writing, poetry Tagged: creativity, wriitng projects

Letters between Poets

  Photo credit: Carl Van Vechten, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marianne_Moore

Recently, I have been reading the letters of Marianne Moore. I am not a huge Marianne Moore fan. Yes, I know for some this will be a heresy. I find Moore in her poetry to be priggish. I was rereading some essays by Maxine Kumin, however, and Kumin raved about the Moore letters. Kumin’s recommendation and the ability to procure the letters inexpensively landed the book on my nightstand. When I am too tired to read a novel, I dip in and read a few letters from Moore. And I find her enchanting. Yes, the priggish Moore I knew through the poems becomes human, interesting, vulnerable, smart, witty, and deeply engaged in the world in her letters. What a delight.

This experience is part of why I love reading letters: letters remake people with a more humanity. Moore has a great correspondence with HD and Bryher–and I am sure there are others I will discover as I wend my way through the thick volume.

Letters also remind me of the daily-ness of life. Reading collections of poetry, for example, I am often left to marvel at the brilliance which creates such finely formed poems, at the mind and eye that put the poems together so artfully into a fully collection. Letters fill in the blanks. They show the daily-ness of life. The inevitable insecurities. The mundane things all people do routinely. Letters are human; poems divine. I love them both.

I love the letters of Elizabeth Bishop (there are many volumes; all are excellent), the beautiful brief correspondence between Leslie Marmon Silko and James Wright before Wright’s death (though if you get it, look for the earlier yellow cover; I prefer it. I think you will, too.), and the collection of letters exchanged between Denise Levertov and Robert Duncan, while a doorstop, is moving and worth the weight.

I also love letters because writing letters is part of my daily writing practice. In the course of a year, I probably send over 365 letters through the mail. I correspond regularly via mail with a few friends. I write letters in response to letter that people send me as the editor of Sinister Wisdom. I write letters of love and admiration to writers. Letter writing is an intellectual practice and a personal passion.

I am working on editing a letter exchange of some notable poets (more about that later, perhaps this summer, perhaps in the fall), and I hope to live long enough to read published letters of Adrienne Rich and Marilyn Hacker. There is also a trove of letters from Barbara Grier that would be a gripping collection. Whose letters do you love? Whose letters need to be edited, collected, and published? To whom are you writing a letter today?

Filed under: Uncategorized

Jane Rule’s Library

 

Photo credit: http://worldwidegreeneyes.com/style-fashion-portraits/jane-rule/

Recent updates from Bolerium, the awesome radical used bookseller, indicate to me that Jane Rule’s library has been dissambled and is being sold, book by book. You can buy a copy of Eloise Klein Healy’s collection of poetry inscribed to Rule and her long time partner Helen Sonthoff. Or pick up a few books by Margaret Atwood, also inscribed or Rule and Sonthoff. Sales like this is a boon for collectors. For bibliophiles, the only thing better than finding a beloved copy of a used or rare book is finding one owned by a notable author with inscriptions to and marginalia of that author.

Yet, I am sad about the dissembling of Rule’s library. Consider William Morris for instance. His library remains intact and is now being digitized for scholars. Why is the same time and attention not being given to Rule? Without diminishing the significance of Morris, I want us to contemplate the significance of Rule. Why is her  library being dissembled? Why is her library not worthy of being kept intact, of being digitized like Morris’s library? What do we need to do to make lesbian’s literary work as significant as the works of heterosexual and homosexual white men?

Filed under: Uncategorized

21 Leaders for the 21st Century

I was thrilled to be honored by Women’s eNews this week as one of their 21 Leaders for the 21st century. A great evening in New York with an amazing group of women.

Here are my comments on accepting the award:

Poet Minnie Bruce Pratt writes, “I often think of a poem as a door that opens / 
into a room where I want to go.” 


My work opens doors for lesbians–doors that invite all of us to know the vital role of lesbians in broad cultural conversations. 


Bread and wine feed the body; poetry and cultural work feed the soul. Women in erotic relationships with other women, women who build lives centered around women, are vital contributors to the music of our soul. My work is to preserve their words; my work helps us hear their music.


I am grateful to Women’s eNews and Rita Henley Jensen for this recognition; I am thrilled to be recognized with these twenty other phenomenal women; I extend my continuous gratitude and love to my wife, Kim Sherrill, here with me tonight. She makes my work possible.


