The Lost Library: Gay Fiction Rediscovered (29 page)

In a similar vein to Stonewall Inn was the Quality Paperback Book Club’s line of Triangle Classics. With an inverted pink triangle emblazoned on their spines and featuring back cover photographs of the authors, Triangle Classics spanned the twentieth century. Early century books like Henry Blake Fuller’s
Bertram Cope’s Year
(1998; Alderbrink, 1919) were for the first time formally acknowledged as gay novels. Mid-century favorites – Christopher Isherwood’s
A Single Man
(1996; Simon & Schuster, 1964), James Baldwin’s
Giovanni’s Room
(1993; Dial, 1956), John Rechy’s
City of Night
(1994; Grove, 1963) – were newly hailed as gay masterpieces. Finally, QPB reprinted important gay liberation-era novels, ensuring their continued access for a new generation of readers. Robert Ferro’s
The Family of Max Desir
(1995; Dutton, 1983), Andrew Holleran’s
Dancer from the Dance
(1993; Morrow, 1978), and Patricia Nell Warren’s
The Front Runner
(2001; Morrow, 1974) were a few modern novels to receive Triangle’s canonization as classics. It was no coincidence that David Rosen and Retha Powers, who founded Triangle Classics for QPB, would go on to spearhead the creation of the first all-gay and lesbian book club, Bookspan’s Insightout Books, in summer 2000.

Post-1980s gay reprints, though, were in no way the exclusive province of large publishers. Throughout the 1990s and into the present, a variety of independent publishers have taken on the task of continuing their predecessors’ work. The
New York Review of Books
began a handsome set of paperback reprints in 1999 that has thus far included multiple gay titles. Novelist and critic J.R. Ackerley’s revelatory memoir
My Father and Myself
(1999; Bodley Head, 1968) and A.J.A. Symons’ “experiment in biography,”
The Quest for Corvo
(2001; Macmillan, 1934) show the range of
NYRB
’s gay entries, while Sylvia Townsend Warner’s Edwardian
Mr. Fortune’s Maggot
(2001; Viking, 1927), Glenway Wescott’s
Apartment in Athens
(2004; Harper, 1945) and
The Pilgrim Hawk
(2001; Harper, 1940), and James McCourt’s opera comedy
Mawrdew Czgowchwz
(2002; FSG, 1975) are representative of the fiction series.

On a smaller, sumptuous scale, Elysium Press busily continued its publishing activities in the tiny town of North Pomfret, Vermont, where it began in 1980. Founder David Deiss dedicated his publishing ventures to reviving attention in long out-of-print or overlooked gay writers and artists. Writers like Denton Welch (
A Lunch Appointment
), James Lord (
Stories of Youth
), Lord Berners (
The Girls of Radcliff Hall
), Stephen Tennant (
Two Stories
), Philippe Julian (
Marraine
), and Count Jacques d’Adelsward Fersen (
Lord Lyllian
) have all had their fiction given the lavish Elysium Press treatment, bestowed such trappings as marbled endpapers, custom-made slipcases, letterpress printing, and linen or silk bindings. Just as much collector’s items as the highly-desired original editions, Elysium’s books are reminiscent of the small, careful, often private press runs that much early gay writing received.

To bring this history up-to-date and to counter the naysayers predicting gay fiction’s demise, there is Canada’s Arsenal Pulp Press. In conjunction with longtime Canadian gay bookstore Little Sister, Arsenal Pulp has for several years been rescuing older gay and lesbian novels through its Little Sister’s Classics reprint project. Each introduced by a leading gay or lesbian writer and containing fascinating and valuable historical materials, the Little Sister’s authors include pulp novelists (Richard Amory, Valerie Taylor), modern writers (Larry Duplechan, Sarah Schulman), cult favorites (John Preston), and classic authors (Jane Rule, Fritz Peters). As this very essay was written, Little Sister's Classics brought back Agustin Gomez-Arcos's The Carnivorous Lamb, discussed by Richard Reitsma in the book you now hold. This serves to show that, with the dedicated effort of independent publishers – and with the financial support and interest of all readers who value gay literature – classic gay novels, those that should never be lost, can continue to find their way into the next generation’s hands.