I end with a poem. Elana Dykewomon’s collection of new and selected poems, What Can I Ask , just published as a Sinister Wisdom Sapphic Classic. Dykewomon writes,


If you were my home
I would be your garden


If I was your garden    I would want you
to cultivate me  to plant water weed harvest
and like I promised    I would feed you


You can always eat what straggles up or
what’s gone to seed  but     nothing will be
as sweet    as the taste of the womon
you tended purposefully
Filed under: Uncategorized

Baltimore, Still on My Mind

Two of my favorite Baltimoreans have weighed in with their reactions about what is happening in Baltimore. David Simon, creator of The Wire, discussed it here, and poet, librarian, and man formerly about town (now in exile in Brooklyn), blogs about it here. I have been haunted today by the imagined image of the Orioles playing today at 2:05 pm in an empty stadium and cheered by posts from friends living in Baltimore describing going out to locally owned restaurants, spending money and celebrating curfew specials.

How can we change the relationship between the police and communities of color? What will bring about a radical change in how we live in cities, towns, and hamlets? Big questions. In the more immediate term, I am waiting to hear the autopsy results on Friday.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Loving the Imperfect World

My day started at 5:48 am with an automated calling letting the household know that the Citi offices in Baltimore were closed for the day. The information was not particularly useful as the Citi employee is in New York working from her office there today. While not useful, it was information that shaped my day. I fell back into a semi-conscious dream state mulling about rebellions in Baltimore and burning buildings. Last night, I saw a Facebook post from a friend in Baltimore of neighbors cleaning streets. I thought the the ruckus was over when I signed off around ten in the evening. It was not. It continued through the night. Today some businesses were closed. The first two hours or so of my day were filled with the wild imaginings of dream of a city I know and love, gripped with anger, refusal, defiance, love, and fear.

I woke late. Walked the two dogs separately. Neither have good enough manners to not bark ferociously when they see other dogs and two dogs at over 120 pounds each doing that simultaneously is too much for my arms to bear. Still the neighborhood as quite even in the commuting hours of the morning. I thought about Baltimore. I thought about Freddie Grey and his spine and the injury that led to his death and the shock and anger and disbelief after his death.

I made a cappuccino for breakfast. There were things I was supposed to do this morning in the time between morning rituals and leaving for campus to teach. I did none of them. I read the Baltimore Sun. Then I looked at images from friends gathered outside the U.S. Supreme Court this morning. A big day as Mary Bonauto argued on behalf of gay couples nationwide that we should have the right to marry. Now everyone knows, post the MacArthur Award, she is brilliant. And the photos from the rally? Happy and boisterous, celebratory and hopeful. From my home twelve miles away, I cheered.

I want to celebrate a big win at the Supreme Court in June. I want this advance to not correspond with other setbacks. But I know it will. I want Baltimore and Detroit to be vibrant livable cities with related streets, well maintained homes, integrated neighborhoods, thriving local businesses and a smattering of chain stores, enough to satisfy the consumer needs, but not enough to drive out the important locally owned businesses. I want the tension between citizens and the police to be spoken and resolvable; I want our cities to be safe, not overly policed, but engaged with thinking about public safety, security, trust. I want fires to be accidents; I want deaths to be infrequent; I want rebuilding to be about maintaining and upgrading, not recovering from neglect, violence, and marginalization.

I want Emma and Tibe to walk peacefully together in the neighborhood, making friends with other dogs. I want Vita to not wander outside where the fox lives. I want racial healing AND racial justice. I want the Supremes to recognize same-sex marriages and I want marriage to be less significant, less societally necessary, less economically urgent. I want to continue loving the imperfect world until it reaches perfect perfection.

Filed under: personal writing Tagged: baltimore, imperfect world, perfection, rebellion, supreme court

Lying in Love

I remember clearly a favorite album of my mother with a song that included the lyrics, “Lying in love with you, that’s all I want to do.” The song has been rattling around in my head since we adopted the new pup, Tiberius. Tibe, as I call him, is another biggie. Some type of Mastiff mutt. The rescue from where we adopted him said he was three years old, but our vet says he is probably now fifteen months old and will add another twenty to forty pounds. In spite of the fact that right now he has few manners and he barks like a crazed dog whenever we see other dogs, he is a delight. Tibe is more cuddly than other dogs we have had lately. He is happy to get up in bed with you, curl up, press his whole body against yours.

Vita, the kitten, also loves lots of cuddly-doo time. She comes up to my desk each morning and insists on no typing and just lots of good, full body rubbing. She especially likes to wrap herself around my neck and purr and purr and purr. She too likes to curl up on the bed, or the couch in the office and take naps while watching the rainbows generated by our very cool solar operated crystal spinner. Lying in love with you

Neither Vita nor Tibe are concerned about how many pages I read each day, how many words I write. They want to know that my lap, my hand, my love is available to them at any moment they demand. Even as I write this, Tibe cuddles up next to me on the couch, pressing against me while he licks his paw, tries to calm himself from a frenzy of barking. Lying in love with you

I love this time of lying in love. The honest and unconcerned way that both demand it. They do not care about any other commitments I have, they only care about their time on the bed, in the chair, on the desk, on the couch. They want to know that I love them. That I have the time for them. That we can lie together, touching one another a little bit each day. Lying in love with you

I looked up the lyrics as I thought about writing about this experience. The song was on an album by Jim Ed Brown and Helen Cornelius released in 1979. That seems later than I remember. I thought we were running around singing these lyrics earlier in my life. Here are the lines I remember, the lines I have been humming while lying with Vita and Tibe:

Lying in love with you today that all I want to do
Won’t hurt to tell a white lie or two when I’m lying in love with you
Read more at http://www.songlyrics.com/jim-ed-brown-helen-cornelius/lying-in-love-with-you-1979-lyrics/#xkpQ8MzDy6fl8jAB.99

Who are you lying in love with? What would it take for you to drop things more off and cuddle up doing nothing but watching afternoon rainbows?

Filed under: Uncategorized

2014 Publisher’s Triangle Awards

Finalists Announced for Best LGBT Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Debut Fiction Published in 2014

We are proud to announce the finalists for the 27th annual Triangle Awards, honoring the best LGBT fiction, nonfiction, and poetry published in 2014.

Finalists for the Audre Lorde Award for Lesbian Poetry

How a Mirage Works, by Beverly Burch (Sixteen Rivers Press)

Last Psalm at Sea Level, by Meg Day (Barrow Street Press)

Like a Beggar, by Ellen Bass (Copper Canyon Press)

Tiger Heron, by Robin Becker (University of Pittsburgh Press)

Finalists for the Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry

I Don’t Know Do You, by Roberto Montes (Ampersand Books)

The New Testament, by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press)

Prelude to Bruise, by Saeed Jones (Coffee House Press)

The Selected Poetry of Pier Paolo Pasolini: A Bilingual Edition, edited and translated by Stephen Sartarelli (University of Chicago Press)

Finalists for the Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction

Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around: 40 Years of Movement Building with Barbara Smith, by Barbara Smith; edited by Alethia Jones and Virginia Eubanks (SUNY Press)

A Cup of Water Under My Bed, by Daisy Hernandez (Beacon Press)

Eating Fire: My Life as a Lesbian Avenger, by Kelly Cogswell (University of Minnesota Press)

The End of Eve, by Ariel Gore (Hawthorne Books)

Finalists for the Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction

Gay Berlin: Birthplace of a Modern Identity, by Robert Beachy (Alfred A. Knopf)

Hold Tight Gently, by Martin Duberman (The New Press)

The Prince of Los Cocuyos, by Richard Blanco (Ecco/HarperCollins)

Wagstaff: Before and After Mapplethorpe, by Philip Gefter (Liveright/W.W. Norton)

Finalists for the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction

For Today I Am a Boy, by Kim Fu (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Little Reef and Other Stories, by Michael Carroll (Univ. of Wisconsin Press)

New York 1, Tel Aviv 0, by Shelly Oria (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Unaccompanied Minors, by Alden Jones (New American Press)

Finalists for the Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBT Fiction

All I Love and Know, by Judith Frank (William Morrow/HarperCollins)

I Loved You More, by Tom Spanbauer (Hawthorne Books)

Mr. Loverman, by Bernardine Evaristo (Akashic Books)

Sideways Down the Sky, by Barry Brennessel (MLR Press)

When Everything Feels Like the Movies, by Raziel Reid (Arsenal Pulp Press)

The winners will be announced at our awards ceremony on April 23, 2015, at the Auditorium of the New School (66 West 12th Street in New York City) at 7 p.m. The ceremony is free and open to the public.

Rigoberto González Receives Whitehead Award

Rigoberto González is the 2015 recipient of the Publishing Triangle’s Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement, named in honor of the legendary editor of the 1970s and 1980s. This honor, which carries the largest cash prize in LGBT letters, will be presented at our awards ceremony on April 23, 2015, in New York City.