Christopher Bram
is the author of nine novels, including
The Notorious Dr. August
and
Exiles
in America
. His fifth novel,
Gods and Monsters
, was made into the movie starring Ian McKellen and Lynn Redgrave. He lives in New York City and is currently teaching at New York University. A collection of his essays will be published this fall by Alyson Books.

Bill Brent
's sex-and-drugs memoir, “This Insane Allure,” comprises one-seventh of
Entangles Lives: Memoirs of Seven Top Erotic Authors
. His nonfiction article, “Martin Luther Goes Bowling,” appears in
Everything You Know About God is Wrong
. His best-known work is probably
The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Men
(published in French as Le Plaisir Anal {pout lui}). Bill has completed one novel, about a drug-dealing whoreboy who runs away to join the circus. Follow Bill's antics at LitBoy.com.

A detailed biography of Paul Reed and his career is at
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/reed_p.html

For information on current availability of
Vertical Intercourse,
please email:
[email protected]
.

Michael Bronski
is the author of
Culture Clash
: The Making of Gay Sensibility
(South End Press;1984) and
The Pleasure Principle
: Sex, Backlash and the Struggle for Gay Freedom
(St. Martin’s; 1998). He has edited
Flashpoint: Gay Male Sexual Writing
(Richard Kasak Books 1996) and Taking Liberties: Gay Men’s Essays on Politics, Culture and Sex. (Richard Kasak Books; 1996) and
Pulp Friction: Uncovering the
Golden Age
of Gay Male Pulps
(St. Martin’s Press, 2003.) His essays have appeared in nearly forty anthologies. As a journalist, cultural critic and political commentator he has been published in a wide array of venues including The Village Voice, The Boston Globe, GLQ, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Phoenix, and Z Magazine. He is also the editor of the “Queer Ideas” and “Queer Action” series at Beacon Press. On the non-literary side, he has been involved in gay liberation as a political organizer, writer, editor, publisher and theorist since 1969, and has been a Senior Lecturer in Women’s and Gender Studies and Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College since 2000.

Victor Bumbalo
is an award-winning playwright whose plays have been produced worldwide. He is the recipient of an Ingram Merrill Award for playwriting. Bumbalo was a finalist two years in a row for a Lambda Literary Award for his plays,
Questa
and
Niagara Falls
. Broadway Play Publishing Inc. has published
Adam and the Experts
,
Niagara Falls
,
What Are Tuesdays Like
? and
Questa
. SHOW appears in an anthology published by Applause Theatre Books Publishers, and
Tell
is included in
Gay Lesbian Plays Today
published by Heinemann.

Bumbalo has written for several popular television series:
NYPD Blue
,
American Gothic
,
Relativity
, and HBO's
Spawn
. He has also written several movies of the week. He is the founder and president of the Robert Chesley Foundation.

Tom Cardamone
is the author of the erotic fantasy novel,
The Werewolves of Central Park
and the short story collection
Pumpkin Teeth
. His work has appeared in on-line magazines and journals as well as several anthologies. He has reviewed books for
The
LAMBDA Book Report
and
Books To Watch Out For
. You can read some of his fiction at his website
www.pumpkinteeth.net
. While there you can drop him a note about any out-of-print gay fiction you would like to bring to his attention.

Philip Clark
is a Washington D.C.-area editor and writer; he has been named to the board of directors for D.C.’s Rainbow History Project and is at work on research for a potential book about H. Lynn Womack and the D.C.-based Guild Press. Essays have recently appeared in
The Golden Age of Gay Fiction
and
50 LGBT Books Everyone Should Read
. An anthology he co-edited,
Persistent Voices: Poetry by Writers Lost to AIDS
, will be released by Alyson Books in late 2009. He welcomes correspondence at
[email protected]
.