Rigoberto González is the author of four books of poetry — most recently, Unpeopled Eden, which was a finalist last year for the Publishing Triangle’s Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry and won the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry. His ten books of prose comprise two bilingual children’s books; the three young adult novels in the Mariposa Club series; the novel Crossing Vines; the story collection Men Without Bliss; and three books of nonfiction, including Butterfly Boy: Memories of a Chicano Mariposa, which was a finalist for the Publishing Triangle’s Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction and received the American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation.

González has also edited Camino del Sol: Fifteen Years of Latina and Latino Writing and a volume of the poet Alurista’s work, Xicano Duende. He is the recipient of, among others, a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Barnes & Noble Writer for Writers Award.

González is contributing editor for Poets & Writers magazine, sits on the executive board of directors of the National Book Critics Circle, and is professor of English at Rutgers-Newark, the State University of New Jersey.

The Bill Whitehead Award is given to a man in odd-numbered years and to a woman in even years, and the winner receives $3000.

Filed under: Uncategorized

27th Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists Announced

27th Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists Announced

Another Record-Breaking Year of Submissions

Awards Ceremony: Monday, June 1, 2015 in New York City

Early Bird Gala Tickets On-Sale Now

Los Angeles, CA – The 27th Annual Lambda Literary Awards – or the “Lammys,” as they are affectionately known – kick off another record-breaking year with today’s announcement of the finalists. They were chosen from a record 818 submissions (up from 746 last year) from 407 publishers (up from 352 last year). Submissions came from major mainstream publishers and from academic presses, from both long-established and new LGBT publishers, as well as from emerging publish-on-demand technologies. Pioneer and Trustee Award honorees, the master of ceremonies, and presenters will be announced in April. The winners will be announced at a gala ceremony on Monday evening, June 1, 2015 in New York City.

“Each year, the Lammys bring national attention to the best LGBTQ books, which are often overlooked by the mainstream media and might otherwise be forgotten,” said Lambda Literary Board President, S. Chris Shirley. “This critical program of Lambda Literary not only recognizes the outstanding work of these talented authors, but also underscores the importance of LGBTQ stories, which are fundamental to the preservation of our culture.”

Now in their twenty-seventh year, the Lambda Literary Awards celebrate achievement in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) writing for books published in 2014. The awards ceremony on June 1, 2015, will be held for the third straight year at the historic Great Hall at Cooper Union (7 East 7th Street, New York City 10003). A VIP After-Party presented by Scholastic at its SOHO rooftop space will follow. For more information and to buy tickets, please visit LL’s website.

More than 100 literary professionals, including booksellers, book reviewers, librarians, authors, and previous Lammy winners and finalists volunteered countless hours of reading, critical thinking, and invigorating discussion to select the finalists in 24 categories.

“On behalf of Lambda’s staff and board, we congratulate this year’s finalists for their outstanding achievement among a field of submissions chock-full of talent,” said Lambda Literary Executive Director, Tony Valenzuela. “I’d also like to thank our deeply dedicated judges who read and deliberate the submitted books. Theirs is a tremendous contribution to our literary communities.”

Tickets for the Lambda Literary Awards ceremony and after-party go on sale today. For information, visit http://lambdaliterary.org/awards/buy-tickets/ and join the conversation by following the hashtag #Lammys on Twitter. Early bird tickets at discounted prices are available for the entire month of March. Tickets for the ceremony only are $125. Tickets for the ceremony plus VIP after-party are $225. Prices will increase by $25 beginning April 1st.

Lambda Literary Awards Corporate Sponsors

The Lammys are annually blessed by generous corporate sponsors. The 27th Annual Lambda Literary Awards Corporate Sponsors to date are: President’s Circle Level: Scholastic; Benefactor Level: Random House/Ballantine Bantam Dell, Ketel One Vodka; Patron Level: American Institute of Bisexuality, Barnes & Noble, Penguin Random House; Friend Level: Barefoot Wine & Bubbly, Bold Strokes Books, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Riptide Publishing, Samhain Publishing. For corporate sponsorship information, visit LL’s website.

For general information visit Lambda Literary’s website at http://www.lambdaliterary.org/awards/

2015 Lambda Literary Awards Host Committee

Co-Chairs: Jerome Murphy, Amy Scholder

John Bateman

Kevin Brannon

Jamie Brickhouse

Michael Carosone

Michael Carroll

Paul Dierkes

Dick Donahue

Michael Fauver

Paul Florez

Roman Freeser

David Gale

Antonio Gonzalez

David Groff

William Johnson

Michele Karlsberg

Elizabeth Koke

Melanie LaRosa

Joseph A. LoGuidice

Mario Lopez-Cordero

Bill Miller

Dan Manjovi

Nick Nicholson

Angelo Nikolopoulos

Julia Pastore

Lori Perkins

Charles Rice-Gonzalez

Patrick Ryan

Eddie Sarfaty

Karen Schechner

S. Chris Shirley

Rachel Simon

Bob Smith

Jason Wells

27th Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists

Note: The number of finalists in a category is determined by the number of submissions in that category.

LESBIAN FICTION

Adult Onset, Ann-Marie Macdonald, Tin House Books

Last Words of Montmartre, Qiu Miaojin, Translated by Ari Larissa Heinrich, New York Review Books

Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932, Francine Prose, Harper Collins/Harper

Miracle Girls, MB Caschetta, Engine Books

New York 1, Tel Aviv 0, Shelly Oria, FSG Originals/Farrar, Straus and Giroux

The Palace Blues, Brandy T. Wilson, Spinsters Ink

The Paying Guests, Sarah Waters, Riverhead Books, Penguin Random House

Yabo, Alexis De Veaux, RedBone Press

GAY FICTION

All I Love and Know, Judith Frank, HarperCollins/William Morrow

Barracuda, Christos Tsiolkas, Hogarth

Bitter Eden: A Novel, Tatamkhulu Afrika, Macmillan/Picador USA

The City of Palaces, Michael Nava, University of Wisconsin Press

I Loved You More, Tom Spanbauer, Hawthorne Books

Little Reef and Other Stories, Michael Carroll, Terrace Books, an imprint of the University of Wisconsin Press

Next to Nothing: Stories, Keith Banner, Lethe Press

Souljah, John R. Gordon, Angelica Entertainments Ltd/Team Angelica Publishing

BISEXUAL FICTION

Best Bi Short Stories: Bisexual Fiction, Sheela Lambert editor, Gressive Press, an imprint of Circlet Press

Extraordinary Adventures of Mullah Nasruddin, Ron J. Suresha, Lethe Press

Finder of Lost Objects, Susie Hara, Ithuriel’s Spear

Give It to Me, Ana Castillo, The Feminist Press

She of the Mountains, Vivek Shraya, Arsenal Pulp Press

TRANSGENDER FICTION

Everything Must Go, La JohnJoseph, ITNA PRESS

For Today I Am a Boy, Kim Fu, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Moving Forward Sideways like a Crab, Shani Mootoo, Doubleday Canada

Revolutionary: A Novel, Alex Myers, Simon and Schuster

A Safe Girl To Love, Casey Plett, Topside Press

LGBT DEBUT FICTION

Death in Venice, California, Vinton Rafe McCabe, The Permanent Press

Kill Marguerite and Other Stories, Megan Milks, Emergency Press

A Map of Everything, Elizabeth Earley, Jaded Ibis Press

The Music Teacher, Bob Sennett, Lethe Press

Nochita, Dia Felix, City Lights/Sister Spit

Part the Hawser, Limn the Sea, Dan Lopez, Chelsea Station Editions

Unaccompanied Minors, Alden Jones, New American Press

The Walk-In Closet, Abdi Nazemian, Curtis Brown Unlimited

LGBT NONFICTION

An American Queer: The Amazon Trail, Lee Lynch, Bold Strokes Books

Hold Tight Gently: Michael Callen, Essex Hemphill, and the Battlefield of AIDS, Martin Duberman, The New Press

The Invisible Orientation: An Introduction to Asexuality, Julie Sondra Decker, Skyhorse Publishing/Carrel Books

Nevirapine and the Quest to End Pediatric AIDS, Rebecca J. Anderson, McFarland

Robert Gober: The Heart Is Not a Metaphor, Hilton Als, Ann Temkin, Claudia Carson, Robert Gober, Paulina Pobocha, Christian Scheidemann, The Museum of Modern Art

Sexplosion: From Andy Warhol to A Clockwork Orange, How a Generation of Pop Rebels Broke All the Taboos, Robert Hofler, It Books/HarperCollins

The Transgender Archives: Foundations for the Future, Aaron H. Devor, University of Victoria Libraries

The Up Stairs Lounge Arson: Thirty-Two Deaths in a New Orleans Gay Bar, June 24, 1973, Clayton Delery-Edwards, McFarland