Wayne Courtois
is author of the memoir
A Report from Winter,
published by Lethe Press. His novel
My Name Is Rand
was published by Suspect Thoughts Press, and a second novel,
A Pardoner’s Tale,
is forthcoming from Lethe. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in many anthologies, including
Best Gay Erotica
and
Country Boys,
and in journals such as
The Greensboro Review
and
Harrington Gay Men’s Literary Quarterly.
As a grantwriter in the nonprofit sector, he has helped to raise millions for HIV/AIDS services, hospice care, and the arts.
He lives in Kansas City, Missouri with his longtime partner. Please visit
www.waynecourtois.com
.

Jameson Currier
is the author of a novel,
Where the Rainbow Ends
, and three collections of short stories,
Dancing on the Moon
;
Desire, Lust, Passion, Sex
; and
Still Dancing
. He blogs regularly on GLBTQ publishing at QueerType.

Larry Duplechan
is the author of five acclaimed gay-themed novels, including
Blackbird
and
Got 'til it's Gone
.

Philip Gambone
is an award-winning
writer of fiction and nonfiction. His collection of short stories,
The Language We Use Up Here
, and his novel,
Beijing
, were each nominated for a Lambda Literary Award. Phil’s longer essays and memoirs have appeared in a number of important anthologies, including
Hometowns
,
A Member of the Family
,
Sister & Brother
,
Wrestling with the Angel
,
Boys Like Us
,
Gay Travels
,
Obsessed
,
The Man I Might Become
,
Wonderlands
, and
Big Trips.
Phil’s collection of interviews,
Something Inside: Conversations with Gay Fiction Writers
, received praise for “both the depth of Gambone’s probing conversations and for the sheer range of important authors included.” Phil has taught writing at the University of Massachusetts, Boston College, and Harvard University. Currently, he teaches English at Boston University Academy and fiction writing at the Harvard Extension School. His latest project is a book of profiles of important LGBTQ Americans.

Michael Graves
is thirty years old. His fiction has appeared in several literary journals, including Velvet Mafia, Lodestar Quarterly and Cherry Bleeds. His work is also featured in the print anthologies,
Eclectica Magazine’s Best Fiction Volume One, Best Gay Love Stories 2006
and
Cool Thing Best New Gay Fiction from Young American Writers
. One of Michael’s short stories was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize and The Million Writers Award. Michael’s non-fiction book reviews and articles have been published in numerous publications such as Lambda Book Report, Philth Magazine, Edge Boston and Grub Street’s Free Press. Michael earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He lives with his partner, Scott, and their bunny rabbit, Bumbles. Contact Michael at
[email protected]
.

Stephen Greco
is Executive Editor of Classical TV, a broadband portal for full-length performances of opera, ballet, modern dance, jazz, and theater. Formerly Executive Director of Dance Theater Workshop, Editor-at-Large of
Trace
, the international magazine focusing on “transcultural styles and ideas,” Editorial Director and a co-founder of Platform.net, the first online community for worldwide youth culture, and Senior Editor of
Interview
magazine, Greco also serves as Executive Director of the Ferro-Grumley Literary Awards, Inc., America's premier honors for LGBT fiction. Greco’s first book, a collection of erotic fiction and non-fiction entitled
The Sperm Engine
(Green Candy) published in 2002, was nominated for a 2003 Lambda Literary Award and praised by
Out
magazine for its “breathless bravura.”

Aaron Hamburger
was awarded the Rome Prize by the American Academy of Arts and Letters for his short story collection
The View from Stalin’s Head
(Random House, 2004), also nominated for a Violet Quill Award. His next book, a novel titled
Faith for Faith for Beginners
(Random House, 2005), was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award. His writing has appeared in Poets and Writers, Tin House, Details, The Forward, and Out. He has received fellowships from the Edward F. Albee Foundation
and the Civitella Ranieri Foundation in Umbria, Italy. Currently he teaches creative writing at Columbia University.