BISEXUAL NONFICTION

Fire Shut Up In My Bones, Charles M. Blow, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Not My Father’s Son, Alan Cumming, HarperCollins Publishers/Dey Street Books

Recognize: The Voices of Bisexual Men, Editors: Robyn Ochs & H. Sharif Williams, Bisexual Resource Center

TRANSGENDER NONFICTION

Man Alive: A True Story of Violence, Forgiveness and Becoming a Man, Thomas Page McBee, City Lights/Sister Spit

Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love and So Much More, Janet Mock, Atria Books

Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource for the Transgender Community, Laura Erickson-Schroth, Oxford University Press

LESBIAN POETRY

Haiti Glass, Lenelle Moïse, City Lights/Sister Spit

Janey’s Arcadia, Rachel Zolf, Coach House Books

Last Psalm at Sea Level, Meg Day, Barrow Street Press

Like a Begger, Ellen Bass, Copper Canyon Press

MxT, Sina Queyras, Coach House Books

Mysterious Acts by My People, Valerie Wetlaufer, Sibling Rivalry Press

Only Ride, Megan Volpert, Sibling Rivalry Press

Termination Dust, Susanna Mishler, Red Hen Press/Boreal

GAY POETRY

[insert] boy, Danez Smith, YesYes Books

Clean, David J. Daniels, Four Way Books

Don’t Go Back To Sleep, Timothy Liu, Saturnalia Books

ECODEVIANCE: (Soma)tics for the Future Wilderness, CAConrad, Wave Books

The New Testament, Jericho Brown, Copper Canyon Press

Prelude to Bruise, Saeed Jones, Coffee House Press

This Life Now, Michael Broder, A Midsummer Night’s Press

This Way to the Sugar, Hieu Minh Nguyen, Write Bloody Publishing

LESBIAN MYSTERY

The Acquittal, Anne Laughlin, Bold Strokes Books

Done to Death, Charles Atkins, Severn House Publishers

The Old Deep and Dark-A Jane Lawless Mystery, Ellen Hart, Minotaur Books

Slash and Burn, Valerie Bronwen, Bold Strokes Books

UnCatholic Conduct, Stevie Mikayne, Bold Strokes Books

GAY MYSTERY

Blackmail, My Love: A Murder Mystery, Katie Gilmartin, Cleis Press

Boystown 6: From the Ashes, Marshall Thornton, MLR

Calvin’s Head, David Swatling, Bold Strokes Books

DeadFall, David Lennon, BlueSpike Publishing

Fair Game, Josh Lanyon, Carina Press

A Gathering Storm, Jameson Currier, Chelsea Station Editions

Moon Over Tangier, Janice Law, Open Road Media

The Next, Rafe Haze, Wilde City Press

LESBIAN MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY

Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around: Forty Years of Movement Building with Barbara Smith, Alethia Jones and Virginia Eubanks, with Barbara Smith,  SUNY Press

Cease – a memoir of love, loss and desire, Lynette Loeppky, Oolichan Books

Eating Fire: My Life as a Lesbian Avenger, Kelly Cogswell, The University of Minnesota Press

The End of Eve, Ariel Gore, Hawthorne Books

Under This Beautiful Dome: A Senator, A Journalist, and the Politics of Gay Love in America, Terry Mutchler, Seal Press

GAY MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY

Body Counts: A Memoir of Politics, Sex, AIDS, and Survival, Sean Strub, Scribner

Charles Walters: The Director Who Made Hollywood Dance, Brent Phillips, University Press of Kentucky

Closets, Combat and Coming Out:  Coming Of Age As A Gay Man In The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Army, Rob Smith, Blue Beacon Books by Regal Crest

Inside a Pearl: My Years in Paris, Edmund White, Bloomsbury

Letter to Jimmy, Alain Mabanckou, translated by Sara Meli Ansari, Counterpoint/Soft Skull Press

The Prince of Los Cocuyos, Richard Blanco, HarperCollins/Ecco

Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh, John Lahr, W. W. Norton & Company

Wagstaff: Before and After Mapplethorpe, Philip Gefter, W. W. Norton & Company/Liveright

LESBIAN ROMANCE

Christmas Crush, Kate McLachlan, Regal Crest

The Farmer’s Daughter, Robbi McCoy, Bella Books

The Heat of Angels, Lisa Girolami, Bold Strokes Books

Jolt, Kris Bryant, Bold Strokes Books

Nightingale, Andrea Bramhall, Bold Strokes Books

Seneca Falls, Jesse J. Thoma, Bold Strokes Books

Tangled Roots, Marianne K. Martin, Bywater Books

That Certain Something, Clare Ashton, Breezy Tree Press

GAY ROMANCE

The Companion, Lloyd A. Meeker, Dreamspinner Press

Everything’s Coming Up Roses: Four Tales of M/M Romance, Barry Lowe, Lydian Press

Foolish Hearts: New Gay Fiction, Timothy Lambert and R.D. Cochrane, Cleis Press

Like They Always Been Free, Georgina Li, Queer Young Cowboys

Message of Love, Jim Provenzano, Myrmidude Press/CreateSpace

The Passion of Sergius & Bacchus, A Novel of Truth, David Reddish, DoorQ Publishing

Pulling Leather, L.C. Chase, Riptide Publishing

Salvation: A Novel of the Civil War, Jeff Mann, Bear Bones Books

LESBIAN EROTICA

All You Can Eat. A Buffet of Lesbian Erotica and Romance, Andi Marquette and R.G. Emanuelle, Ylva Publishing

Forbidden Fruit: stories of unwise lesbian desire, Cheyenne Blue, Ladylit Publishing

Lesbian Sex Bible, Diana Cage, Quiver Books

GAY EROTICA

Bears of Winter, Jerry Wheeler, Bear Bones Books

Incubus Tales, Hushicho, Circlet Press

The King, Tiffany Reisz, MIRA Books

Leather Spirit Stallion, Raven Kaldera, Circlet Press

The Thief Taker, William Holden, Bold Strokes Books

LGBT ANTHOLOGY

Black Gay Genius: Answering Joseph Beam’s Call, Charles Stephens and Steven G. Fullwood, Vintage Entity Press

A Family by Any Other Name: Exploring Queer Relationships, Bruce Gillespie, TouchWood Editions

Outer Voices Inner Lives, Mark McNease and Stephen Dolainski (co-editors), MadeMark Publishing

The Queer South: LGBTQ Writers on the American South, Douglas Ray, Editor, Sibling Rivalry Press

Understanding and Teaching US Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History, Leila J. Rupp & Susan K. Freeman, University of Wisconsin Press

LGBT CHILDREN’S/YOUNG ADULT

Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out, Susan Kuklin, Candlewick Press

Double Exposure, Bridget Birdsall, Sky Pony Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing

Five, Six, Seven, Nate!, Tim Federle, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Forgive Me If I’ve Told You This Before, Karelia Stetz-Waters, Ooligan Press

Lies We Tell Ourselves, Robin Talley, Harlequin Teen

Pukawiss the Outcast, Jay Jordan Hawke, Dreamspinner Press/Harmony Ink Press

This is Not a Love Story, Suki Fleet, Dreamspinner Press/Harmony Ink Press

When Everything Feels like the Movies, Raziel Reid, Arsenal Pulp Press

LGBT DRAMA

The Beast of Times, Adelina Anthony, Kórima Press

Bootycandy, Robert O’Hara, Samuel French

A Kid Like Jake, Daniel Pearle, Dramatists Play Service

The Whale, Samuel D. Hunter, Samuel French

Wolves, Steve Yockey, Samuel French

LGBT GRAPHIC NOVELS

100 Crushes, Elisha Lim, Koyama Press

Band Vs. Band Comix Volume 1, Kathleen Jacques, Paper Heart Comix

Pregnant Butch: Nine Long Months Spent in Drag, A.K. Summers, Soft Skull, an imprint of Counterpoint

Second Avenue Caper, Joyce Brabner; Art by Mark Zingarelli, Hill and Wang, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Snackies, Nick Sumida, Youth in Decline

LGBT SF/F/HORROR

Afterparty, Daryl Gregory, Tor Books

Bitter Waters, Chaz Brenchley, Lethe Press

Butcher’s Road, Lee Thomas, Lethe Press

Child of a Hidden Sea, A. M. Dellamonica, Tor Books

Full Fathom Five, Max Gladstone, Tor Books

FutureDyke, Lea Daley, Bella Books

Skin Deep Magic, Craig Laurance Gidney, Rebel Satori Press

LGBT STUDIES

After Love: Queer Intimacy and Erotic Economies in Post-Soviet Cuba, Noelle M. Stout, Duke University Press

Charity & Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America, Rachel Hope Cleves, Oxford University Press

Delectable Negro: Human Consumption and Homoeroticism within US Slave Culture, Vincent Woodard, Ed. Justin A. Joyce and Dwight McBride, New York University Press

Queen for a Day: Transformistas, Beauty Queens, and the Performance of Femininity in Venezuela, Marcia Ochoa, Duke University Press

The Queerness of Native American Literature, Lisa Tatonetti, The University of Minnesota Press

Sexual Futures, Queer Gestures, and Other Latina Longings, Juana Maria Rodriguez, New York University Press

The Sexuality of History: Modernity and the Sapphic, Susan S. Lanser, University of Chicago Press

Under Bright Lights: Gay Manila and the Global Scene, Bobby Benedicto, University of Minnesota Press

About Lambda Literary:

Lambda Literary believes Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer literature is fundamental to the preservation of our culture, and that LGBTQ lives are affirmed when our stories are written, published and read. LL’s programs include: the Lambda Literary Awards, the Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices, LGBTQ Writers in Schools, and our web magazine The Lambda Literary Review at http://www.LambdaLiterary.org. For more information call (323) 643-4281 or e-mail admin@lambdaliterary.org.

Join the conversation by following the Twitter hashtag #Lammys. Learn more at http://www.LambdaLiterary.org and connect with us on  facebook.com/LambdaLiterary and twitter.com/LambdaLiterary.

For more information:

Tony Valenzuela, Executive Director

Lambda Literary

5482 Wilshire Blvd, #1595

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323-376-6801 (Mobile)

Filed under: Uncategorized

On Empathy

For the past few years, I have been spending some time around Valentine’s Day working at my friends’ amazing flower shop in Alexandria, VA. It is lovely to be around so many long-stemmed red roses in the middle of winter and to have a glimpse into the happiness that love can bring to people. It is also a retail environment, filled with stress and pressure to deliver beauty and joy on a very particular time schedule. Two true stories:

On gentleman called worried that the flowers he sent to his girlfriend would be delivered while she was out. Valentine’s Day this year was a Saturday. His girlfriend was running errands. I explained to him carefully that it was both too cold to leave fresh cut flowers and that we could not make any guarantees about delivery times on this day. He was indignant. I understood. He paid a lot of money for the flowers, but we were working as hard as possible to ensure all of our deliveries were done and could not make any guarantees, particularly at this point in the day–mid-morning on Valentine’s Day. He became increasingly angry with me. Finally, he said, well, why can’t you just make her the lat delivery of the day and bring them around 7 pm when I know she will be home getting ready for our dinner?
Another gentleman came into the store to pick up his arrangement. It was gorgeous. I asked him, is this what you were expecting? Oh, he said, this is more than I was expecting. He was pleased with his flowers and while we wrapped and boxed them for him to put in his car, he said, I know this is a really busy day for you all. I really appreciate the care you put into my flowers. What are you doing this evening for Valentine’s Day?

I always try to remember that everywhere I look I can see evidence of other people’s labor–and in seeing the evidence of that labor, I have an opportunity to appreciate it. The first customer was completely oblivious to the labor of others. It seemed to him reasonable that someone deliver his flowers at 7 p.m. on a Saturday night. As if the delivery person had nowhere else to be, no other commitments other than his satisfaction. The second customer recognized the labor around him–and that the people doing the labor were people like himself with lives, interests, and experiences separate from his flower order.

What separates these two men? Empathy. One can see other people and respond to them humanely. That seems petty straightforward to me. More vexing is the question, What happens in the world that these two people have such different perceptual capacities? How does one person end up with empathy to tread carefully in the world giving respect and appreciation to others while the other assumes he is owed service from other human beings, regardless of the reality of the situation?

Working at the flower shop, I see lots of people expect and demand service. Again, I understand that: the flower shop is selling a product and a service and people deserve to expect a particular level for both the product and the service. Yet some people’s expectations are far outside the realm of what seems reasonable. I see people with a sense of entitlement, one that far exceeds anything I can view as healthy ego engagement. How does this happen? How can we prevent it?

Empathy seems to me such an important human capacity. I wish we could develop it more for people. Interactions where we can see each other’s labor and humanity are so much more rewarding than interactions that demand unreasonable services and express disappointments in perceived failings. I appreciate my time at the flower shop as a reminder of my own need to exercise my empathy muscle. In that way, both customers gave me a Valentine’s Day present. For that, I am grateful.

Filed under: Uncategorized